Thank you very much for your inputs :) Looks like I'm not good at replying fast.

@WavesWashSands In my experience the university-wide carreer advisors are not very helpful because they are lacking the subject-specific knowledge, but of course I've talked to professors/people I've worked for. The tenor was that if I endeed enjoy diving into theory more than doing practical stuff, I should invest the few more years to do a PhD; I'm a few years younger compared the average graduate in my area about to start a PhD which I'm repeatedly being told I should take advantage of. From what I've heard…