Rules and Guidelines
Want to participate in the discussions? Please read our Community Rules and Guidelines. Need some help? Visit Support and Answers.

  • State Not Answered
  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 3 replies
  • Subscribers 17 subscribers
  • Views 758 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
You may also be interested in
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Entrepreneurial

Varun Sharma
Hello Everyone, 


Despite being an educated and qualified engineer, I have always felt a drive towards project management and lately to be an entrepreneur. 


I have started my new venture(s) as well however always find it hard to place myself in the appropriate community. 


Do I still belong to engineering community as I don't enjoy the integrity of engineering anymore. I enjoy the delivery, deployment and implementation for the new engineering solutions and ideas rather. 

The kind of job I have been doing recently which is providing consultancy on Engineering Design Systems mainly for Oil & Gas industry, most people consider me from IT background than engineering. 


I have even gone to the extent to clear my Project Management Professional Certificate however industry find it hard to offer me Project Management roles (due to lack of experience) or real engineering roles (due to experience in IT Solutions for engineering).


Sometimes I don't feel myself as engineer anymore!


After having 15 years of experience in industry, I am thinking to pursue PhD in Business Management for two reasons

1. I enjoy the subject

2. May be after PhD career shift will be as desired. 


Am I alone in this boat!

Any comments most welcome.


Kind Regards

Varun Sharma 

CEng, PMP, MIET, MSC, BEng (Hons.), AME, DIT

  • 0
    The important thing to recognize about a PhD is that it's not training.  It's a 3 or more year study of one aspect of a particular subject, with the intention of finding something new.


    If that's what you want to do, go for it.  But don't assume that when you're finished, you will be a fully qualified project manager.
  • 0
    Varun,

    My reaction is that successful entrepreneurs are often so committed that they eat, sleep and breath their venture. This leaves little time for pursuing gaining academic recognition. I agree with Simon.  Most Master of Business Administration degrees have a large proportion of “taught” material. I don’t know if the MSc that you hold was similar or if the emphasis was on research.  As I see it there isn’t such a thing as a “PhD in management” although you could carry out your research under the auspices of a Business School to investigate some tightly focussed aspect of what might be described as “management”. You could research for example, some aspect of the nature of division of labour, formal classification, tribalism and self-identity in workplaces.  i.e.  “Do I still belong to engineering community”. This is a social science question ,as is much of “management”.


    Most people that I have encountered doing PhDs in mid-career have moved into an academic career where something less may be career limiting, or into a "industry" research and development role, where work and academic recognition can be comfortably aligned. I was speaking last week to a friend who is about to submit his thesis about an American President, he is “retired” but lecturing part-time at a university, his choice of subject was just because he is very interested in it.            
     

  • 0
    Thanks Simon and Roy.

    I take on board both of your views, I am actually hoping that PhD or DPhil (as called in Oxford) will help me change my industry or role in industry, not sure if it’s a realistic approach or not. I appreciate its not a training but an academic degree might help to steer my career to the desired path away from engineering and/or IT roles.  

    I am also hoping that, my time during research in PhD will me to gain insights in different business models which will help me in my entrepreneurial ventures.

    Following is the DPhil I have in mind however yet to prepare for GMAT -

    https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/dphil-management-studies?wssl=1
    accounting
    finance
    marketing
    management science
    organisational behaviour
    strategy, entrepreneurship and international business
    Thanks Simon and Roy.

    I take on board both of your views, I am actually hoping that PhD or DPhil (as called in Oxford) will help me change my industry or role in industry, not sure if it’s a realistic approach or not. I appreciate its not a training but an academic degree might help to steer my career to the desired path away from engineering and/or IT roles.  

    I am also hoping that, my time during research in PhD will me to gain insights in different business models which will help me in my entrepreneurial ventures.

    Following is the DPhil I have in mind however yet to prepare for GMAT -

    https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/dphil-management-studies?wssl=1
    accounting
    finance
    marketing
    management science
    organisational behaviour
    strategy, entrepreneurship and international business

Community Rules & Guidelines