Transcript How to Get a Job Brad Chamberlain, Tessa Lau,

How to Get a Job
Brad Chamberlain, Tessa Lau,
and quite possibly Jeremy Buhler 
Another fine grad seminar
May 23, 2001
Overview
• Today we’re concentrating on:
– academic positions (research schools)
– research labs
• Structure:
– chronological overview (with interrupts)
– Variations on the theme:
• Canadian schools
• Teaching schools
• Industry jobs
The Timeline
• December: do your homework
• January: send in application
– school’s impressed, asks references for letters
– references send letters
• February: set up interviews, prepare talk
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after applying, start working on your talk
school’s impressed, invites you for interview
OK, now you really have to work on your talk
you might start interviewing by late February
• March–April: bulk of interviewing
• April–May: hear back, negotiate, decide
December: Get Ready, Get Set…
• Approach your references to ask them about
writing you a letter
– scary, but don’t put it off
– you should have four people on deck, and a sense
of the one you’d be least likely to use
• Start forcing yourself to think about where you
want to apply, what you want in a job
– determine your priorities (they may conflict)
• geography, prestige, student quality, expectations, ???
– do some web surfing as a catalyst
Searching the web
There’s no algorithm for finding positions
– go to web sites of places you’d like to work; mail
department chair if you don’t see announcement
– use the US News/World Report survey as a
source of info, brainstorming tool
– check CRA, CACM web pages for fairly complete
list (most depts will post on their site first)
– at a given page, look around hard; positions are
not always as visible as you’d guess
– bookmark, grab URLs… It’s a lot of work to get
back to “that cool listing I saw last week…”
January: Applying
• Make a table of where you’re going to apply
– what they want, when they want it, who to send to
– the URL where you found this info (!)
• Ask references to start working on their letters
two weeks before sending apps.
– give them a list of where you’re applying, divided
into schools wanting letters now vs. later
• Get your application materials together
– this takes longer than you would ever expect!!
(a month?)
The Application
• Contents:
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CV
Research Statement
Teaching Statement
Cover Letter
Publications (if requested)
Letters of Reference (if requested)
• Applying earlier has advantages (?)
• Exercise contacts (ask advisor, chair, alumni
to alert faculty there to watch for your app)
• Apply to as many places as you’re
comfortable (we each did ~15)
The CV
• As many different formats as there are people
– check recent grads for some examples
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A glorified resume
Try not to exceed 4–5 pages & front-load
Have advisor, friends proofread
Ideally, have a printable (PS, PDF) and online
version
– if this requires supporting multiple sources, wait
until all edits are done before dealing with the
second!!
The Research Statement
A 2–3 page summary of your past research and
plan for future research
– summarize past research succinctly, but make
sure that it sounds substantial too
– having a plan for future research is crucial (1–5
years out?)
– future plans should depart from past work in an
interesting way (not simply “the next step”)
– you need to give the impression that you have
done great work, that you have more to do, and
that you’re not tied to your advisors apron strings.
The Teaching Statement
A 1-page summary that touches on any or all of:
– your teaching experience (briefly, it’s on your CV)
– why you like to teach
– your teaching “philosophy”
– what makes you a good teacher
– specific examples from your experience that back
these things up
The Cover Letter
• Short, polite to the point
• Business letter format
• State…
…who you are
…what position you’re applying for
…what’s in your packet
…that you hope to hear from them (pleasantries)
Letters of Reference
• You never see or touch them
• Ask people that will write strong letters; give
them a way out if you’re not certain (and you
have a backup plan).
• Two scenarios:
– letters requested with app: pass out addressed,
stamped envelopes, emphasize due date
– otherwise, they will request letters directly using
the addresses on your CV (easier for you!)
– in either case, keep communicating with writers
February: The Job Talk
~45 minute description of your research
– clear, persuasive introduction (“why this is
interesting even if you’re not in my field”)
– 1–2 of your results in a reasonable amount of
depth (a good conference talk or two)
– at some point, list your contributions/publications
(“I did lots of cool stuff”)
– Some Strategies:
• dubious: lose more and more of your audience as the
talk goes on to show how “smart” you are
• much better: help everyone understand something they
didn’t, to demonstrate your effectiveness as an educator,
speaker, researcher
Preparing the Job Talk
• Practice, practice, practice
– start early: give an affiliates talk every year
• also: participate in 590’s, teach, etc.
– give practice talks for friends, advisor
– mentally critique other talks
– videotape yourself
• Ensure that the pace is comfortable
Your Goals: clarity, impressiveness,
enthusiasm
February: Scheduling Interviews
• School calls or mails you
• You negotiate a date to interview (1–2 days)
– Try to pack these into a 6–7 week period
– BUT, try to schedule downtime
– no more than 8–10 total? no more than 2–3 per
trip
• You’ll tend to set up the travel arrangements
– Use contract fares (you’re representing UW)
– Use UW credit card
• Strategize your scheduling:
– dangerous to put favorite school first?
– dangerous to put it last too, due to burnout
Approaching the Interview
Things to ask/tell your host sometime between
the initial contact and your actual visit:
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expected length of talk?
your A/V requirements
any other special needs (dietary restrictions, etc.)
request meeting(s) with students
request schedule a day or two before leaving
(a great host will take care of these things before you
ask)
(also: be gracious in doing all this)
Do some background research on school,
March: The Visit (a.k.a. Interview)
• For the most part, this is surprisingly fun
(you’re the star!)
• Day packed:
– mostly 0.5–1 hour 1-on-1 visits (maybe 2-on-1)
with faculty, students, chair, administrators(?)
– 2–3 meals
– your talk
– you’ll be exhausted by the end of a day; don’t plan
on doing anything very constructive while on the
road (do plan some fun things – read books,
watch cable TV)
Talking to professors/students
• Most people will be very friendly, warm, eager to get
to know you
• A few will be more challenging, either by nature, or as
a test
• Tough questions:
– why do you want to come here?
– what classes do you want to teach?
– what will your research be?
• Try to avoid unenthusiastic canned answers
• If stumped, don’t panic
– I’d say “that’s [interesting / challenging / the first time I’ve
been asked that],” think about it, respond as best you can
Talking to professors/students
• These conversations are a 2-way street
• Ask questions back
– any technical details about the school
– things that are likely to differ between people
– ask new faculty questions that put you in their
shoes (since they were just in yours)
– ask about their research
• Social skills go a long way
Questions Brad asked at schools
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“Where else did you consider working?”
“Why did you come here?”
“What do you like best about this place?”
“What would you change?”
“What kinds of social events/traditions does the
department have?”
“Does this town have [my favorite hobby]?”
“Are the students political? social? curious? driven?”
“Do the students have jobs outside of school?”
“What kinds of extracurriculars do you do?”
See also Mike Ernst’s question list…
Questions Tessa asked at Labs
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What’s your long-term research vision?
What is the company’s long-term vision?
How do you decide what projects to work on?
How does funding work?
Who do you collaborate with?
Do you know what your neighbors are working on?
What do you think of the future of the company?
How does this research bring value to the company?
What could I work on if I came here?
Who do you think is your top competitor?
The Startup Package
This is the thing I was least aware of...
– a “signing bonus” to help you establish yourself
– may include any or all of the following:
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money to furnish your office, buy personal equipment
money to establish a lab, buy research equipment
travel funds
summer funding
funding for students
teaching waivers
– You’ll be asked “what will you require?”
– During interview, admit you’re not quite sure, give
qualitative descriptions for research startup (“a
Cray SV-2”), and avoid numbers
After the interview
• Mail your contact and any people you
especially enjoyed to tell them you enjoyed
your visit
– Especially if you did!
– If you didn’t, still send a gracious follow-up mail,
though don’t be misleadingly warm
• Don’t expect to hear back right away (in fact,
while interviewing, feel free to ask what their
time schedule is like…)
• Prepare for rejection. It’s bound to happen.
April: Getting Offers
When your offers start coming in, play it cool
– Their goal: get you to accept or reject their offer
ASAP so they can celebrate or make another offer
– Result: schools with limited positions will put
pressure on you to decide fast (“within 2 weeks”)
– Reality: most places that like you enough to make
you an offer will like you enough to wait for you
– Your goal: collect as many offers as you can
before being forced to respond to any of them
– BUT: don’t lie, lead on more than is polite; these
people will be your colleagues wherever you go
Evaluating Offers
• GSC (currently Anna) keeps record of offers from
previous year(s)
• Compare notes with others who are interviewing
• Feel free to use schools’ offers against one another if
you’re serious about both of them
• How many live offers should you juggle?
• (Sometime in here you’ll have to start thinking more
seriously about startup packages. My
recommendation: ask recent UW grads (or recent
hires at the school you’re negotiating with; or UW?)
for their numbers/proposals to use as a model)
Turning Down Offers
• It’s really hard. You’ll make friends along the way
who are disappointed you’re not joining them.
• I tried to call the dept. chair first (or whoever made
the offer), then followed up quickly with people I
enjoyed meeting so they might hear it from me first
• I also often followed up with a (gracious!) letter giving
an in-depth explanation of my decision for the
department chair to circulate to those interested
• It really isn’t much fun, but don’t put it off overlong
once you’ve decided against a place (for their sake)
Canadian Schools
Some generalizations:
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they tend to be big
funding/grant-writing tends to be less of an issue
salaries are 12-months, and in Canadian dollars
research quality tends to be emphasized over
quantity in tenure decisions
– tenure-track teaching positions are more prevalent
than at US schools
– I really liked the schools I visited
“Teaching” Schools
• Being a UW grad does not hurt one bit
• Depending on the school, research will either still be
crucial, or be a very nice bonus. In any case, don’t
slack off on your research because you want to
teach.
• Completely different feel than research schools in all
the obvious ways
• Interview format may vary:
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meet with non-CS faculty, more administrators
students may play a bigger role in hiring decisions
talk may be a research talk geared toward undergraduates
or a fake lecture to faculty
or a real lecture to a real class
Coastal Pacific Northwest Schools
Research:
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U Victoria
UBC
Simon-Frasier (?)
Western Washington
UW
Portland State University
University of Portland(?)
Oregon State
U Oregon
Liberal Arts:
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Reed
Lewis and Clark
Evergreen
Willamette
Pacific U
Linfield
U Puget Sound
Pacific Lutheran
Seattle University (Jesuit)
Seattle Pacific U (Christian)
more?
Industry/Start-up jobs
• To find out about jobs, ask faculty, recent
grads, check the affiliates list, etc.
• Interview schedule is completely fluid
• Interview format is different
– often no talk
– meetings with people may be more like tests
• Job offers can turn around faster, may put
more pressure on you to decide
• Obvious compensation/freedom tradeoffs
Some Final Thoughts
• There is no formula
– while this talk was chock-full of good advice, it’s
merely advice. You can fail to follow it and still land
some mighty fine jobs.
• It’s simply the next step
– this may all seem overwhelming now, but it’s just
the next step forward, and no bigger than ones
you’ve taken to get here
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slightly longer talk with higher stakes
slightly more discerning audience for your work
slightly higher expectations of you once you get the job
grad school should be the training & transition to be ready
I’m a 2nd year… what should I be doing?
• learn more than you need to
– attend talks
– remain curious
• talk about your research
– to officemates, visitors, faculty other than advisor
– helps debug the work, and your explanations of it
• make contacts
– schmooze, if you can
– make friends, keep in touch with people if you can’t
– keep track of where key research is happening in your area
• have a life
Other Resources
• Michael Ernst’s job-hunting advice
http://sdg.lcs.mit.edu/~mernst//advice/academic-job.html
• Ellen Spertus’ job-hunting advice
www.mills.edu/ACAD_INFO/MCS/SPERTUS/job-search/job.html
• How to create a research network page
http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/network.html
• Friends who’ve graduated recently