Live data from Hacker News

Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

patentpandas.org

1–10 of 510 posts

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#2
> I was even invited to share my work directly with Regina Dugan, the director of ATAP at that time! I was excited, thinking perhaps I would be invited for a summer internship. It turned out they found my work so relevant that they offered me a job on the spot.

> It was a tough choice: I had just started the first year of my PhD and would’ve had to take a leave from the program to pursue this project. After asking many people, the advice was clear: stay in school. So I decided to turn down the offer and continue pursuing my PhD.

...this sounds like terrible advice? I have to wonder whether any of the "many people" consulted weren't professors.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#3

> I was even invited to share my work directly with Regina Dugan, the director of ATAP at that time! I was excited, thinking perhaps I would be invited for a summer internship. It turned out they found my work so relevant that they offered me a job on the spot. > It was a tough choice: I had just started the first year of my PhD and would’ve had to take a leave from the program to pursue this project. After asking ma…

There's a lot to a particular individual's situation and life goals to indicate whether the advice is bad or not (for them).

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#4

> I was even invited to share my work directly with Regina Dugan, the director of ATAP at that time! I was excited, thinking perhaps I would be invited for a summer internship. It turned out they found my work so relevant that they offered me a job on the spot. > It was a tough choice: I had just started the first year of my PhD and would’ve had to take a leave from the program to pursue this project. After asking ma…

Off topic

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#5

> I was even invited to share my work directly with Regina Dugan, the director of ATAP at that time! I was excited, thinking perhaps I would be invited for a summer internship. It turned out they found my work so relevant that they offered me a job on the spot. > It was a tough choice: I had just started the first year of my PhD and would’ve had to take a leave from the program to pursue this project. After asking ma…

A lot of people would salivate at the opportunity to become a Googler. Some of us actively shoo away the recruiters. To each their own, but I would have made the same choice.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#7

> I was even invited to share my work directly with Regina Dugan, the director of ATAP at that time! I was excited, thinking perhaps I would be invited for a summer internship. It turned out they found my work so relevant that they offered me a job on the spot. > It was a tough choice: I had just started the first year of my PhD and would’ve had to take a leave from the program to pursue this project. After asking ma…

What makes this terrible advice? Is there something in particular about landing a job at Google that makes it objectively better in every value system than continuing with a PhD that one is already seeking?

I left a very good position on the table after my undergrad, in favor of pursuing a graduate degree. I weighed my options and decided that I would rather spend some years in my youth learning how to conduct research -- lessons I believed, and still believe, will carry through into my future endeavors. I picked up an excellent job after my Master's (at the same place I had left behind previously!) and am very happy with how things played out.

I realize this is the best possible outcome, but what makes this general arc such a bad idea?

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#8

> I was even invited to share my work directly with Regina Dugan, the director of ATAP at that time! I was excited, thinking perhaps I would be invited for a summer internship. It turned out they found my work so relevant that they offered me a job on the spot. > It was a tough choice: I had just started the first year of my PhD and would’ve had to take a leave from the program to pursue this project. After asking ma…

A lot of people would salivate at the opportunity to become a Googler. Some of us actively shoo away the recruiters. To each their own, but I would have made the same choice.

For the most part a software engineering job at google is pretty mediocre from a coding perspective. Most people hired there will never work on cutting edge tech. For the enlightened few its amazing. This is speaking strictly about the work, and not the money/prestige/perks.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#9

> I was even invited to share my work directly with Regina Dugan, the director of ATAP at that time! I was excited, thinking perhaps I would be invited for a summer internship. It turned out they found my work so relevant that they offered me a job on the spot. > It was a tough choice: I had just started the first year of my PhD and would’ve had to take a leave from the program to pursue this project. After asking ma…

You can get an offer from Google many times if you are good, getting a PhD offer from MIT, even if you are good, won't come that many times.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#10
post #7

> I was even invited to share my work directly with Regina Dugan, the director of ATAP at that time! I was excited, thinking perhaps I would be invited for a summer internship. It turned out they found my work so relevant that they offered me a job on the spot. > It was a tough choice: I had just started the first year of my PhD and would’ve had to take a leave from the program to pursue this project. After asking ma…

What makes this terrible advice? Is there something in particular about landing a job at Google that makes it objectively better in every value system than continuing with a PhD that one is already seeking? I left a very good position on the table after my undergrad, in favor of pursuing a graduate degree. I weighed my options and decided that I would rather spend some years in my youth learning how to conduct resear…

> I picked up an excellent job after my Master's (at the same place I had left behind previously!)

It sounds like you would agree that joining a PhD program is not a good idea.

Post reply on HN