The short answers: Employment

If someone has a Masters degree, they can get a job teaching coursework units to undergraduates. If they have a professional doctorate (not a PhD) they are still very employable in many institutions including graduate schools. Their employability depends on the ethos of the institution, the applicant's professional experience in the field they teach, and on who they are competing against for the job.

Some institutions and some university departments focus on training professionals, so producing research is not necessarily helpful and perhaps not even encouraged.

Different insitutions have different priorities:

1. Some schools run programs simply to build student numbers and pay the bills.
2. For other schools, the priority is to keep up to date and make sure that their graduates are preferred applicants for jobs in the profession.
3. In some places, research and research supervision are essential parts of the job.

Of course, as long as you passed and it is helpful for getting the job. Many dissertations are not published but are still important achievements.

Yes but you will have to learn how industry insiders think:

1. First, establish relationships with people in the industry where you want to work. As different industries are structured very differently, this will depend on the kind of industry.
2. Second, choose a dissertation topic that will be highly valued by industry.
3. Third, look at the kinds of skills that industry wants. This is not as easy as it sounds: academia is interested in theory development. People in industry are interested in commercial success; they want to know that your ideas work and don’t want theoretical explanations.
4. Fourth, you might be able to do your research in partnership with an industry body so they can have a good look at you. (If not, an attractive patent might help. I'd add that they will probably have much lower regard for your patent than you do.)
5. Fifth, do a good enough job of your dissertation so that you are the preferred candidate.
6. Sixth, keep up with changes in industry, where changes often occur much more quickly than those in academia. You might be left behind if industry goes through rapid changes and you're still plugging away on a three-year-old research topic.

First, if the university is accredited and in the same country, then people in other institutions will probably know it. The reputation of your particular department or the senior faculty in it might be more important than that of the university itself; some second string universities have star departments with star faculty members. If your institution is entirely unknown, you will have considerable difficulty unless other factors come into play.

Second, a degree is only as good as the person holding it. If you rely only on your degree for credibility, forget it.

Third, you might start with an entry level position or as a volunteer (e.g. University of the People). Then you have to prove yourself and work your way up. Some people take on several part time positions tutoring online students and do quite well. Others struggle with part-time online tutoring, especially if the institution's student numbers go down.

The standing of one’s institution

The standing of one’s institution considerably influences where its PhD graduates are employable. Elite universities tend to recruit new faculty who are graduates of other elite institutions. We can divide them into tiers:

• Tier 1: the top 1% of research institutions. e.g. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT.
• Tier 2: The other national universities and the top 100 regional universities.
• Tier 3: The remaining regional universities and liberal college doctoral programs.
• Tier 4: For-profit institutions and online-only programs at tier 3 universities..

If you are studying at a so-called “Tier 4” school, your employment opportunities are mainly other Tier 4 schools and small unranked private colleges, but you will probably be competing against graduates of higher ranked institutions. PhD graduates of the Tier 4 schools probably never expect to go onto the faculty of a Tier 1 school. Even at each tier level, graduates are not the same, and only the top students are competitive for positions at higher-tier schools. 1

Here are some factors that change how one views ranking:

1. Ranking systems. Nobody seriously doubts that some institutions are better than others, but the ranking criteria are always contentious. They do not compare like with like, and always favour some kinds of schools e.g. those with stronger reputations, wider geographical reach, or greater research output.
2. The standing of your department. Even though your university might not be well known, your department might be a national leader in a specialist field. The ranking in a field of study is more important than overall rank of the university; everyone in a field knows which professors and programs are the best.
   It depends also on the department within the university. Some doctoral programs in certain disciplines are highly ranked at universities which are themselves overall low-ranked.
   Only a few schools are good at everything. In most cases, some departments are strong and others are relatively weak. Many universities have strong graduate schools and relatively weak undergraduate schools. Many universities with strong doctoral programs have weak Masters programs. 2
3. Your school’s purpose. Some programs prepare people for employment in the professions and do little or no research. Using research as the criteria, they might be low ranked no matter how good they are. They don't aim for research excellence, and this has led to a change in the meaning of the PhD, i.e., as a sign of expertise in a field of study, not necessarily as preparation for research and academia.
4. Higher education is changing. The world of academia is changing very quickly and online schools are becoming the norm; many top schools have extension programs. 3

What skills does the elite school need at the time?

What vacancies does it have? What does it need at the moment? This can be quite random; if it needs something specific, it might choose a less stellar candidate over a better candidate that is less suited to the specific need.

Don’t fixate on a particular institution, because you might never get the job. If you’re good enough in your field, you could get a post at one of the top-tier schools, but you can’t be picky about which one. Go for schools where your skills match their need, “typically expertise in a subdiscipline of a field where they have overall core strength but a skills gap in your particular speciality.” 4

Your achievement as a researcher

Your potential as a researcher, the quality of research you do and the papers you write and where you get it published is important, although it is not a guarantee. If you publish a work in your field that is widely recognized as a breakthrough then the institution where you gained your PhD is less important.

Were you accepted into a national honor society that has the respect of Tier 1 universities? 5

Other

1. Are you a risky hire? Would the Dean have a defense if it did not work out? 6
2. How good are your networking skills? If you know the right people, you might get an interview. 7

References

1. Jαmes Lαcεy, Mirεn Ιναnkονic.   2. Ρilαr Quεzzαire, Αndy Βlοssεr.   3. Βyrοn Lαfαyεttε   4. Αli Mohαmmαd Sαghiri.   5. Stεvεn Κnudsεn, Αnthony Wαllαce, Gεnε Spαfford, Judy Βutlεr, Τ. Mοrαεs.   6. Stεvεn Κnudsεn.   7. Αnthοny Wαllαcε.