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My career path so far

College

Pure & Applied Mathematics

Pre-Med

Graduate School

(Masters)

Pure & Applied Mathematics

Astronomy

Graduate School

(PhD)

International Experience

Postdoc

Science

Survey Management

Industry

Astronomy

Data Science

Academia

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Tips for if you know you want to leave

Take survey management positions in astronomy and use a summer for an internship.

Make your publication data public, including the software (GitHub), and release it in an interactive fashion (i.e. Filtergraph).

Make sure you code in Python. R is good to learn, but not necessary.

Write programs and pipelines, not scripts!

Incorporate some version of machine learning and basic statistics in your research.

χ² is not considered a useful statistical tool.

Set up a LinkedIn account, and contact folks who have already left astronomy.

There are fellowship programs such as Insight, but they have mixed results.

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Industry Work Culture

Generally 9-5 Monday to Friday is respected.

Not my job is a legitimate complaint.

A lot of delegation can exist in some companies.

Usually you will be given a project and expected to complete it, and generally there isn’t a research think-tank.

Deadlines are real and have real consequences for delays.

In astronomy we are used to communicating with Astronomers, Mathematicians, Physicists, but in industry you will interact with Marketers, Engineers, MBAs, IT, etc.

In my experience, a hostile workplace culture is common in industry.

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Usually 3-5 years experience in all categories...can include postgraduate work.

Typical required skills:

Machine Learning: Usually requires more than linear regression with a least squares optimization.
Database Management: Basic SQL queries
Scripting Languages: Primarily Python, sometimes R or C is suggested.
Education: Usually a minimum of a Master’s degree in an analytical field.
Papers: Shows you can complete a project.

Good to have skills:

Previous Internships
Visualization: Hadoop, Spark….Filtergraph! This is not just pretty plots in a paper.
Cloud Computing: Amazon Web Service (AWS), Microsoft Azure - these are business tools, but any type of virtual machine is similar experience
Management Experience: Not usually required, but a huge plus
Significant presentation history
Grant writing experience with awards

Unnecessary skills:

Teaching and mentoring

Data Science Positions

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Updating your CV: No more than 2 pages for a Postdoc, 1 page for a graduate student

Make sure you include a specific cover letter with each application.

Talk about what you produced, not the science results.

Include grants awarded, press releases, and international experience/languages.

Teaching isn’t something to include, but mentoring is.

Do not highlight every paper’s result.

Avoid astronomy terms, even basic ones.

A Business Resume

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Interview Preparation

Google common interview questions and write them down.

Practice answering them in writing
Practice answering them by speaking

Read up on machine learning, coding skills, and job requirements you don’t have.

Have a good answer for why you want to leave astronomy and/or why you want to join Company-X. This is always asked.

For tough questions, or terms you don’t understand, it is OK to ask for more clarification. I always tried to relate stuff back to astronomy. They aren’t always looking for the correct answer, just some type of answer. If you can, avoid saying I don’t know.

Afterwards, follow up with a ‘thank-you’ email.

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General Timeline of Application Process

Submit Application

(within a week of job post)

HR Phone Screen

Rejected

<2-5 business days

> a business week

You may or may not receive a notice of rejection....

You likely will be called at this point if you are rejected.

1-2 weeks

2-3 weeks

“On-site”

Technical Interview

Possible Director/VP Interview

Formal Offer

& Negotiation

(this may take weeks)

Informal Job Offer

2-3 weeks

Generally, it is reasonable to send a follow up email after 2 weeks of any step. However, you should not expect a response.

Manager

Phone Screen

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Timeline of Events for my Sysco Position

End of July ‘18 - Application Submitted

August 2 - phone screen

August 9 - phone interview with manager

September 12 - On-site interview with Manager and VP

September 28 - Rejection email

October 2018 - Call back about possible future position

April 18 - Request for interview for new position

May 2 - On-site interview

May 16 - Informal phone offer from Manager

May 29 - Formal offer from HR

May 30 - Counter offer sent

June 3 - Acceptance

June 5 to 13 - Background check etc

June 13 - Good to go

July 1 - Start date

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If you get an offer, congratulations!

Offer - Usually everything is negotiable, and you should negotiate. This is usually done with HR, but sometimes with the general manager.

Start date (usually 2-3 weeks from when you accept), salary (always ask for more), signing bonus (ask for one if they don’t give you one), vacation days (2 weeks is standard for starting in industry, but ∞ weeks is pretty standard in academia). This is your only time to negotiate this, and if you don’t ask you won’t get it. You won’t have the offer rescinded if you ask for something.

Background Check and Drug Test - Be aware these exist. Usually, you will not want to ‘hand-in-notice’ until you pass both the background check and drug test.

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