Finding Your Dream Job Leah Findlater University of Maryland, College Park Distribution Statement “A” (Approved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Finding Your Dream Job

Leah FindlaterUniversity of Maryland, College Park

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Jaeyeon JungMicrosoft Research Redmond

10/2/2013

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

Graduate StudentsUndergraduates

Academic careers

Industry/government

Undergrads: Undergraduate Research ExperiencesUndergrads: Distinguished lecture role models Grad Cohort: group mentoring of grad studentsGrad Students: Discipline Specific Research workshops PhD Researchers: group mentoring of early & mid career @ CMW, CAPP, Hopper & Tapia

600+ students and PhD researchers a year

www.cra-w.org

About Leah


About Jaeyeon


2006.06

2006.07

2007.06

2007.07

2009.02

2011.07

2006.01

2011.04

What about you?What do you value?

Teaching?

Research?Salary?

Work-life balance?Something else?

Community outreach?

Turing awards?

Life style?


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 Job!

Early fall Prepare materials

Recruit letter writers

Sept-Dec

Apply

Jan-April

Interview

Negotiate offers

#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?• 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

# u

niq

ue v

isit

s

JobSept-DecApply

Jan-AprilInterview

July July

Leah's webpage

Manage the process


Did your letter writers submit?Have you heard?


The truth?MANY factors are out of your control

✕

?

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


Congrats! You got an interview!


#3. Rock interviews

The Interview Process

Phone interview

Site visit: individual interactio

ns

Site visit:Presentati

ons

Before, during, after: all the other

stuff


One person or a groupUse a landline!

Faculty of varying ranks

AdministratorsStudents

HR

MealsThank you notesInteractions w/ staff

Research talkTeaching demo

maybe

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


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


Questions to ask about teaching

How Much• What's the pre/post tenure teaching load?• What courses would I teach?• Do faculty ever “buy out” of courses?

Freedom and Flexibility• How much control would I have over course content?• Can I create new courses?

Support and Evaluation• In what cases would I have TA support?• What resources are available for improving teaching

skills?• How is teaching evaluated?


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• 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?


Offer!


#4. Negotiate the offer

NegotiationsStarting 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

Money: Salary

AmountPay raisesSummer salaryBenefitsSubsidized housing


Money: Funding

Startup and ongoing• Research equipment• Travel• Students• Books and memberships• Class/lab equipment

Intellectual property rights


Negotiation Rules

If you never hear “no”, you're not asking for enough.

But know when not to apply this rule.


Other Research Job Opportunities


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


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.”


Where to apply?Finding job postings• 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?• CS only? ECE? Informatics? Communications?

When to apply?• Communications/Information departments

may have earlier deadlines & conference interviews

Learning about the Culture (Indirectly)

• Collegiality & Culture– 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?

• Students– Where are last year’s PhD graduates working?– What are the typical (undergraduate, graduate) students like?– How are graduate students typically supported?

• The college/university– 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?


Documents

Finding Your Dream Job Leah Findlater University of Maryland, College Park Distribution Statement “A” (Approved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)