dr_throwaway

> The number of technical jobs that actually require a math PhD must be relatively small.

Yeah, that's my point: if you're looking for a boost to your credentials, my experience is that a PhD in math won't really open that many doors. By all means, pursue a higher degree for the sake of your personal enrichment! But a word of caution does seem necessary if this is a career-oriented choice.

I've got the math PhD, and the job that requires a mix of math & programming. Living the dream, right? Except, my employer kinda stinks (and it's a startup, so our future is far from certain), so I've always got an eye on job listings. Only, I'm not in ML so the only real openings that I see that I'm "generically" qualified for are in quantitative finance. I don't like cocaine, so that one's out too (sorry for the broad brush, quants, but I've met a few too many coked-up brogrammers in your field). If all I had was a bachelors, maybe I'd go for actuarial work, but that would mean ditching my programming skills.

I'm older, and stuck living in an expensive metropolitan area due to family stuff. I feel stuck in a job that I'm not satisfied with. I expected that having a PhD would be a boon, but what I'm finding is that it's hard to find a good job that actually depends on the PhD -- it feels like an albatross, but I can't exactly hide it because that would be a decade-wide hole in my employment record.