Transcript Finding Your Dream Job - CRA-W

Finding Your Dream Job
Leah Findlater
University of Maryland, College Park
Jaeyeon Jung
Microsoft Research Redmond
10/2/2013
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CRA-W
Computer Research Association Committee on the Status of
Women in Computing Research
Mission increase the participation and
success of women in computing research
www.cra-w.org
What does CRA-W do?
Individual & Group Research Mentoring
Undergrads: Undergraduate Research Experiences
Undergrads: Distinguished lecture role models
Grad Cohort: group mentoring of grad students
Grad Students: Discipline Specific Research
workshops
PhD Researchers: group mentoring of early & mid
career @ CMW, CAPP, Hopper & Tapia
600+ students and PhD researchers a year
Academic careers
Undergraduates
Graduate Students
Industry/government
www.cra-w.org
About Leah
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About Jaeyeon
2011.07
2011.04
2009.02
2007.07
2007.06
2006.07
2006.06
2006.01
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What about you?
What do you value?
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What do employers value?
Research University & Industry Labs
• Papers in top conferences
• Great letters
• Spark
Teaching College
• Papers in conferences
• Teaching experience/enthusiasm
Advanced R&D in Software Companies
• Coding skills; relevant experience & skills
• Algorithmic understanding
The Application Process
Typical Academic Timeline
Early fall
Sept-Dec
Prepare materials
Apply
Recruit letter writers
Jan-April
Interview
Job!
Negotiate
offers
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#1. Find job postings
www.cra.org/jobs
www.chronicle.com/jobs
Other specialized lists
ACM Jobs and SIGCSE mailing lists
Department websites
#2. Send out applications
Compile an application
packet
What’s in a job packet?
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Research statement
Teaching statement
Cover letters
Recommendation letters
How do I know if I’m doing it right?
• Get examples
• Serve as a student rep on a search committee
• Have experts and non-experts read your
materials
Polish your webpage
# unique visits
Leah's webpage
July
Sept-Dec
Apply
Jan-April
Interview
July
Manage the process
Did your letter writers submit?Have you heard?
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The truth?
MANY factors are out of your control
?
✕
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What can you do?
Take care of yourself! Sleep, eat,
exercise
Be prepared to feel uneasy
• There will be times when you feel nervous,
anxious, and scared. It’s normal.
• Avoid comparisons and gossiping with your
peers. You won’t feel any better. Seriously.
Focus on what you CAN control
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Congrats! You got an
interview!
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#3. Rock interviews
The Interview Process
One person or a group
Use a landline!
Phone
interview
Before,
during,
after: all the
other stuff
Meals
Thank you notes
Interactions w/ staff
Faculty of varying
ranks
Administrators
Students
Site visit:
HR
individual
interactions
Site visit:
Presentatio
ns
Research talk
Teaching demo maybe
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The Talk
• l:
Convince the audience you are smart
and a good teacher/researcher
• Assume a smart but general audience but don’t
dumb down the talk
• Clearly state problem and your contributions
• Show that you have ideas about what you will do
when you step foot in the door
Practice, practice, practice
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One-on-One
:A two-way evaluation
• Show interviewers that you’d be the kind of
person they’d want down the hall.
• Don’t let them do all the talking. THEY NEED
TO REMEMBER YOU.
Prior investigation on interviewers is
helpful
• Read/skim their papers
• Check out their websites
• Look up recent NSF awards
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Questions to ask about
teaching
How Much
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What's the pre/post tenure teaching load?
What courses would I teach?
Do faculty ever “buy out” of courses?
Freedom and Flexibility
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How much control would I have over course content?
Can I create new courses?
Support and Evaluation
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In what cases would I have TA support?
What resources are available for improving teaching skills?
How is teaching evaluated?
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Questions to ask about
research
Tenure
• What are the expectations for tenure?
• How many people were denied/granted tenure in recent years
Research Culture
• What does it take to be successful here?
• Who do you work with in the department?
• Do you work with other university faculty?
Grants
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What are the expectations about grant submission?
What types of funding to faculty typically seek?
What assistance is available for grant submission?
How are research assistants supported within the department?
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Offer!
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#4. Negotiate the offer
Negotiations
Starting date & time till tenure
• A January start may buy you extra time on the tenure
clock
• Pre-tenure sabbatical?
Teaching
• Course releases
• Which courses
Money
• Salary (and summer support)
• Travel allotments, consulting, startup, etc.
Get EVERYTHING in
writing
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Money: Salary
Amount
Pay raises
Summer salary
Benefits
Subsidized housing
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Money: Funding
Startup and ongoing
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Research equipment
Travel
Students
Books and memberships
Class/lab equipment
Intellectual property rights
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Negotiation Rules
If you never hear “no”, you're not
asking for enough.
But know when not to apply this rule.
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Other Research Job
Opportunities
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Postdocs
Find job postings
• Additionally contact individual professors that you
want to work with
Apply
• Email professors & industry labs
Interview
Negotiate offers
• Probably not much wriggle room
Research Faculty
Find job postings
• At the discretion of each department since it’s a
soft money position
Apply
• Often same as tenure track positions
Interview
• Find more about grant opportunities
Negotiate offers
• Some departments offer to pick up first N years of
salary until you bring grant $
Researchers at Industry Labs
Find job postings
• Most labs have a standard “career” section on their
web page
Apply
• Online to their system and let your contact know
Interview
Negotiate offers
• Typically a lot more wriggle room (sign on bonus,
stocks, etc.)
Other Tips
Two body opportunity
• If they like you, they will try to help your partner
at least get an interview
Interview at many places (even if
you have an offer already)
• Opportunities to meet great people, to
advertise your work, and to get free airline
mileage
• Put you in an advantageous position to
negotiate
Dream jobs can take
iteration. "Dream job" can
change.
“So I stopped working on yet-another-grant I didn't care
about and started writing what my ideal job was. Since the
job did not exist, I also listed the job requirements and how
I could get those requirements in the next five years. As I
worked through the requirements for my ideal job, I started
publishing, getting funding, working with innovative
students, and (most importantly) enjoying myself.”
– recent job
seeker
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Good luck!
Leah Findlater | [email protected] | @leahfindlater
Jaeyeon Jung | [email protected]
Feedback: http://alturl.com/z4gp9
What if things don’t go as you
expect?
Advice from recent job seekers:
– “Search for both your dream job and
a good enough job at the same time.
Dream jobs can take more than one
iteration”
– “Remember: You will be competing
against your peers. Don’t let the job
market get in the way of your
friendships.”
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Where to apply?
Finding job postings
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CRA, Chronicle, specialized lists
Teaching CS schools may not have budget for ad
placement. Subscribe to SIGCSE mailing list
Where to apply? How many to apply
to?
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CS only? ECE? Informatics? Communications?
When to apply?
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Communications/Information departments may
have earlier deadlines & conference interviews
Learning about the Culture
(Indirectly)
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Collegiality & Culture
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Who do you collaborate with?
What did you do yesterday?
What do you do for fun?
What does it take to be successful here?
What do you like best about your job? The least?
What do you wish you could change about your department/university?
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Students
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The college/university
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Where are last year’s PhD graduates working?
What are the typical (undergraduate, graduate) students like?
How are graduate students typically supported?
Why is this position available?
How does the dept make important decisions?
How does the Dean view the department?
When was the last department review? What happened?
What is the financial condition of the college?
What is the vision for the college direction and growth?
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