entelein | Your Advice Requested

OK, so my dear friend Andy has a dilemma, and he thought it might be a good idea to bring the dilemma to you. Perhaps you've got some insight, some glimmer of truth, some bit of advice for the poor guy. He's wringing his hands, I tell you! He's worn pathways in the carpet from pacing back and forth each day. His nails are bitten to the quick, there's a few more grey hairs sprouting on his poor worried head.

Ignoring the fact that I am prone to hyperbole, here's the sitch:

Andy's got a decent job working as a programmer. He's been there a few years, does a great job with it. At his last review he was given glowing marks and a very nice raise, which I think he immediately spent all on video games (well, OK, maybe just a little bit of it). Job's going well, he's doing well, excellent. And then the next project comes along, and it's difficult. Things don't go so well, and suddenly he's called on the carpet for it. Despite assurances that he's got to do a few things better, ask more questions, work a bit more diligently, Andy suddenly feels as though his job is in danger. And it really is, you see, because things had been going so well, and now suddenly weren't. He feels a loss of trust, he's not sure he likes it so much there any more, and something becomes a little clearer to him: he's not really enjoying the programming biz all that much, even though he's pretty gosh darn good at it, and it pays well.

In the flurry of panic following his meeting with his boss, Andy considers his options. He could quit, subverting his company's attempts to sack him for this anomalously bad project - but then what would he do? He could look for another job, of course, but his doubts about really enjoying programming work makes this option seem daunting. Another idea occurs to him: he could work towards getting a PhD, continuing work in artificial intelligence, something he had been studying previous to his working for his current company.

E-mails were exchanged with an old professor, who seemed pleased to hear from him again, and offered to consider his placement for the coming season - he had spots available in the program. In addition, he invited Andy over to the university for a tour, for a better sense of what he'd be getting into.

He just got back yesterday from his short trip, and he sounded pretty damn relaxed and at ease when I talked to him on the phone. Memories of being at that school previously were good memories, and it was nice to meet with his old professor and discuss the program he'd be entering into. (I think it also helped that there seemed to be a plethora of pretty girls on the train back home. I think he might agree that it made his day a little brighter.)

But there's this dilemma, see. Would he want to give up the relative stability and good pay of a job for a new life in the direction he'd undertaken in university previously? Would he want to go to university and earn significantly less with an assistantship, studying something he's not entirely sure he can use in the afterlife, as Dr. Andy?

Here's his pros and cons, as he sees them now:

Staying at his current job

+ He'd get to stay in his current home. No moving, no having to sell or sublet.

+ Good pay, fairly stable job situation (he's been kicking ass and taking names on the current project)

- Long hours - he wouldn't get to go out as much as he'd like to, and the guy's a film buff, people. Seeing movies is one of his favorite things to do. He also likes to do role-playing and see friends more frequently than he does now.

- Programming is not a serious passion of his, in his words: "it's not especially exciting."

Pursuing the PhD

- Finding a place to live there, which would necessitate selling/subletting

- Earning significantly less through assistantships than at current job

- He might not be any good at research, which you sort of need if you're going to complete all the requirements for a PhD

+ He'd have the student lifestyle again, infinitely more social and exciting, really.

+ It would be a change for him - three years of work *not* regulated by profit.

That seems to be enough information to at least start with. What might you do? Do you have further questions for Andy? A similar story or experience that might help him make the decision? He's got another week or so before he needs to make an early decision, but he finds himself really torn at times. The risks, the investment, the security - these all seem to be factors that weigh pretty heavily against each other and leave him with a personal stalemate. The university would love to have him begin in October, which leaves a rushed one month notice to his current job. He could conceivably start any time during the year, but if he waits a year, the professor he's worked with might have moved on to another university by then, and the positions that are open now may not be several months from now. It feels like a now-or-forever-hold-your-peace situation, but given that it'd be so rushed for now, how wise would it be for him to throw himself into a doctorate at this point?

What's going to clinch it for him? Suggestions?