what's next after be
DESCRIPTION
2010 is the 4th year since the B.E. CSE batch of 2006 passed out. This talk presents an overview of the different career paths chosen by the 2006 passouts. the mentor talks about different career choices including academic options like MS, PhD, MBA, and industry options and also put you in touch with people pursuing these choices themselves. The mentor also touches upon internships, summer research job opportunities in our college and elsewhere.TRANSCRIPT
Karthik Lakshmanan 1
Four years since B.E - What happened to the B.E. CSE 2006 batch?
Karthik LakshmananB.E CSE 2006 Pass outAB – Batch Roll Number: 20022138 (I think)
Mentoring @ DCSE, Anna University, Chennaihttp://dcseaucmentor.chronus.com
Mentor Profile: http://dcseaucmentor.chronus.com/users/2054
Karthik Lakshmanan 2
Disclaimer
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this talk are solely mine
- After approx. 4 years of engineering realize that: 1 sample is not representative of any reasonable sized population
- History is neither meant to predict nor meant to limit the future More of a means to plan and get a head-start into the problem
Please do not spam the people whose contact info I divulge
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Agenda
- Ph.d. - Freshers - Doing a Ph.d. after a stint in the Industry
- M.S.- Branching out into the industry
- Staying on for a Ph.d. - Doing an M.S. after a stint in the Industry
- M.B.A - Freshers - Doing an M.B.A after a stint in the Industry
- Industry - Opportunities in India - What are the opportunities overseas?
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Ph.d. (a story close to my heart)
(source: csd.cs.cmu.edu)
(source: Jorge cham...phdcomics.com...must read if you want to survive a Ph.d.)
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Why and Who?
(source: Jorge Cham ... www.phdcomics.com)
What Prof. Venkatraman felt about his nobel prize victory?
Academic excellence as an indicator for Ph.d. success?
So what is involved?
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What is Involved?
Lots of Passion
Courses: Anywhere from 8 – 12 advanced graduate-level courses
Teaching: 2 to 4 semesters of Teaching Assistantships
Qualifying Exam: Written and Oral Qualifying Exams
Research: Conference Publications Journal Publications Book Chapters
Thesis Job Opportunities (Academia and Industry)
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How to get started?
Research opportunities on campus: Professors have lots of interesting projects to work on - Know all the professors in the department
* even if they have not taught you a class - Approach them to see if you can be of any help Lend a helping hand to Ph.d. students
- You will learn a lot in the process Research Internships: Look for opportunities in MSR, IBM research, IITs and IISc
Attend conferences held in India Try to apply for travel grants or student scholarships
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Examples from my Batch
Lenin Ravindranath – Ph.d. MIT – After a 2 year stint at MSR Hyderabad
Myself – Ph. d. CMU – Directly after finishing my B.E.
Srinath Sridharan – Ph. d. Wisconsin Madison – After a M.S. from PSU
Leo Prasath – Ph. d. Wisconsin Madison – After 2 years at Amazon
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M. S.
Duration: 1 to 2 years
Scope: Overseas job opportunities/ Scout out for a Ph.d.
What is involved: Anywhere from 8 to 12 courses....Sometimes a Thesis
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Key Issues:
Funding: - Money is the most important reason to choose a direct Ph.d. - Masters students have very little funding opportunities - Probably 1:10 compared to Ph.d. students - Some universities are more friendlier for M.S. funding than others
Time: - Be quick to scout out for a job - Entire Masters program is almost a blur that whizzes past you
To work/not to work before joining masters - Industry experience helps you get jobs easily - Money can help you offset your tuition fees - Will you lose your enthusiasm?
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Funding
Research Assistantship: Work on a project for which a professor has secured funding Need prof. contact to secure this type of funding Usually results in additional work towards a master's thesis Best form of funding since it can help towards a tuition waiver
Teaching Assistantship: Typically a grading job with office hours Requires some sort of additional spoken English tests
On-campus jobs: Anything from desk jobs to manual labor Probably sufficient to offset your living...not enough for tuition
Summer Internships: Helps you offset chunks of your tuition fees
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Examples from my Batch
Dhivya Krishnan– M.S. Columbia – Now with Goldman Sachs
Praveen Durairaj – M.S. Stony Brook – Now with Goldman Sachs
Vinodh – M.S. Univ. of Illinois Chicago – Now with Goldman Sachs
Varadharajan – M.S. Univ. of Texas Austin (after 2 years at Amazon) – Now with Microsoft
Fredrick Prashanth – M. S. Purdue (after 2 years at CISCO) – Now with CISCO
Dharani Shankar – M. S. Penn State University – Now with VMWare
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Karthik Lakshmanan 13
M.B.A
(Source: Dilbert Comics)
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Doing an M.B.A
Popular choices: IIM and XLRI
Mandatory for earning the big bucks - Especially in Indian non-IT sectors - Great opportunities in Finance sectors
Job experience plays a vital role
If you are joining the industry you will think about an M.B.A soon
Overseas internship opportunities
Many job opportunities within India
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M.B.A in the U.S
Opens up lots of great opportunities
Best after 2-3 years of work experience in the U.S.
Downsides: - Lots of money required (tuition) - Enthusiasm to give GMAT 3-4 years down the line Other similar opportunities: - Finance courses Quants get paid handsomely Analysts can make much more than any tech job
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Examples from my Batch
Sriram – IIM A – Now working in ONG sector
Anith Prakash – IIM B – Now working for Indian Oil
Ganesh Jeyaraman – Currently at IIMB
Avinan Babu – IIM K
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Industry
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Big Companies and Startups
Big Companies: - Global Exposure - Perks and Benefits - Differentiation issues - Overseas opportunities - Onshore options - Permanent migration options
Startups - Growth Factor - Work Culture - Passion
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Value of Internships
Window into the working of a company - Best way to get a feel for the industry (typically 3 months long) - Reasonable pay for leading a luxurious final year for undergrads
Helps you decide between the academia and industry
Lots of companies look for interns: - Try to apply online - Search for contacts in the respective companies - Microsoft, IBM, Novell etc. have a standard internship program
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Examples from my Batch
Madhan, Prasad – With Microsoft U.S.
Amal Joe, Vijay Balaji – With Microsoft India
Gopinath, Aditya, Kantha – With Oracle
Shobana, Pavala Manikandaraja – CISCO
Srinivasan, Vikram Venkatesan – Chronus (startup)
Kiran Kumar, Meenakshi Sundaram – Global Scholar (startup)
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Summary
Ph.d. : If you love the academic environment - relaxed work culture, freedom, innovation/problem solving - willing to invest a significant chunk of your life to become a Dr. who cannot prescribe medicines
M.S: - you are looking for an overseas job opening - you want to scout out if you are ph.d. material
M.B.A. - Want to make big bucks and gutsy enough to clear the CAT (and lucky enough to escape without computer glitches)
Industry - Think you want to get your hands dirty, settle down and draw a paycheck - Looking to fund your upcoming M.B.A or M.S.
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Questions?
Lets chat right now
Feel free to drop in an e-mail:[email protected]
Mentoring @ DCSE, Anna University, Chennaihttp://dcseaucmentor.chronus.com
Mentor Profile: http://dcseaucmentor.chronus.com/users/2054