2024-07-28 Note: This is a transcript for a talk I delivered to Joel Carpenter's UQ Optics class in 2022. I found it in my notes and did not bother to re-read it before uploading. Feel free to yell at me if I've made any mistakes.
From Student To Industry
Good afternoon everyone, my name is Cameron, I am a somewhat recent hire at Finisar, so I was sitting in your seat only a few years ago. Today I am going to talk about some of the things I noticed going from studying to working, some of the things I found helped with the transition and finding a job in industry and some of the things I might've done differently if I was going to do it again.
So to begin with, I want to talk about some of the differences I've noticed moving from being a student in academia to working in industry so that you have the right idea about what to expect.
The biggest difference I've noticed after moving from being a science student to working in industry is the shear breadth of things I need to do. If your science degree is anything like mine was, an average day was
- Sit in a lecture
- Write some Notes
- Write some MATLAB
- Send one email,
- Take more notes.
Working as an engineer I find myself still doing lots of math and writing lots of software, but I'm also debugging electronic circuit boards, setting up experiments, designing metalwork, designing packaging, troubleshooting for customers and all kinds of related tasks. On the other hand, I also spend a LOT more time, filling in paperwork, answering emails, filling in more paperwork and also getting my hands dirty with the production crew make sure product actually gets out the door.
So there are pros and cons to it like anything, in both academia and industry there are plenty of time wasting tasks to get through, but having a physical product that you can hold in your hands and sell to customers for money I find to be really quite rewarding about working in industry. Especially after spending so many years where the sum of my work was a grade sheet at the end of semester.
On the hand, the other consequence of working on a physical product, is it actually needs to work. Every Time. When your in the lab your experiment only needs to work long enough to take your measurements, but for a physical product it needs to work every day, at a wide temperature range and under all kinds on conditions. Finding and addressing the corner cases in your products is its own special breed of hair pulling out.
So now I want to talk about what was useful an d useless that I got out of my degree.
It should go without saying that the foundations of mathematics and the skills associated with it are critical for understanding the underlying principals of any product you might design. Unfortunately, about 90% of the content you learn in math is useless. And I say that without exaggeration. I have not done a single proof since graduating. That is not to say that your math classes are useless, I often find myself writing software to implement some algorithm or another, which requires a good grasp on the elements of linear algebra, calculus, differential equations and all that other good stuff. The point I am trying to make here, is that a solid understanding of the fundamentals and how to apply them are a lot more useful than the expertise in any particular area of mathematics.
On a similar note, the lab sessions in my undergrad course were a lot more useful than I gave them credit for at the time.
There is the great saying "The difference between theory and practice, is greater in practice than in theory" And in engineering, a theoretical product doesn't get you very far. ( Unless you work for a Silicon Valley start up :P )
The point is, knowing how to use the tools of the trade and set up an experiment is one of the more useful things that your degree will directly teach you. Messing around with lasers, electronics, oscilloscopes and whatever else is in your lab is the most expensive part of your degree. So try to get your money's worth.
Now I want to talk about what I did right, and what I wish I did differently.
For one, I think the most valuable part of my degree of all my work was the open-ended research opportunities. I was fortunate enough to get the chance to do different research projects before starting my honors research. And even though none of this work nearly of publishable quality, this is where I learnt to work independently, and problem solve without the benefit of textbooks or lecturers who I could go to for clues. It also gave me some projects which I could talk when I was applying for jobs which differentiated me from the pack. If you have done primary research on a topic that's something an interviewer can ask you about and you can use it as an excuse to exercise your communication skills to talk about how you lead a project working independently (or in a team) and got actionable data from. See how many job keywords I slipped in there? So my recommendation, any chance you get to do some open ended research, jump on it!
For what I wish I did differently, I wish that I had got my hands dirty with a few more physical projects. Now in the unprecedented times of covid, I found some of my non-theoretical skills were lacking, and that was a steep learning curve for me upon entering engineering. Labwork really helps here, but it was not quite enough. And if I might give some specific advice; if you are worried your physical skills are lacking like mine were, go buy yourself an Arduino Starter kit, they're relatively cheap and you can go get some experience with circuitry, embedded software, and project design. I also happen to think they're quite fun to tinker with, but it's VERY useful to have a physical THING you can say you made when applying to jobs. Remember, industry cares about selling things, not your grades.
Another idea for something to differentiate yourself from the pack. If you are a software person, consider contributing to an open-source project, even if its just correcting some typos in the documentation to start off with,
Having something of a portfolio you can show at an interview is invaluable, whether it is a physical thing you made, software you wrote or research you produced, having something unique that you did speaks a lot louder than the grades you get on your exams and assignment worksheets.
Another thing to put in the win column was all the hours I spent hanging out in the engineering department. I noticed very early on in my degree, that although I was studying pure science, the engineers always threw way better parties. So naturally that is where I spent all my free time. Now in addition to learning about the deep rivalry between mechanical and aeronautical engineering and deep philosophical questions such as "Is civil engineering, really a type of engineering?" spending time with this cohort was invaluable to my development.
This all boils down to idea cross-pollination, by making sure I was speaking to people outside of my department, I was exposing myself to more ideas. This meant I was better able to talk to people outside of my specialty, - (seriously, if you can't explain what it is your studying to a lay person, you will have problems explaining to an interviewer why they should hire you). - I was also able to get a better idea of what technologies other people were using and what scientific problems really need solving. For the engineers, speaking to us scientists they get some nice spoilers for upcoming technology and new ideas for development. So, the benefits really goes both ways.
Now while I've focused on our friends in engineering, I this idea generalizes quite broadly, if you want to know what products make a business profitable and which are a big-time waster, you're probably going to have to speak to the business students. There are fantastic ideas coming out of the mathematics and computer science departments every day which make for more useful research tools, and if you want to know what life is really worth living for, I guess that's what the arts department is for. Idea cross pollination and diversity of thought and mindset are incredibly important for your development professionally, the ideas you come up with and for your general social and emotional wellbeing.
To summarize the first half on my presentation, here are some action points: - Working in industry you may find yourself doing a much broader variety of tasks, but just as many time-wasting tasks - At the end of the day, you end up with a physical thing you can hold in your hands and sell for money, which I think is rewarding, however your milage may vary. - Math knowledge is useless, math skills are critical - Pay more attention in lab - Do something different to your cohort: - Chase down some open-ended research project - Build something with an Arduino - Contribute to an Open-Source Software project - Finally, try your best to socialize with people outside of your department, make sure you get used to explaining your work and understanding the work of others.