I am looking for a Ph.D. in a German-speaking country in Europe. I am looking at some possible institutes for applying on Ph.D. program. Some offer "individual" and some "structured" doctoral programs, and some offer both.
My situation is that I do not come from academic environment, which means that I don't have contact with any potential supervisor. I guess that if you go directly from Master to Phd (in academic environment), you should have thesis subject, which means you apply for Individual doctorate. Instead, I am coming from industrial environment, and I don't have yet thesis subject. I completed my Masters 2 years ago, and left academic circles.
My question is: why choose one of "structured" or "individual" over the other? I believe that structured is "easier" if you don't have potential supervisor or thesis subject, but I would appreciate guidance from those who know this system better.