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Life after Stonehill CS

Life after Stonehill CS. Tom Wall twall@vertica.com. 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

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Life after Stonehill CS

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  1. Life after Stonehill CS Tom Wall twall@vertica.com

  2. Background • Graduated from Stonehill in 2009 • MS from Brown in 2010 • Straight to work in 2011

  3. PART I:GRADSCHOOL

  4. 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

  5. Why • Avoid real life • A chance to learn more • More jobs • Better jobs • Just to get it over with

  6. 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

  7. Masters vs PhD Masters 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

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. Applying • Paperwork • Transcripts • GREs • Recommendations • Essay

  11. 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

  12. Questions?

  13. PART II:JOBS

  14. Process • Qualifications • Resume • Applications • Interviews

  15. Qualifications • Grades are just one factor • Coursework • Extracurricular activities • Personal projects • Internships • (we’re hiring!)

  16. Skills to sharpen • Linux • Scripting • Version control • Unit testing

  17. Resume • Make it nice (LaTeX is your friend) • Keep it short • Show off your qualifications • Don’t lie

  18. Applying • Do it during school, not after • Use school’s resources • Minimize gaps • Apply to many places • Do some research for your cover letter

  19. 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

  20. 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

  21. Interviews - Resources • http://www.glassdoor.com • http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/GuerrillaInterviewing3.html • http://sites.google.com/site/steveyegge2/five-essential-phone-screen-questions

  22. Thanks!

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