>I worked a job first (2 years). This made me really appreciate my phd a lot more and gave me a lot of much needed time management and interpersonal work skills.

I went back to school after a few years to get an MBA. I've never actually managed anyone to this day but it was sort of a prereq for a lot of the types of jobs I was interested in at the time.

It helped that the coursework was easier for me than the engineering degrees I had. But I think there was also discipline and process that came from having been in the working world that definitely helped me do really well in the program.