It’s been almost a year since I was officially awarded my PhD. How time flies! I figure now is a good time to reflect on the PhD and answer some of life’s big questions. Is a PhD worth it? Does having a PhD help your future job prospects? Am I pleased that I did a PhD and would I recommend that you do a PhD?
In this post I’ll walk through some of the main points to consider. We’ll touch on some pros and cons, explore the influence it could have on your career and finally attempt to answer the ultimate question. Is a PhD worth it?
Before we get into the details, if you’re considering applying for a PhD you may also want to check out a few other posts I’ve written:
- How Hard is a PhD?
- How Much Work is a PhD?
- How Much Does a PhD Student Earn? Comparing a PhD Stipend to Grad Salaries
- Characteristics of a Researcher
Are you seated comfortably? Great! Then we’ll begin.
The Pros and Cons of PhDs
When I have a difficult decision to make I like to write a pros and cons list. So let’s start by breaking down the good and bad sides of getting a PhD. Although I’ve tried to stay objective, do take into account that I have completed a PhD and enjoyed my project a lot!
These lists certainly aren’t exhaustive, so be sure to let me know if you can think of any other points to add!
The Good Parts: Reasons to Do a PhD
Life As A PhD Student
- You get to work on something really interesting. Very few people outside of academia get to dive so deep into topics they enjoy. Plus, by conducting cutting edge research you’re contributing knowledge to a field.
- It can be fun! For example: solving challenges, building things, setting up collaborations and going to conferences.
- Being a PhD student can be a fantastic opportunity for personal growth: from giving presentations and thinking critically through to making the most of being a student such as trying new sports.
- You are getting paid to be a student: I mean come on, that’s pretty good! Flexible hours, socialising and getting paid to learn can all be perks. Do make sure you consciously make the most of it!
Life As A PhD Graduate
- The main one: Having a PhD may open doors. For certain fields, such as academia itself, a PhD may be a necesity. Whilst in others having a PhD can help demonstrate expertise or competency, opening doors or helping you to leapfrog to higher positions. Your mileage may vary!
- You survived a PhD: this accomplishment can be a big confidence booster.
- You’ve got a doctorate and you can use the title Dr. Certainly not enough justification on it’s own to do a PhD, but for some people it helps!
The Bad Parts: Potential Reasons Not to Do a PhD
Life As A PhD Student
- It can be tough to complete a PhD! There are lots of challenges. Unless you’re careful and take good care of yourself it can take a mental and physical toll on your well being.
- A PhD can be lonely (though doesn’t have to be), and PhD supervisors aren’t always as supportive as you’d like them to be.
- Additionally, in particular now during the pandemic, you might not be able to get as much support from your supervisor, see your peers or even access the equipment and technical support as easily as in normal times.
Life As A PhD Graduate
- You might find that having a PhD may not bring the riches you were expecting. Have a certain career you’re looking to pursue? Consider trying to find out whether or not having a PhD actually helps.
- Getting a job with a PhD can still be tough. Let’s say you want to go for a career where having a PhD is required, even once you’ve got a PhD it might not be easy to find employment. Case in point are academic positions.
- Even though you’ve put in the work you may want to use your Dr title sparingly, it certain industries a PhD may be seen as pretencious. Also, use your title sparingly to avoid getting mistaken for a medic (unless of course you’re one of them too!)
Is a PhD Good For Your Career?
If you’re wondering “Should I do a PhD?”, part of your motivation for considering gaining a PhD may be your career prospects. Therefore I want to now dive deeper into whether or not a PhD could help with future employment.
It is difficult to give definitive answers because whether or not a PhD helps will ultimately depend a lot upon what kind of career you’re hoping to have. Anyway, let’s discuss a few specific questions.
Does a PhD Help You Get a Job?
For certain industries having a PhD may either be a requirement or a strong positive.
Some professions may require a PhD such as academia or research in certain industries like pharma. Others will see your qualification as evidence that you’re competent which could give you an edge. Of course if you’re aiming to go into a career using similar skills to your PhD then you’ll stand a better chance of your future employer appreciating the PhD.
In contrast, for other roles your PhD may not be much help in securing a job. Having a PhD may not be valued and instead your time may be better spent getting experience in a job. Even so, a PhD likely won’t have been completely useless.
When I worked at an engineering consultancy the recruitment team suggested that four years of a PhD would be considered comparable to two or three years of experience in industry. In those instances, the employer may actively prefer candidates who spent those years gaining experience on the job but still appreciates the value of a PhD.
Conclusion: Sometimes a PhD will help you get a job, othertimes it wont. Not all employers may appreciate your PhD though few employers will actively mark you down for having a PhD.
Does a PhD Increase Salary? Will it Allow You to Start at a Higher Level?
This question is very much relates to the previous one so my answer will sound slightly similar.
It’ll ultimately depend upon whether or not the industry and company value the skills or knowledge you’ve gained throughout your PhD.
I want to say from the start that none of us PhD-holders should feel entitled and above certain types of position in every profession just for having a PhD. Not all fields will appreciate your PhD and it may offer no advantage. It is better to realise this now.
Some professions will appreciate that with a PhD you’ll have developed a certain detail-orientated mindset, specialised knowledge or skills that are worth paying more for. Even if the position doesn’t really demand a PhD, it is sometimes the case that having someone with a PhD in that position is a useful badge for the company to wave at customers or competitors. Under these circumstances PhD-holders may by default be offered slightly higher starting positions than other new-starters will lower degree qualifications.
To play devil’s advocate, you could be spending those 3-4 (or more) years progressing in the job. Let’s look at a few concrete examples.
PhD Graduate Salaries in Academia
Let’s cut to the chase: currently as a postdoc at a decent university my salary is £33,787, which isn’t great. Update: as of 2026 as a research fellow it is just over £53k. With a PhD there is potential to possibly climb the academic ladder but it’s certainly not easy. If I were still working in London I’d be earning more, and if I were specifically still working at Imperial in London I’d be earning more. Browse Imperial’s pay scales. But how much is it possible to earn with a PhD compared to not having one?
For comparison to research staff with and without PhDs:
As of 2025 research assistants (so a member of staff conducting research but with no PhD) at Imperial earn £43,003 – £46,297 and postdoctoral research associates earn £48,056 – £56,345. Not only do you earn £5000 or more a year higher with a PhD, but without a PhD you simply can’t progress up the ladder to research fellow or tenure track positions.
Therefore in academia it pays to have a PhD, not just for the extra cash but for the potential to progress your career.
PhD Graduate Salaries in Industry
For jobs in industry, it is difficult to give a definitive answer since the variety of jobs are so wide ranging.
Certain industries will greatly reward PhD-holders with higher salaries than those without PhDs. Again it ultimately depends on how valuable your skills are. I’ve known PhD holders to do very well going into banking, science consultancy, technology and such forth.
You might not necessarily earn more money with a PhD in industry, but it might open more doors to switch industries or try new things. This doesn’t necessarily mean gaining a higher salary: I have known PhD-holders to go for graduate schemes which are open to grads with bachelors or masters degrees. Perhaps there is an argument that you’re more employable and therefore it encourages you to make more risky career moves which someone with fewer qualifications may make?
You can of course also use your PhD skills to start your own company. Compensation at a start-up varies wildly, especially if you’re a founder so it is hardly worth discussing. One example I can’t resist though is Magic Pony. The company was co-founded by a Imperial PhD graduate who applied expertise from his PhD to another domain. He sold the company two years later to Twitter for $150 million. Yes, including this example is of course taking cherry-picking to the extreme! The point stands though that you can potentially pick up some very lucrative skills during your PhD.
Conclusion: Like the previous question, not all industries will reward your PhD. Depending on what you want to go and do afterward your PhD, it isn’t always worth doing a PhD just for career progression.
For professions that don’t specifically value a PhD (which is likely the majority of them!) don’t expect for your PhD to necessarily be your ticket to a higher position in the organisation.
Is a PhD Worth it?
What Is “It“?
When we’re asking the question “is a PhD worth it?” it is a good idea to touch on what “it” actually is. What exactly are PhD students sacrificing in gaining a PhD? Here is my take:
- Time. 3-5 (more more) years of your life. For more see my post: how long a PhD takes.
- Energy. There is no doubt that a PhD can be mentally and physically draining, often more so than typical grad jobs. Not many of us PhD students often stick to normal office hours, though I do encourage you to!
- Money. Thankfully most of us, at least in STEM, are on funded PhD projects with tax free stipends. You can also earn some money on the side quite easily and without paying tax for a while. Even so, over the course of a PhD you are realistically likely to earn more in a grad job. For more details on how PhD stipends compare to grad salaries read my full analysis.
- Potential loss of opportunities. If you weren’t doing a PhD, what else could you be doing? As a side note, if you do go on to do a PhD, do make sure you to take advantage of the opportunities as a PhD student!
When a PhD Could Be Worth It
1. Passion for a topic and sheer joy of research
The contribution you make to progressing research is valuable in it’s own right. If you enjoy research, can get funding and are passionate about a subject by all means go and do the PhD and I doubt you’ll regret it.
2. Learning skills
If there is something really specific you want to spend three year or more years learning then a PhD can be a great opportunity. They’re also great for building soft skills such as independence, team work, presenting and making decisions.
Do be aware though that PhD projects can and do evolve so you can’t always guarantee your project will pan out as expected.
If there is the option to go into a career without a PhD I’d bet that in a lot of cases you’d learn more, faster, and with better support in industry. The speed of academic research can be painstakingly slow. There are upsides to learning skills in academia though, such as freedom and the low amount of responsibility for things outside your project and of course if you’re interested in something which hasn’t yet reached industry.
3. Helping with your career
See the section further up the page, this only applies for certain jobs. It is rare though that having a PhD would actively look bad on your CV.
When a PhD May Not Be Worth It
1. Just because you can’t find another job
Doing a PhD simply because you can’t find a job isn’t a great reason for starting one. In these circumstances having a PhD likely isn’t worth it.
2. Badge collecting
Tempted by a PhD simply to have a doctorate, or to out-do someone? Not only may you struggle with motivation but you likely won’t find the experience particularly satisfying. Sure, it can be the icing on the cake but I reckon you could lose interest pretty quickly if it is your only motivation for gaining a PhD.
Do I Feel That My Own PhD Was Worth It?
When I finished my undergrad I’d been tempted by a PhD but I wasn’t exactly sure about it. Largely I was worried about picking the wrong topic.
I spent a bit of time apprehensively applying, never being sure how I’d find the experience. Now that I’ve finished it I’m very pleased to have got my PhD!
Here are my main reasons:
- I enjoyed the research and felt relatively well fulfilled with the outcomes
- Having the opportunity to learn lots of some new things was great, and felt like time well spent
- I made new friends and generally enjoyed my time at the university
- Since I’d been interested in research and doing a PhD for so long, I feel like if I’d not done it I’d be left wondering about it and potentially end up regretting it.
In Summary, Is a PhD Worth It?
I’ve interviewed many PhD students and graduates and asked each one of them whether the PhD was worth it. The resounding answer is yes! Now of course there is some selection bias but even an interviewee who had dropped out of their PhD said that the experience had been valueable.
If you’ve got this far in the post and are still a little on the fence about whether or not a PhD is worth it, my advice is to look at the bigger picture. In comparison to your lifetime as a whole, a PhD doesn’t really take long:
People graduating now likely won’t retire until they’re in their 70s: what is 3-4 years out of a half century long career?
So Should I Do a PhD?
Whether a PhD is worth all the time and energy ultimately comes down to why you’re doing one in the first place.
There are many great reasons for wanting to do a PhD, from the sheer enjoyment of a subject through to wanting to open up new career opportunities.
Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out that practically every PhD student encounters difficult periods. Unsurprisingly, completing a PhD can be challenging and mentally draining. You’ll want to ensure you’re able to remind yourself of all the reasons why it is worth it to provide motivation to continue.
If you’re interested, here were my own reasons for wanting a PhD.
Saying that, if you’re interested in doing a PhD I think you should at least apply. I can’t think of any circumstances where having a PhD would be a hindrance.
It can take a while to find the right project (with funding) so I suggest submitting some applications and see how they go. If you get interesting job offers in the meantime you don’t need to commit to the PhD. Even if you start the PhD and find you don’t enjoy it, there is no shame in leaving and you can often still walk away with a master’s degree.
My advice is that if you’re at all tempted by a PhD: go for it!
I hope this post helped you to understand if a PhD is worth it for you personally. If it is then best of luck with your application!
Considering doing a PhD? I have lots of other posts covering everything about funding, how much PhD students earn, choosing a project and the interview process through to many posts about what the life of a PhD student and graduate is like. Be sure to subscribe below!
Hi
Thanks for the post . I have been struggling to make a decision regarding doing a PhD or doing a second masters . I’m currently doing an msc civil engineering online (because of covid) so for my research I am not able to conduct lab experiments. Therefore my research is more of a literature review / inductive research. So I feel I’ll be at a disadvantage if I were to apply for a phd program especially at high ranking universities like oxford , imperial etc What are your thoughts?
Hey Esther,
I completely appreciate that it’s not an ideal situation at the moment so thanks for reaching out, it’s a great question. A few thoughts I have:
• If you are already tempted by a PhD and would do a second masters simply to gain lab experience, there is no harm in applying for the PhD now. At the very least I suggest considering reaching out to potential supervisors to discuss the situation with them. The universities realise that current applicants won’t have been able to gain as much research experience as normal over the last year. Practical lab experience has halted for so many people so don’t let it put you off applying!
• If you don’t get in on the first go, I don’t believe it looks bad to apply again with more experience. I applied for PhDs for three years, it doesn’t need to take this long but the point is that there’s not much reason to give it a go this year and stand a chance of getting accepted.
• Although we can be optimistic, even if you were to do a second masters it may not be guaranteed that you can gain as much lab experience as you’d like during it: even more reason to start the ball rolling now.
I hope that helps, let me know if you’d like any other further advice.
Best of luck. 🙂
Jeff.
Funny, every one i have talked to as well as myself when we asked ourselves and others whether the PhD was worth it is a resounding ‘No.’
I guess it comes down to a Blue or Red Pill, LoL.
Hi Joe, thanks for sharing this. I’ve spent enough time on the PhD subreddit to see many other people who haven’t had good experiences either! On the flipside many people do have positive experiences, myself included. There is perhaps an element of luck as to what your research environment turns out to be like which could somewhat dictate the PhD experience, but ultimately I do think that answering whether or not a PhD has been worth it really depends a lot on why someone is pursuing a PhD in the first place. I’m keen to make sure people don’t have unrealistic expectations for what it could bring them. I really welcome hearing about different experiences and if you’d fancy sharing your perspective for the PhD profiles series I’d love to hear from you.