I am a student of computer science from India and specialize in Artificial Intelligence & Robotics. I have completed M.Tech (for those who do not know, it is actually PG in engineering, and it covers 18 years of education). I have a few conference papers to my name and I'll take up my GRE exams in a short while. I wish to pursue PhD from the US. Let us say I make it to a good grad school in US.


What are my chances of landing a good R&D job in industry after completing PhD. I do not wish to stay in academia throughout my career. I do not wish to teach. Post - PhD, I'd prefer a transition to industrial R&D.

Any advice? Please help. (I have not really figured out the details, just started conceptualizing a career plan.)

======= Date Modified 31 May 2012 09:36:13 =======
============= Edited by a Moderator =============
*Removed by PostGrad Forum team - SPAM*

This message has not been bulk delivered, and it is just a question. On what grounds has it been marked as spam????

Hi Asg,

It is the message from Wengazi which is marked as SPAM, and removed, not yours.

Does anyone have any advice for Asg?

Sorry, my mistake.
Someone please reply to my original post. I really need someone to talk about this.

It's a little bit of a "how long is a piece of string?" question, that is to say it depends on far too many unspecified factors. If you do a US PhD it will typically take 6 years. That's a long time. In that time you may well be able to make contact with industrial partners, form links with them and get a job for afterwards. That depends on what your PhD is, where it is, who your supervisor is, who is funding the research, how much effort you put into job hunting, pure luck etc etc.

It is definitely possible to do as you plan, but from the details you've given it is impossible to rate your chances.

Maybe look at applying directly to suitable companies whilst also applying for PhDs? Maybe you don't need the PhD (and associated costs!) to get the job you're after. Maybe you do, in which case you can take on the PhD and you then have years to form good links and network with people to get a job offer in the future.

One thing which would obviously help a lot is to do a PhD funded by a company you may wish to work for in the future.