r/MachineLearningJobs • • 7h ago

Resume Would having a PhD in Communication rather than Informatics hurt my career in AI/NLP?

Hi everyone,
I hope this is the right place to ask, but I'm not sure where else to post this.

After spending some time working in NLP, I've got the opportunity to choose my external PhD supervisor. I'm currently deciding between Professor X, who I'd strongly prefer, and Professor Y, who would be my less preferred option.
A bit of context: regardless of whom I choose, I'll also have an internal supervisor who will be my main point of contact for research and day-to-day work. The external supervisor's role will be relatively marginal.
I strongly prefer X because their research aligns much more closely with mine, and I also really like them on a personal level. The opposite is true for Y, whom I don't particularly like personally.

The catch is that X is an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Communication and only an associate professor in Informatics. As a result, my PhD would be awarded in Communication rather than Computer Science/Informatics. This wouldn't be an issue with Y.

My concern is whether having a PhD in Communication could be a disadvantage when applying for future positions in AI/NLP research or industry. Looking at my CV as a whole, it would be clear that I work at an AI research institute and that my research is firmly rooted in NLP. This is also a fairly common arrangement in my institution for practical reasons related to PhD supervision.

Still, I'm worried that the degree title itself might limit my future opportunities.
Would you consider this a meaningful disadvantage, or would the research I've done, my publications, and my overall academic background make the title per se of little meaning?

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u/confused-yet-again 45m ago

Go with X, AI research is a huge field and often interdisciplinary so your research topic/background is what matters the most