15

The meta seemed to suggest that career advice is ok . . . so here goes.

I have a couple of close friends in the ML and mathematical modeling fields just finishing PhD's and starting out on the job hunt. While both are quite qualified and talented, neither are interested in staying in Academia.

Besides personal referrals and communication, which I have always had the best luck with, are there any resources/websites/aggregators that can help someone looking for jobs in the area?

Anton Menshov
  • 8,672
  • 7
  • 38
  • 94
meawoppl
  • 1,918
  • 11
  • 20

2 Answers2

10

From my own experience, I found that it is very important to develop a network of contacts while you are working on your own projects, and not leave it to the very last moment. This means to actively meet other people at every chance you have, openly share your ideas, and expose yourself to other people ideas. So take every opportunity to meet visiting professors, postdocs, and other students.

I found that attending and actively participating at conferences is the most efficient way to develop a personal network of contacts. However, this requires quite a bit of effort, as besides of delivering your own talk you need to effectively interact with lots of people (this is different from just having a casual conversations and can be quite exhausting if you do this non-stop for a whole week). Going for the after-conference dinner and drinks is probably one of the most important parts.

I think that socialising at conferences is one of the most fun and effective ways to meet future collaborators and even land a job (in the long term).

fcruz
  • 1,068
  • 8
  • 9
  • 1
    I was offered the PhD that I'm doing now while joining my now supervisor on the balcony while he was having a smoke during a conference dinner. So +1 for your answer. – Azrael3000 Apr 26 '12 at 07:40
  • Yep. This all mirrors my experience quite closely. I was hoping that there was a magic sci-comp listing somewhere that I could point them at, but alas. . . – meawoppl Apr 27 '12 at 22:36
  • 1
    (Old topic, but it was active today so I'm adding to it.) For someone who doesn't socialize much in general, what is the best way to go about having these deep conversations with other people at conferences? – Nick May 20 '13 at 02:58
  • Hi Nick, maybe this other question from Academia in SE might be useful to you. http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/3613/how-can-a-phd-student-enlarge-his-academic-collaboration-network/ – fcruz May 23 '13 at 14:47
9

As an aggregator, I think the best option is to go looking on the all-over LinkedIn.

However, as a nice solution (at least for me) in finding a mid-way between academia and industry there are also (partly or fully) government funded research centers. In the US you have (among others) ORNL, LANL, LLNL, Sandia,... And if your friends want to dip their toes in some international waters, in Europe every country has one or more of these research centers. And in my case (shameless free advertisement), that is SCK-CEN. Next to regular contracts, we have a PhD and PostDoc programme in different fields of science.

I know that the NA-Digest usually has some job announcements (but most of the time PhD, PostDoc or professorships at universities).

Good luck to your friends in finding their dream job!

GertVdE
  • 6,179
  • 1
  • 21
  • 36