Ask HN: How do I move up my career/life? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How do I move up my career/life?

#11

Post by bmc7505 » Fri, Sep 24, 2021, 5:08 PM UTC

seahawks78 wrote: post #10

anonymous567 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I already happen to have an MS from a US university. So, the next logical step would be a PhD. And PhD is a whole another beast. It's a commitment that I'll have to think hard and carefully about. I've considered the idea of doing PhD in Canada before, at the University of Toronto, or the University of Waterloo; not for PLT, but for networks which I was into back in the day. I'm not into networks as much anymor…

Don't do a PhD in either US/Canada unless you were in top 1% of the class and practically slept through all advanced Math courses (e.g. Convex Optimization, Linear Programming, Karush-Kuhn-Tucker etc.) and still ended up with an A. Asking someone to do a PhD just because they are bored/not challenged enough in their work is an incredibly bad piece of advice!!! Stay away! Academia in US/Canada is mostly a lost cause t…

I disagree, but I admit that I may be biased. I know plenty of folks whose grades were not perfect, but were determined and had a clear idea of what they wanted to study. However there is some degree of bureaucracy involved, so you must be persistent.

Re: Ask HN: How do I move up my career/life?

#12

Post by asimjalis » Fri, Sep 24, 2021, 5:10 PM UTC

A lot of the suggestions are incremental changes. Maybe that is the reason they are not satisfying. Could you think big? What is an impossible dream that you have that you have ruled out because rationally it appears unachievable? Could the malaise be caused by this conflict between what your heart wants and what your mind thinks is possible?

Re: Ask HN: How do I move up my career/life?

#13

Post by 908B64B197 » Fri, Sep 24, 2021, 5:23 PM UTC

anonymous567 wrote: post #8

bmc7505 wrote: post #6

I have more interest in type systems and programming language theory and things like that. I was in your shoes a few years ago. Have you thought about grad school? If you don't mind the cold, you should consider applying to somewhere in Canada. There are a number of labs here working at the intersection of PL and ML. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about the process: breandan.considine@mail.mcgill.ca…

Well, I already happen to have an MS from a US university. So, the next logical step would be a PhD. And PhD is a whole another beast. It's a commitment that I'll have to think hard and carefully about. I've considered the idea of doing PhD in Canada before, at the University of Toronto, or the University of Waterloo; not for PLT, but for networks which I was into back in the day. I'm not into networks as much anymor…

> Well, I already happen to have an MS from a US university.

Was it a "terminal MS" or a research MS? Both send very different signals[0]. What was your undergrad like?

> Is McGill University known for PLT?

Never heard of it. They don't seem to be very active in computer science. Waterloo, from my understanding, is a giant undergrad school. Grad students are outnumbered 6x by undergrads (that's a red flag). Only Lab I keep hearing about is the MILA [1]

[0] https://blog.alinelerner.com/how-different-is-a-b-s-in-compu...

[1] https://mila.quebec/en/

Re: Ask HN: How do I move up my career/life?

#14

Post by asimjalis » Fri, Sep 24, 2021, 5:23 PM UTC

> I really felt like I didn't belong there (in the US).

Reminds me of a joke by standup comedian Vishnu Vaka, delivered in Indian accent: “As you can probably tell from my accent I am from . . . New Jersey.”

Re: Ask HN: How do I move up my career/life?

#15

Post by bmc7505 » Fri, Sep 24, 2021, 5:25 PM UTC

anonymous567 wrote: post #8

bmc7505 wrote: post #6

I have more interest in type systems and programming language theory and things like that. I was in your shoes a few years ago. Have you thought about grad school? If you don't mind the cold, you should consider applying to somewhere in Canada. There are a number of labs here working at the intersection of PL and ML. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about the process: breandan.considine@mail.mcgill.ca…

Well, I already happen to have an MS from a US university. So, the next logical step would be a PhD. And PhD is a whole another beast. It's a commitment that I'll have to think hard and carefully about. I've considered the idea of doing PhD in Canada before, at the University of Toronto, or the University of Waterloo; not for PLT, but for networks which I was into back in the day. I'm not into networks as much anymor…

I see. The Ph.D. route is not an easy one, and you should think carefully whether it is what you really want. However I would not assume that less-than-perfect grades are an insurmountable barrier. More importantly, you must be persistent and resourceful.

Between McGill and UdeM, there are probably a half-dozen professors working on systems, formal reasoning, and type theory in Montreal. There are others at UofT, Waterloo and UBC. If your interests align maybe reach out to see if they are taking new students?

If you are still interested in machine learning, you might also consider applying to Mila/IQIA in parallel:

https://mila.quebec/en/cours/supervision/

Anyhow, good luck with your next steps -- I hope you'll find what you're looking for.

Re: Ask HN: How do I move up my career/life?

#16

Post by abc_lisper » Fri, Sep 24, 2021, 5:38 PM UTC

A little bit of reading and broadening your horizons is what you should do IMO. Because it doesn't seem like you know what you want, and neither do the people suggesting you what to do. Find things that draw you in, generally like having a significant other or a love, or a passion.

It is a truly difficult process. No wonder people end up in the wrong jobs, have regrets etc. In any case, strengthen your position financially, as there will always be a need for it, even if you don't need it now.

There are truly 1 or 2 things most people will be successful at. It is worth trying to figure out what those are, for being successful in the wrong thing is not worth it.

Re: Ask HN: How do I move up my career/life?

#17

Post by eternalban » Fri, Sep 24, 2021, 5:46 PM UTC

Get married.

Re: Ask HN: How do I move up my career/life?

#18

Post by sleekstrike » Fri, Sep 24, 2021, 5:55 PM UTC

Here are a bunch of options you can explore:

- You are young and skilled, apply for a Canadian PR under express entry and move to Canada. Better work/life balance, better pay and better opportunities.

- Keep learning new stuff everyday. If you stop learning in the technology space you become obsolete pretty quickly.

- Work in the blockchain space and by extension in open source software. You are good at Go, contribute to Go Ethereum Client.

Re: Ask HN: How do I move up my career/life?

#19

Post by noud » Fri, Sep 24, 2021, 6:21 PM UTC

eternalban wrote: post #17

Get married.

Then get children.

Life is more important than career.

Re: Ask HN: How do I move up my career/life?

#20

Post by AbbeFaria » Fri, Sep 24, 2021, 6:29 PM UTC

Or perhaps I should try to get away from my web developer job and get into something else?

You already know what to do here.

I just quit my job at MSFT sometime back, worked straight outta college for four years (in the MS-IDC office). I quit to actually pursue Research in "systems". As for you not getting a callback, add the right keywords/buzzwords in your resume and most importantly LC (considering where you are in your career LC is more than enough). Thats all there is to it. You have a Masters degree from US and you seem like a curious person, I have seen people with far less get into a FAANG job (in India at-least).

FAANG job would definitely be a step up in all aspects money, career etc, for a couple of years at-least. But I get a sense maybe you will grow out of it too (just like I did).

Good luck with whatever you do.