How to Get a Job

1
How to Get a Job

• Brad Chamberlain, Tessa Lau, and quite
  possibly Jeremy Buhler ?

Another fine grad seminar May 23, 2001
2
Overview

• Today were concentrating on
• academic positions (research schools)
• research labs
• Structure
• chronological overview (with interrupts)
• Variations on the theme
• Canadian schools
• Teaching schools
• Industry jobs

3
The Timeline

• December do your homework
• January send in application
• schools impressed, asks references for letters
• references send letters
• February set up interviews, prepare talk
• after applying, start working on your talk
• schools impressed, invites you for interview
• OK, now you really have to work on your talk
• you might start interviewing by late February
• MarchApril bulk of interviewing
• AprilMay hear back, negotiate, decide

4
December Get Ready, Get Set

• Approach your references to ask them about
  writing you a letter
• scary, but dont put it off
• you should have four people on deck, and a sense
  of the one youd 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

5
Searching the web

• Theres no algorithm for finding positions
• go to web sites of places youd like to work
  mail department chair if you dont 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 youd guess
• bookmark, grab URLs Its a lot of work to get
  back to that cool listing I saw last week

6
January Applying

• Make a table of where youre 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 youre applying,
  divided into schools wanting letters now vs.
  later
• Get your application materials together
• this takes longer than you would ever expect!!
  (a month?)

7
The Application

• Contents
• 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 youre comfortable (we
  each did 15)

8
The CV

• As many different formats as there are people
• check recent grads for some examples
• A glorified resume
• Try not to exceed 45 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!!

9
The Research Statement

• A 23 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 (15
  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 youre not tied to your advisors apron
  strings.

10
The Teaching Statement

• A 1-page summary that touches on any or all of
• your teaching experience (briefly, its 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

11
The Cover Letter

• Short, polite to the point
• Business letter format
• State
• who you are
• what position youre applying for
• whats in your packet
• that you hope to hear from them (pleasantries)

12
Letters of Reference

• You never see or touch them
• Ask people that will write strong letters give
  them a way out if youre 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

13
February The Job Talk

• 45 minute description of your research
• clear, persuasive introduction (why this is
  interesting even if youre not in my field)
• 12 of your results in a reasonable amount of
  depth (a good conference talk or two)
• at some point, list your contributions/publication
  s (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 didnt, to demonstrate your effectiveness as
  an educator, speaker, researcher

14
Preparing the Job Talk

• Practice, practice, practice
• start early give an affiliates talk every year
• also participate in 590s, 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

15
February Scheduling Interviews

• School calls or mails you
• You negotiate a date to interview (12 days)
• Try to pack these into a 67 week period
• BUT, try to schedule downtime
• no more than 810 total? no more than 23 per
  trip
• Youll tend to set up the travel arrangements
• Use contract fares (youre representing UW)
• Use UW credit card
• Strategize your scheduling
• dangerous to put favorite school first?
• dangerous to put it last too, due to burnout

16
Approaching the Interview

• Things to ask/tell your host sometime between the
  initial contact and your actual visit
• 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, people

17
March The Visit (a.k.a. Interview)

• For the most part, this is surprisingly fun
  (youre the star!)
• Day packed
• mostly 0.51 hour 1-on-1 visits (maybe 2-on-1)
  with faculty, students, chair, administrators(?)
• 23 meals
• your talk
• youll be exhausted by the end of a day dont
  plan on doing anything very constructive while on
  the road (do plan some fun things read books,
  watch cable TV)

18
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, dont panic
• Id say thats interesting / challenging / the
  first time Ive been asked that, think about
  it, respond as best you can

19
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

20
Questions Brad asked at schools

• 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 Ernsts question list

21
Questions Tessa asked at Labs

• Whats your long-term research vision?
• What is the companys 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?

22
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
• 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
• Youll be asked what will you require?
• During interview, admit youre not quite sure,
  give qualitative descriptions for research
  startup (a Cray SV-2), and avoid numbers

23
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 didnt, still send a gracious follow-up
  mail, though dont be misleadingly warm
• Dont expect to hear back right away (in fact,
  while interviewing, feel free to ask what their
  time schedule is like)
• Prepare for rejection. Its bound to happen.

24
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 dont lie, lead on more than is polite
  these people will be your colleagues wherever you
  go

25
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 youre serious about both of them
• How many live offers should you juggle?
• (Sometime in here youll have to start thinking
  more seriously about startup packages. My
  recommendation ask recent UW grads (or recent
  hires at the school youre negotiating with or
  UW?) for their numbers/proposals to use as a
  model)

26
Turning Down Offers

• Its really hard. Youll make friends along the
  way who are disappointed youre 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 isnt much fun, but dont put it off
  overlong once youve decided against a place (for
  their sake)

27
Canadian Schools

• Some generalizations
• 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

28
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, dont 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
• 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

29
Coastal Pacific Northwest Schools

• Research
• U Victoria
• UBC
• Simon-Frasier (?)
• Western Washington
• UW
• Portland State University
• University of Portland(?)
• Oregon State
• U Oregon

• Liberal Arts
• Reed
• Lewis and Clark
• Evergreen
• Willamette
• Pacific U
• Linfield
• U Puget Sound
• Pacific Lutheran
• Seattle University (Jesuit)
• Seattle Pacific U (Christian)
• more?

30
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

31
Some Final Thoughts

• There is no formula
• while this talk was chock-full of good advice,
  its merely advice. You can fail to follow it
  and still land some mighty fine jobs.
• Its simply the next step
• this may all seem overwhelming now, but its just
  the next step forward, and no bigger than ones
  youve taken to get here
• 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

32
Im 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
  cant
• keep track of where key research is happening in
  your area
• have a life

33
Other Resources

• Michael Ernsts job-hunting advice
• http//sdg.lcs.mit.edu/mernst//advice/academic-jo
  b.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.ht
  ml
• Friends whove graduated recently