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As someone who relatively recently decided to go into industry instead of academia after finishing my PhD, my reasoning was almost identical. Industry seems li
by jofer 14y ago
As someone who relatively recently decided to go into industry instead of academia after finishing my PhD, my reasoning was almost identical. Industry seems like a better chance to work on interesting problems and have a bigger impact.
However, I'm really regretting it at the moment.
I thought I'd at least have a say in how I approach problems, even if I didn't get to choose the problems I work on. Instead, I've literally been told, "Your job is not to do science. Your job is not think. Your job is to click a mouse. Do exactly what you're told in exactly the way you're told to do it. Now, stop asking questions and stop trying to think for yourself."
I realize that the people I'm working with have a _lot_ more experience than I do, but I do think there's value in considering alternate approaches to solving problems. A lot of the fault lies with me, too. In the case above, I didn't clearly communicate the business impact of what I was suggesting to my mentor. Either way, it's frustrating.
Most of it is finding the right team to be on. I still think I chose the right company, I just need to find a way to be on an R&D team. I'm under a 2 year contract, so I can't leave even if I did get frustrated enough to.
At any rate, know what you're getting yourself into. I did two internships on similar teams, but at different companies. Things are definitely done differently here.
There is certainly of lot of interesting work in industry, but it's very easy to wind up stuck doing menial repetitive tasks if you're not careful.
- mdwelsh 14y agoThat's unfortunate. I'd be curious to know where you ended up taking a job. I have been surprised at how "academically inclined" Google is; however, I am sure there are groups here that have less interest in research-type endeavors than my group. Industry is by no means homogenous in this regard, which is why I decided to save that discussion for a later post.
- jofer 14y agoI'm in the energy industry, rather than in software directly. (I'm a geophysist, rather than in CS.) I'm at one of the majors, but it's probably best if I don't say which one. There are certainly "academically inclined" groups where I work. I just need to work towards one of them. I've enjoyed all of your posts, by the way!
- mjn 14y agoThis varying a lot by field is a good point. It also depends on what you mean by academically inclined: are you interested in doing research, in publishing the results of your research, or both? In chemical engineering, for example (not my own area, but some of my family are in the field), it's much easier to find a research-oriented industry job than to find a research-oriented industry job that will let you publish openly.
- singingfish 14y agoI'm a late stage phd student contracting in industry and finishing my theiss part time. I was chatting with a prof the other day, saying how I was pretty happy with my work situation. He said "so they pay you well, give you interesting work, and leave you alone to get on with it. Sounds pretty sweet to me". So it depends on the gig. I am particularly lucky, not due to good skill as a programmer, but due to good, relevant, people and project management skills.
- rwallace 14y agoIf you're not exaggerating very much, then your employers are fools. Clicking a mouse could be done by a teenager on minimum wage instead of paying to hire a professional. Start quietly looking around for more clueful employers. But what do you mean you can't leave? Indentured servitude isn't supposed to be legal nowadays. What happens if you leave anyway?
- abecedarius 14y agoYour mentor said that to you? Nobody I'd call a mentor would, except in special circumstances. I hope your circumstances get better.