Academic vs. commercial



  • just interested to know if anyone out there has worked in both commercial industry as a programmer as well as in academia. not necessarily teaching or anything like that, but had a university job (say, doing coding for a particular department). what did you like/dislike about each?



  • @parser said:

    just interested to know if anyone out there has worked in both commercial industry as a programmer as well as in academia. not necessarily teaching or anything like that, but had a university job (say, doing coding for a particular department). what did you like/dislike about each?

    I have worked in both environments. The academia experience was enlightening to say the least. Academia is very fluffy, fuzzy, and happy. No worries, no cares, it's all very politically correct. The people in academia have never been exposed to "real world" scenarios, so that's why they are so "untainted". They're very innocent.

    The corporate world, on the other hand, can be vicious and downright cruel. It's all about the $$$ and if you screw up, your head will roll.

    That's kind of a black and white way to look at it, but that has been my experience. Do I think academia is better? No way. Commercial pays MUCH better. 


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