life after stonehill cs tom wall [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
Life after Stonehill CSTom [email protected]
Background
•Graduated from Stonehill in 2009•MS from Brown in 2010•Straight to work in 2011
PART I:GRAD
SCHOOL
Why not
•Sick of homework•Ready to stop being a poor student•Ready to put your skills to use•Ready for a change•Too difficult•Too expensive
Why
•Avoid real life•A chance to learn more•More jobs•Better jobs•Just to get it over with
What’s it like?
•Depends on the school/program•Get to know (and advance!) the cutting
edge•Focus your efforts on a common topic
▫Coursework▫Research▫Internships
•Great chance to network
Masters vs PhDMasters PhD
• Short (<= 2 years)• Little financial help• Preparation for a career in
the industry• Year one: coursework,
requirements• Year two: focus on an
area, do a project
• Long (4+ years)• You get paid to go there• Preparation for a career in
research, academia or industry
• First few years: coursework, requirements
• Qualifications• Final years: dissertation
My Experience at Brown
•8 courses. That’s it!▫(or 6 courses and a thesis)
•4 Undergrad courses▫Not much harder than the courses here
•4 Graduate courses▫Reading and presenting research papers▫Research project
My Experience at Brown
•Larger department, larger budget▫More resources▫More courses▫More knowledgeable faculty (no offense!)
•Industry recruiting▫Lots of awesome tech talks & free food
Applying
•Paperwork•Transcripts•GREs•Recommendations•Essay
Applying - Advice
•Worth it to apply to many places, even at $50 per application
•Study for the GREs•No need to bother with the CS subject
GRE•Don’t slack on the essay•Research the school, contact faculty•The first application is the hardest
Questions?
PART II:JOBS
Process
•Qualifications•Resume•Applications•Interviews
Qualifications
•Grades are just one factor•Coursework•Extracurricular activities•Personal projects•Internships
▫(we’re hiring!)
Skills to sharpen
•Linux•Scripting•Version control•Unit testing
Resume
•Make it nice (LaTeX is your friend)•Keep it short•Show off your qualifications•Don’t lie
Applying
•Do it during school, not after▫Use school’s resources▫Minimize gaps
•Apply to many places•Do some research for your cover letter
Interviews
•Do more research than you did when applying
•Be ready to explain your resume•Data Structures, Algorithms, Design•They are interested in how you solve
problems▫Final answer not as important▫Reason out loud▫Ask questions
Do you have any questions?
•Of course you do!!•Shows you’re interested and did your
homework•Good types of questions:
▫On their build/test/development environment
▫On their technology▫On the employee life
Interviews - Resources
•http://www.glassdoor.com•http://
www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/GuerrillaInterviewing3.html
•http://sites.google.com/site/steveyegge2/five-essential-phone-screen-questions
Thanks!