PhD graduate can't find work

Yep, its pretty much a known in engineering that PhD candidates find it harder to find a job than guys with the base degree or a masters. They also tend to earn less long term than the MScEng guys, but that is probably due to them often staying in research which does not pay as well.
 
PhD in engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
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There is the problem problem. CPUT isn't a particularly high quality research institution.

When I was chatting to my supervisor about upgrading my masters to a PhD he told me that it wouldn't be a good idea as the institution I was at was not particularly well known for the type of research I wanted to do. A PhD is reflective of the institution that you do it at. This is a perfect example of it, the fact that he knew of no-one who would be interested in employing him after he finished his thesis shows that he didn't really work with the people who are the movers and shakers.

The vicious part is the PhD that he worked so hard towards did him more harm than good as he became overqualified for most work. Since he has a PhD, he would be competing against people with PhDs from UCT, Stellenbosch and Wits, which are much better quality research institutions.

The best advice I can give to anyone is to get out of uni and get some work experience before you commit 5 years to something you might not need.
 
Is it pedantic to note that this guy does in fact not have a PhD? To take nothing away from his achievement, but he has a DTech degree.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Technology

Note: I'm not trying to be an elitist here, I have no doctoral degree of any kind, only honours. DTech is on the same national qualification level as PhDs but it's a different classification within the level.

Agree with some of the previous comments - getting a job is often as much about who you know as about what you know. I landed my current job mostly out of university because of connections I'd built up there during my final year of bachelors and my honours year. Sure, I had the qualifications, but out of the applicants for the positions the people here actually knew me so I think that edged the odds in my favour. It's a bit of a shame if he did his whole DTech without building up any industry contacts.

That being said - people who go that far into postgraduate studies normally want to work in academia, not in industry. I wonder why he didn't do a post-doc at a different university of technology, or perhaps even CPUT.
 
silkenphoenixx said:
Is it pedantic to note that this guy does in fact not have a PhD? To take nothing away from his achievement, but he has a DTech degree.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Technology

Note: I'm not trying to be an elitist here, I have no doctoral degree of any kind, only honours. DTech is on the same national qualification level as PhDs but it's a different classification within the level.

Agree with some of the previous comments - getting a job is often as much about who you know as about what you know. I landed my current job mostly out of university because of connections I'd built up there during my final year of bachelors and my honours year. Sure, I had the qualifications, but out of the applicants for the positions the people here actually knew me so I think that edged the odds in my favour. It's a bit of a shame if he did his whole DTech without building up any industry contacts.

That being said - people who go that far into postgraduate studies normally want to work in academia, not in industry. I wonder why he didn't do a post-doc at a different university of technology, or perhaps even CPUT.
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The reason I already mentioned it earlier in thread wasn't to be pedantic - it's a really bizarre degree. All the *Tech degrees focus on applied engineering, and move away from research, and the tools needed to conduct research, so what then is the point of a doctorate after an MTech? (Or to a lesser extent (due to some degree of specialization), and MTech after a BTech?), I would think it would make more sense to move into industry at these points.
 
Moans about not getting a job...nevertheless INSISTS that he wants it HIS way:

Mekuto said that there have been postdoctoral position offers from countries like Turkey and Finland, however he is disappointed that there has been no offers from South Africa.

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MightyQuin said:
Moans about not getting a job...nevertheless INSISTS that he wants it HIS way:

Mekuto said that there have been postdoctoral position offers from countries like Turkey and Finland, however he is disappointed that there has been no offers from South Africa.
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given that a world war is about to break out, and those areas seem like hot spots, the clever thing to do would be to stay in darkest Africa
 
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I have a friend, chemical engineer (degree, not diploma) with 8 years exp, who was unemployed for 6 months after his dept was closed down and everyone retrenched. Chemical engineering jobs are a lot scarcer than you might think.
 
Barbarian said:
I have a friend, chemical engineer (degree, not diploma) with 8 years exp, who was unemployed for 6 months after his dept was closed down and everyone retrenched. Chemical engineering jobs are a lot scarcer than you might think.
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That is true. Also knew someone (not an acquaintence) with a PhD ChemEng who couldn't get a job because of experience. He accepted a junior position (lab) at my ex employer and those who worked with him were massively impressed; even the relics from the previous era (grins).
 
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Johnatan56 said:
I was talking to a friend in engineering last year who was doing his last year of Btech, the city hired about half of his year for their construction projects. The CoCT seems to be the place to offer the most employment opportunities for engineering in CT for graduates currently.
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That's civil engineering though, what does the city use chemical engineers for?
 
This is only the beginning of what's to come. He was lucky to have her reading around. Things may have been different, if not. Unfortunately, municipalities and government can't keep employing every person who obtained a degree and can't find a job. Just simply not possible. A new government is required to turn around the economy and get private businesses flourishing who can create employment, even if it means Western investors becoming billionaires while South Africans suffers. Even if it means more white people are employed in key positions to assist in growing companies and others not. Even if it means more white people will have more money than black people. Whatever the case may be.

Fact is, as long as the ANC continues on this trend, BEEE, AA, the end result will be the same. If South Africans cannot and will not accept this, then so be it. You cannot compensate, there is no middle ground, especially when it comes to running a country and its economy.
 
Pitbull said:
He was offered a job in Finland, yet wanted to stay in SA.

Damn, that is dedication :o
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Maybe not what he is looking for. From the article, he doesn't appear as someone who wants to pursue academics further than he has.
 
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