> have you?

Yes. Been there. Done that. Have the
T-shirt.

> More to the point, if it was really that big of a deal? you could just leave it off your resume. It's certainly better than a felony in that regard.

A time gap on a resume is about as bad
as a felony conviction, really, for
looking for a job, worse. A period as
a prof, in a slot that would require a
Ph.D., does say "I've got a Ph.D.". If
leave off the prof slot, then that is
another gap on the resume. Such gaps are
resume
fraud and into
the circular file, that is, as bad as a felony conviction.
Actually, a felony conviction is likely
easier to hide during a job application
than a Ph.D. No, I don't have a felony
conviction. Indeed have never been
arrested or convicted of anything
except minor traffic violations.

What I said is true: A Ph.D. in a STEM field
(maybe no one would resent a Ph.D. in art
history) outside of academics or some
industrial research lab concentrating on
publicity or luster is a job killer.

At one point, with a Ph.D., I sent 1000 resume copies and
got back only silence or laughs. Earlier
in my career, before my Ph.D., once I sent a few resumes
and in two weeks went on 7 interviews and
got 5 offers.

Yes, one of my dissertation advisors
is President of one of Stanford,
MIT, CMU, Cal-Tech, or Georgia Tech;
no help. The Chair of my oral
exam is a Member, US National
Academy of Engineering. No help.
Math SAT 768. GRE Math 800. No help.

One reason I'm an entrepreneur is that
due to my Ph.D., in engineering from
some applied math from a famous, world
class research university, I'm unemployable
at anything better than stocking shelves
at Wal-Mart. Literally. No joke. Period.

'Data mining?' 'Big data'. 'Machine learning'?
I have some of the very best background
in such topics. Still, just unemployable.
Period. Computing? One of the best
backgrounds, long at IBM Research where
I won an award for my software, algorithm,
and architecture contribution to IBM's
leading artificial intelligence language.
Published in computer science, mathematical
statistics, and artificial intelligence.
Long background in practical software.
Right: Not in C++, Ruby, or Python. So,
unemployable.

So I'm doing a startup. There my Ph.D.
is crucial -- the core of the work is some
secret sauce I did from some original
research I did that very much needed my Ph.D.

Net, it's much easier for me to be
the CEO of my own company, and likely
get a few million in venture funding,
and be wealthy if the company does much
of anything,
than just to get a job that will let me
buy a house. Literally. In case my
business is successful,
mayhe Ph.D. will have paid off, but
not for a job. "Paid off" needs
some grains of salt since the delays
cost me house, wife, family, etc.
Right: Thanksgiving was eating alone.
No, I won't be sending any children
to college, much less a Ph.D.

Actually early in my career a Ph.D. seemed
like it would help for non-academic
jobs, but that was a boom time around
DC with work heavily for the US DoD.
Once the Cold War was over, that
work went away.

A good Ph.D. in a STEM field sets one
apart in a way that means that
they might be able to get a job
stocking shelves at Wal-Mart. Sorry
'bout that.