PhD graduate can't find work

vic777 said:
Interesting, I didn't know you could change the BTech into a BIng
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I am speaking under correction, but it is more that the place I work at sees the Btech then being equivalent to an BIng after the extra studies has been completed.
 
saturnz said:
we must be careful, what do you see as the growth rate?
to me growth is generating GDP beyond your potential, the stats that STATSSA release and that we all look to is filled with noise.
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I wouldn't trust StatsSa figures for a millisecond, but unfortunately that is the official number that is used by ratings agencies etc and we're stuck with it.

Regardless of the fact that our official GDP growth rate average since 1994 is a paltry 2.84% then; we are not generating GDP beyond our potential, hell we're not even generating GDP anywhere close to our potential. Getting rid of our horribly inept and corrupt government's many interventions would at least give us a fighting change to reach our potential.
 
Lovely story. What made him think that a PhD would make him more employable? Surely there's a teaching post somewhere that better suits this diploma?
 
vic777 said:
Interesting, I didn't know you could change the BTech into a BIng
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They might be completing a BIng degree at a university that recognizes prior learning in the form of subject credits i.e. studying only the classes the uni deems necessary to award a BIng to someone who already has BTech.

I have a couple of classmates who did that to complete BSc Comp Sci after completing BTech:IT. In general I wouldn't be surprised if the engineering industry favours BIng over BTech, happens with most degrees in most industries even when there is often no concrete reason for doing so.

Thankfully that all largely disappears as soon as you have some actual work experience, BTech, BIng, BSc, PhD becomes irrelevant as experience accumulates.
 
vic777 said:
Question for the engineers on this thread. How is a BTech perceived in the industry vs. BIng?
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I believe, in general terms B Eng is definitely seen as superior to BTech. Same is true for an MSc vs MTech. In most cases even BEng > MTech.

My experience from lecturing and mentoring BTech and MTech students was that a large percentage just scrape through without doing much work. I think there is a large percentage of students studying engineering at a Technicon (compared to a University) that aren't actually interested in engineering and are just going through the motions.

That being said, I know a lot of great BTech and MTech graduates that work alongside MSc graduates and you'd never know who studied where. Exactly the same calibre.
 
greg_SA said:
I believe, in general terms B Eng is definitely seen as superior to BTech. Same is true for an MSc vs MTech. In most cases even BEng > MTech.

My experience from lecturing and mentoring BTech and MTech students was that a large percentage just scrape through without doing much work. I think there is a large percentage of students studying engineering at a Technicon (compared to a University) that aren't actually interested in engineering and are just going through the motions.

That being said, I know a lot of great BTech and MTech graduates that work alongside MSc graduates and you'd never know who studied where. Exactly the same calibre.
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This. I've mentored lots of students that did their national diploma and some of them have said that they are only doing engineering because they could get a bursary for it. I've seen some brilliant and passionate ones also though.
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
They might be completing a BIng degree at a university that recognizes prior learning in the form of subject credits i.e. studying only the classes the uni deems necessary to award a BIng to someone who already has BTech.

I have a couple of classmates who did that to complete BSc Comp Sci after completing BTech:IT. In general I wouldn't be surprised if the engineering industry favours BIng over BTech, happens with most degrees in most industries even when there is often no concrete reason for doing so.

Thankfully that all largely disappears as soon as you have some actual work experience, BTech, BIng, BSc, PhD becomes irrelevant as experience accumulates.
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As far as I know, if you become a consulting engineer a PhD means quite a bit
 
saturnz said:
you need to stop right there, the major critique of economists, and I'm speaking as an economist myself, is that they think economic growth can remain positive for years on end if a set of conditions they created in a black box hold
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That is true, however, in South Africa there is ample room for economic growth because we are an underdeveloped economy. Heck, most people in this country don't have a proper house.

Developed countries can easily weather recessions if their economies are not messed with by power hungry politicians.
 
vic777 said:
As far as I know, if you become a consulting engineer a PhD means quite a bit
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Maybe that's true for engineering, but in IT a PhD means absolutely nothing to the vast majority of employers. I actually feel sorry for some of the PhD grads I've interviewed over the years when I see that reality setting in: you've just wasted years of your life and lots of money to boot for zero benefit.
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
Maybe that's true for engineering, but in IT a PhD means absolutely nothing to the vast majority of employers. I actually feel sorry for some of the PhD grads I've interviewed over the years when I see that reality setting in: you've just wasted years of your life and lots of money to boot for zero benefit.
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Not at all.

Just like any field or career. Experience counts the most, which is perfectly fair. However when it comes to being promoted to executive level, the more post and undergrad studies you have the better your chances. Unfortunately without experience having a PhD is probably similar to someone who just left school but knows how to program in let's say Universe.
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
I wouldn't trust StatsSa figures for a millisecond, but unfortunately that is the official number that is used by ratings agencies etc and we're stuck with it.

Regardless of the fact that our official GDP growth rate average since 1994 is a paltry 2.84% then; we are not generating GDP beyond our potential, hell we're not even generating GDP anywhere close to our potential. Getting rid of our horribly inept and corrupt government's many interventions would at least give us a fighting change to reach our potential.
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whether I trust the figures or not is irrelevant

I do not regard "growth" below the potential as growth, but merely the correction of an inefficient allocation of resources.

Also we do not know what our potential is, so we will never know if we are growing or not, it all becomes an illusion very quickly, and so then I wonder why we focus on "growth" as if it automatically is a positive thing
 
Pitbull said:
Not at all.

Just like any field or career. Experience counts the most, which is perfectly fair. However when it comes to being promoted to executive level, the more post and undergrad studies you have the better your chances. Unfortunately without experience having a PhD is probably similar to someone who just left school but knows how to program in let's say Universe.
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Not 100% true. My father had to deal with sub-idiots on construction sites with "25 years" of experience telling him that the maths that he did was incorrect. There are certain places where theoretical knowledge absolutely obliterates practical experience.
 
konfab said:
Not 100% true. My father had to deal with sub-idiots on construction sites with "25 years" of experience telling him that the maths that he did was incorrect. There are certain places where theoretical knowledge absolutely obliterates practical experience.
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By all means. My reference was mainly aimed at starting a fresh straight out of varsity experience would trump theoretical knowledge. But at some point theoretical skill leapfrog's practical experience. I don't know where and when this happens but it does.
 
NarrowBandFtw said:
Maybe that's true for engineering, but in IT a PhD means absolutely nothing to the vast majority of employers. I actually feel sorry for some of the PhD grads I've interviewed over the years when I see that reality setting in: you've just wasted years of your life and lots of money to boot for zero benefit.
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The struggle is real...
 
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