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throwitaway1981

19 karma · joined July 14, 2015

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throwitaway1981··on What My PhD Was Like
Grad school isn't easy for most people. I had quite a few years of rejections and then bam, bam, bam ... three first author acceptances in a row at top conferences. Even Jean mentioned she submitted to several top-tier conferences and didn't get any of those papers accepted.

I'm sorry to hear about your family situation. Internships provide much needed $$$ to supplement the crappy stipend if you are in North America. I lectured part-time and being a TA is also an option. The teaching was one of the better parts of my grad experience. One mistake I made was not work as a free-lance dev while in grad school. I know people who did and it pays well and also looks good on the resume (also a distraction so you maintain sanity).

Be proactive about getting a job after school. Sad to say .. the primary goal during the PhD is to get out of grad school (ideally with a PhD). The old style industrial labs are in bad shape IMHO. Try your very best to get a prof job ... I went for labs but friends who went the prof route got tenure around years 4-6. I am year 8 and still have to deal with work insecurities. The good news is that non-research jobs are plentiful and the PhD gives you a leg up. My overall suggestion ... lower your expectations and find happiness. A CS PhD doesn't mean success or status these days (not sure if it ever did). Good luck!

throwitaway1981··on Yahoo Talent Exodus Accelerates as Marissa Mayer’s Turnaround Flounders
I'm curious: how bad is it to leave a new job soon after starting (because you realize the product isn't as great as what you thought it would be/too much competition in space)? When you are a high performer, you really don't want to waste everyone's time if you end up in this bad situation. What is the professional thing to do?

Asking because the article mentioned some people staying only for a few weeks. In a small startup, not seeing traction would be reasonable cause for departure since your paycheck directly depends on it. In a large company, things are not always interrelated in the short term. So there is more time to try out things. I guess the question is: how long should one try to make a new job work?