I've been offered a position on a civil engineering grad scheme in London. It means moving, expensive living and 3 years of basic engineering work. At the end of that I will probably be in a position to apply for chartership and then start taking responsibility on projects and in roles.
I've also been offered a phd at Cardiff. It means not having to move, better money and much cheaper place to live. I don't think it would help me on my way to chartership (I'll be working mostly in the energy sector, not civils) and frankly I'm not sure what I'd do after it.
The plan always used to be to work in industry until I'm about 40-50 and fully qualified and then move into academia. I've got multiple years of experience on site and engineering offices, and I've also got 300+ hours of teaching experience. I love doing research, but I've always kept a few projects going as a hobby, rather then my main job. I've also just finished a 'working from home' job. I learnt there just how much I hate isolation, which is something I'd be worried about in a phd.
To be honest, if the locations were reversed, I'd take the job in Cardiff like a shot. Is location a good enough reason though? I've moved around the world before but I'm starting to want to settle down. I'm viewing the phd as a chance to work in research for a few years, do some good and make contacts in the industry. The certificate at the end is not something I really care about. Should I?