A friend is considering deferring an offer (stem PhD) for 1 year straight out of undergrad to work in NY, either in a research institution or a biotech. She does not have any real work experience outside of her lab (3 years) and an adjacent internship. Another factor is she is just generally feeling burnt out on school after the last few years.
To what extent did you find that a year or two of work impacts prospects coming out of PhD? How might a year off from school impact her PhD work itself?

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A year off from school to work at a biotech won't impact PhD work. Instead, it will enhance it. If anything, it's an opportunity to 1) make money, 2) gain industry work experience, giving her a leg up on other PhD grads in the job search, 3) decide if she actually likes full-time lab work enough to do a PhD, and 4) give her perpsective on the type of research she'd want to do for a PhD. The only caveat is that some professors/deans are biased against industry work and want to funnel students into academia to make their institution look better, but the better schools and professors don't care.

As for working at a research institution, it's still a leg up on grad school admissions, especially if she publishes, but choosing a biotech would be a better option for her career long-term.

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Absolutely take the time off before pursing a PhD. Figure out what she wants to do first, before committing to a PhD. I don’t regret finishing mine, but those extra letters after my name have not impacted my career. Which make me feel like it was not time we’ll spent. I agree, an MBA would have been better!

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I did that. It was the best thing I could have done. Gave me direction and focus before deciding to pursue a phd. Now I decided I want to pursue the phd to the extent of the MS and drop the phd early. Have a plan and goals thanks to that year off.

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