Originally Posted by Val
Originally Posted by JonLaw
It was my general impression that you basically had to get a Ph.D. in the sciences for it to be good for employability.

In my experience (including observations of many others), it's harder to get a job when you have a Ph.D. This is because there are way more jobs for technicians and research assistants, etc. than there are for group-leader-type or other terminally degreed scientists.
Ok, but someone smart enough to earn a PhD is usually not content to be a technician or research assistant for the long term. I think JonLaw was saying, correctly, that one needs a PhD for a scientific career.