No, a PhD is training to become an academic. It's reasonable to assume that a PhD has lowered themselves to work in industry because they couldn't get a post-doc. Whether that's true or not it starts out the interview on a bad footing. What if a guy walked into your company and said "I couldn't get a job at Google so I thought I'd try you schmucks"?
Back in the day, so was doing an undergraduate degree. If you wanted a job in industry, that's what you did. University was for academic pursuits.
> "It's reasonable to assume that a PhD has lowered themselves to work in industry because they couldn't get a post-doc. Whether that's true or not it starts out the interview on a bad footing."
It's not reasonable to assume that at all. Last time I checked, the majority of PhDs leave academia after their degree (they don't want a post-doc - so don't even try). I do understand why non-PhDs in industry may harbour false impressions about the degree and why that can set things off on a bad footing.
> "What if a guy walked into your company and said 'I couldn't get a job at Google so I thought I'd try you schmucks'?"
This is completely independent of whether or not someone has a PhD. Undergrads can do this too.
Of course it is reasonable, or not unreasonable if you prefer. As in, a normal person would not be thought outlandish for thinking it, and particularly, it is actually perfectly normal for interviewers to think so.
It's reasonable to assume that a PhD has lowered themselves to work in industry because they couldn't get a post-doc.
Let's conduct a poll. Other than you, did anyone here who's been involved with PhD holders or grad-school and academia themselves actually think this? How many of us actual academicy types actually think it's "lowering oneself" to work in industry?
I don't. I do think that both academia and industry need to drop their utterly ridiculous notions of professional passion, because most people most of the time will never work on Their Life's Defining Passion when there are bills to pay, but industry can certainly come up with problems just as big, just as hard, and just as worthy as academia.
