37 ms·

I've switched between academia and industry several times in my career (which some academic friends of mine claimed was not possible). Professorial hiring comm

by jll29 3y ago

I've switched between academia and industry several times in my career (which some academic friends of mine claimed was not possible). Professorial hiring committees are often silly since they demand outrageous things yet the pay is laughable. Since I have a lot of hiring experience as a research director in industry, I saw a lot of talent that I would try to grab, but that academic colleagues did not consider a good enough match due to the limited fit with the desired profile, even if that meant re-advertising and wasting another year. While what you say about hiring committees is true, I would still not recommend to talented scientists to let all that deter them. If you have the passion for science, give it everything - so that you can say on your deathbed, "at least I tried"; any other life choice probably won't let you go in peace (who wants to think "what if...?").

ke88y 3y ago
> which some academic friends of mine claimed was not possible To be fair: "industry" is not one thing. There's a huge difference between being a software engineer at a non-R&D software company doing uninteresting consulting or project work and being a SWE in Google Brain/FAIR/etc. Hell, there's a huge difference between positions with the same job title in the same mega-corps. Most professors -- even in CS -- aren't able to get the types of industry jobs that keep the academic door open. It's really only a few subfields where those industry jobs are available. So, as a general role, saying that it's difficult to move between the two is fairly accurate. > since they demand outrageous things yet the pay is laughable. The process is prohibitive before the packet even reaches the committee. Writing three or four essays, asking for three letters of recommendation, and committing to a full on-site interview loop for a job that comes with at least a half million dollar pay cut.
- fooker 3y ago
  >being a SWE in Google Brain/FAIR/etc. Most SWEs in these places are doing uninteresting work.

by jll29 3y ago

ke88y 3y ago

> which some academic friends of mine claimed was not possible To be fair: "industry" is not one thing. There's a huge difference between being a software engineer at a non-R&D software company doing uninteresting consulting or project work and being a SWE in Google Brain/FAIR/etc. Hell, there's a huge difference between positions with the same job title in the same mega-corps. Most professors -- even in CS -- aren't able to get the types of industry jobs that keep the academic door open. It's really only a few subfields where those industry jobs are available. So, as a general role, saying that it's difficult to move between the two is fairly accurate. > since they demand outrageous things yet the pay is laughable. The process is prohibitive before the packet even reaches the committee. Writing three or four essays, asking for three letters of recommendation, and committing to a full on-site interview loop for a job that comes with at least a half million dollar pay cut.

fooker 3y ago
>being a SWE in Google Brain/FAIR/etc. Most SWEs in these places are doing uninteresting work.