Rejection%20Blues

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Rejection Blues

• by Mirella M. Moro

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Outline

• Submitting your work is important
• Factors influence paper selection
• What to do if paper rejected
• What rejection does not mean
• What rejection means

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Submitting Work

• Work paper, project proposal, poster
• Submitting work is important because
• Enrich your resume
• Force you to clarify your ideas
• The reviews may improve your work
• Where else would you get an expert opinion for
  free?

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Be conscious
Publishing a paper in a major conference/journal
is hard
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Because
Factors beyond the quality of your work may
influence paper selection

• Not the right conference track
• Topic beyond the committees expertise
• Topic with large number of submissions
• Politics
• Luck

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What to do if rejected?!

• Deal with your emotions
• And then
• Read the reviews closely
• Validate them
• Criticism as a suggestion of improvement
• If rejection because a misunderstanding clarify
  your arguments
• Papers are like wine,
• they need time to mature

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Rejections does NOT mean

• Youre a failure
• Your work is irrelevant
• You should work on some other topic
• You should change advisor
• You should leave grad school

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Rejection means only one thingyou can improve
your paper

• Write a to-do list from reviewers comments
• Typical items to consider
• Improve text readability
• Make contributions crystal clear
• Include more experiments and results
• Resubmit it to next conference, another journal
• Make sure it is published somewhere

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Papers will find their homes Practice makes
perfect

• Questions/comments?

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Getting an Internship
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Outline

• Before applying for an internship
• Why is it important?
• How to get one?
• Application process
• Final advice

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Before anything else
Talk to your advisor

• Make sure he/she agrees with you taking an
  internship
• Ask for help and contacts

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Internship is important because

• Enrich your resume
• Collaboration with industry
• Different way of thinking and working
• Hands on experience
• Meet other people, expand network of contacts
• Better alary

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You convinced me, how do I get one?!

1. Ask your advisor/peers for contacts
2. Apply directly through companies websites and/or
3. Email people you (your advisor) know
4. Apply to many companies

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One more thing

• Contacting someone you know within the company
  increases the chances of your resume being looked
  at

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Application process

• Prepare your material (resume, cover letter,
  transcripts, list of references)
• Research websites of companies
• Learn the rules of the game per company
• Decide what you want
• Development vs. Research (MS vs. MS Research)
• Focus on topics related to your thesis work or
  experience

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Once you start working

• Impress your bosses and team workers

You never know when you may need a reference or a
job from them
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Internship improves your education and should be
part of your grad school agenda
Questions/comments?
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Tips on Interview
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Outline

• Before the interview
• During the interview
• Questions you might be asked
• After the interview

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1. Before an interviewPREPARE yourself
? Companies ? ? Strategies

• Be familiar with the companys work
• E.g. read recent papers, articles on products
• Prepare a list of possible questions YOU may ask
  at the end of the interview
• E.g. if there is already a project for you

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Research vs. Development

• Your research experience
• Review all your previous work and papers
• Keep a list with highlights in front of you

• Your development experience
• Technical abilities
• Review basic concepts of algorithms/coding
• Have a computer in hand for coding questions

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2. During the interview
Show enthusiasm

• Listen carefully to questions, explanations
• Make notes (if it helps)
• Act professionally, be polite/respectful
• Always thank for the opportunity
• Always say you look forward to hearing from them
  soon
• Dress accordingly (if in-person interview)

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Questions you might be asked

• Personal
• What do you see yourself doing in 3, 5 years?

• Research
• Why did you use your approach and not something
  else or someone elses?
• Know the assumptions and limitations of your work
• Prepare summaries of your work with different
  level of details (15 seconds, 3 minutes, 20
  minutes)

• Technical
• Do you know anything about X? What do you think
  about X? (BE CAREFUL!)

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3. After the interview

• Keep in touch with your interviewers
• Maybe write a formal thank you

Keep in mind unless you have signed an offer,
nothing is guaranteed
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Whether you get an offer or not you have made
new, important contacts for the future
Questions/comments?