*Concerns of Young Mathematicians* Volume 3, Issue 20 June 21, 1995 An electronically distributed digest for discussions of the issues of concern to mathematicians at the beginning of their careers. Please, direct submissions and questions to Emil Volcheck, volcheck@acm.org , editor for the month of June. Next issue: Wednesday, July 5. May Editor: Franklin Mendivil mendivil@math.gatech.edu June Editor: Emil Volcheck volcheck@acm.org July Editor: Kevin Madigan madigan@math.nwu.edu To subscribe: Contact Charles Yeomans at cyeomans@ms.uky.edu Back issues and other information are available via anonymous FTP to ftp.ms.uky.edu, in pub3/mailing.lists/ymn-list. Or connect to the YMN homepage on the WWW, the URL: http://math34.gatech.edu:8080/YMN/ymn.html The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the administrative board or membership of the Young Mathematicians' Network. The editorial policy of this newsletter is to encourage discussion of issues, and facilitate the dissemination of information, relevant to the concerns of young mathematicians. Table of Contents Item # Title ------ ----- 1 Editor's notes 2 Tips on seeking employment in industry 3 MAA Implements New Employment Advertising Policy 4 Closing Credits _______________________________________________________________ Item #1 Editor's notes: In item #2, YMN editorial board member Mark Winstead shares some advice on looking for positions in industry. Mark has recently taken a position as a software engineer with E-systems in Dallas and serves on the Joint Committee for Employment Opportunities (JCEO) of the Board of Mathematical Sciences. Board member Steve Kennedy reports in item #3 about an MAA advertising policy that seeks to discourage departments from hiring new PhDs into one-year non-postdoctoral positions. _______________________________________________________________ Item #2 Tips on seeking employment in industry Now that my own search is done, I can give away my best advice on generating interviews and searching for jobs in industry (what, you really expect I would give away my best stuff BEFORE my own search was complete?). This advice is a combination of my own experiences and what I have digested from other sources. Tip one: Get a hold of *What Color is Your Parachute?* by Richard Bolles. Bolles's book is the annual best seller in the job hunting and career advice market, according to the New York Times book survey. Annually revised, it is a thick volume describing how to job search, make resumes, do well in the interview, etc. Additionally, it spends a lot of time helping you pinpoint exactly what you want, which leads me to tip two. Tip two: identify exactly what you want to do. I started concentrating exclusively on finding a job in industry or government about September of 1994. I got one phone interview in October. In November, I spent a lot of time on the phone, approaching mathematicians in my area (Northern Virginia), talking about what they do and what openings typically occur at their company, really just gathering info, not so much begging for a job. I came to realize that the job search process is not a session with a guidance counselor. No one in industry hires a mathematician to do mathematics. They hire problem solvers or "mathematics appliers" (doing either actual mathematics or mathematics as a style of thinking). It was up to me to determine the situations where I was qualified to do that problem solving. By mid-December of 1994, I had made that determination. I started the job search process again, almost from the beginning. First week, I got an interview and a phone interview. In January and February, I averaged nearly two phone interviews per week, got a site interview in late February, a couple of invitations for interviews and an offer in March, and started a job in April. Some will disagree with me on this tip, but I think you need to focus your search. Using your non-mathematical talents will probably prove essential in landing a job in industry, so focus your search accordingly. Do you have impressive computer skills? Is your undergraduate degree not in mathematics? What about your B.S. minor? Did you almost major in chemistry? Tip three: Talk with mathematically trained people in industry. In the back of the hardcopy version of the *Combined Membership List* is a geographic listing of the combined membership of the AMS, MAA, and SIAM. Look up mathematicians in your area. You will be amazed at how many will be willing to talk with you. Send them e-mail or a note telling them that you would like to call them next week (tell them why), then call them. Don't apply for a job, just talk to them about their work, how they got it, etc. Send them a resume IF and ONLY IF they ask for your resume. Avoid looking like you are simply trying to use them to get a job. Tip four: Network, network, network. In real estate, the three most important things are location, location and location. In job searching, it's to network, network, and network. After you know what you want, talk to your friends, relatives, the guy on the corner, everyone about the kind of work you want. According to Bolles (see tip one), of the five most effective job search techniques, four involve networking. And don't forget your alma maters. Contact them about lists of alumni in the geographic area you are searching. Tip five: Repeat after me 10 times- "A resume is not another version of a vitae". Since landing a job, some of you have written me asking about job prospects at my employer and/or in the Dallas area (I see you didn't need to read tip four!). I have seen some of your resumes. People, a resume and an academic vitae are not that much alike. An academic vitae is pretty much a job application; a resume is intended to get an employer's attention. In talking to those who read resumes, many of you blow it with your resume. The average prospective employer spends only a few seconds with each resume. Too much info gets it tossed. You want to get their interest and a phone call from them. The interview will get the job. Let me spend some time here with my tip five. Let me quickly summarize my background. PhD from Virginia in algebraic topology, M.S. and B.S. in math from Florida State, written several papers, lectured several times at meetings, taught several different courses at four different schools, post doc in Sweden, cofounded YMN, on JCEO, reviewed textbook, have references, worked at the NSA, etc. etc. My last academic vitae was three pages long. Want to guess how long my resume is? Go ahead, guess. It is one page long. And that includes a summary of my skills or objective (I have several versions, depending on the target of the resume). Some of you say, no way. I say yes way. It contains all the material necessary, no more, no less. Let me tell you how. 5a) No personal info. Legally, no potential employer needs to know your age, how many children, where you were born, your marital status, or your state of health. 5b) Under your education, it is assumed you have a B.S. or M.S. if you have a PhD. It is ok to leave off your BS/MS info off UNLESS having it there will help, e.g. the resume stands a good chance of being read by a fellow alum of the school the degree is from or if the BS major is not math and might help you land the interview. In other words, a hiring manager will see PhD, then skip on to the next section -- he has no need to see you have a B.S. also. Also, unless your dissertation topic relates directly to the job, leave off your dissertation topic, title, and advisor. If the reader doesn't care, why take the space and the reader's time by putting it in. Never list any of the classes you took. If any class you took relates, mention it in the cover letter. 5c) Under employment, put only your post PhD experience and your experience gained in grad school. Don't list earlier work unless it will help you land the interview. Never list all the courses you taught. If a particular course you taught might help, mention it in the cover letter. 5d) The resume reader is unlikely to care to see your entire publication and lecture list. If you wrote a paper that directly relates to the position being applied for, certainly include it, otherwise, simply say "Publication and special lecture list available upon request" under *Professional Activities*. 5e) List your computer skills. Few jobs don't require some use of the computer. 5f) Don't ever mention your references. It is assumed you have some, and it is assumed you will provide a list of references upon request. 5g) Finally, have several versions of your resume. Ideally, you should customize your resume to each employer. Doing this will certainly trim your resume, as you leave out items not pertinent. For more on resumes, see the book by Bolles (tip one). Tip six: Your job in industry is unlikely to be advertised where you will see it. This is why networking is so important. Tip seven/Bibliography: A list of useful sources of information, and a brief description of each item. What Color is Your Parachute - see tip one. Mathematical Sciences Professional Directory - There is an extensive list of non-academic (i.e. government and industry) organizations that employ mathematicians in its pages. This is by no means complete, but it's a good starting point. Job Choices in Science & Engineering - an annual publication which lists the anticipated occupational needs of corporations and government agencies who typically recruit college graduates. Though it is primarily aimed at B.S. and B.A. graduates, many entries in it also list anticipated needs for graduate degrees in mathematics. This publication is typically distributed for free through undergraduate career placement/resource centers. You may also find it in some decent libraries. Also look for a similar publication by Peterson's which is sold in bookstores. State employment commissions - I didn't anticipate much help from the one in Virginia, but I was glad I went. These places used to be for low wage earners, but the one I went to in Fairfax VA had extensive resources for professionals. Public library - ask the librarian about its job search resources. Once you have identified employers, you may find their annual reports here. Undergraduate career resource centers - good places for finding out more about employers you will have identified elsewhere. FEDWORLD - a listing of job openings with the federal government. Telnet to fedworld.gov and then follow your nose. Tip eight: Let me share with you a list of employers looking for PhD mathematicians. (RSC = requires security clearance) The Aerospace Corporation - a Los Angeles based non-profit corporation that is a federally-funded research and development center (FFRDC). This company is looking for people with advanced degrees who have some formal education or experience with modelling and simulation, optimization, databases, etc. Jobs involve, for instance, evaluating the security of computer systems, optimal design of satellite configurations, and databases. Listed in the Professional Directory. RSC. Naval Research Laboratory/Optical Sciences Division - located in D.C. Looking to build its team of mathematicians, physicists, and engineers with emphasis on certain areas of expertise. In our discussions, I was asked about meteorology, physics, cryptography. Listed in the Professional Directory. RSC. Naval Undersea Warfare Center - saw an ad for this place, called them up and discovered they had a huge number of openings. Don't know how many mathematicians. They invited me in for an interview after I had accepted a job with E-Systems. The ad was on FEDWORLD. I discovered from a separate source (at NRL) that the reason for the expansion and hiring is the threat that old Soviet sub technology will fall or has fallen into the hands of terrorists or radical third world countries, who will in turn use it in ways the Soviet Union probably wouldn't have. RSC. Metron, Inc - Located in Reston VA. Looking for good problem solvers. Just landed huge contract with Nabisco to do what amounts to approximating solutions to traveling salesman problems. Also have a contract to find ways to dampen vibrations that occur during silicon wafer production (the faster a board stops vibrating, the more productive the factory is). The president of the corporation is Thomas Corwin, and the senior vice president is Lawrence Stone; both are members of the AMS. E-Systems/Garland Division - will or will not have more positions soon. My understanding is that there are two departments that hire math PhDs here. The one I am in will or won't have more openings this summer, depending on a contract that will almost certainly expand or be won (I forget which), but my boss prefers to wait until it happens and play catch up. Listed in Job Choices (see previous tip), and I can recommend you if I know you. It is helpful if you have some combination of experience with MPP and/or Crays or other extremely sophisticated hardware, some computer science, a degree from a Group I school, or extensive programming experience. RSC. Submitted by Mark W Winstead mwwinst@pic.net . _______________________________________________________________ Item #3 MAA Implements New Employment Advertising Policy Anecdotal evidence suggests that these days the typical career path for the new Ph.D. involves a succession of temporary positions. Quite often these positions last only a single year and the new Ph.D. is forced to search for employment year in and year out; it is obviously harmful to the individual's career to spend so much time looking for employment instead of growing professionally. It is also clear that this practice is harmful to the institutions involved and the profession as a whole. The AMS, AWM, and MAA have all acknowledged the dangers of this practice and reacted to the concerns expressed by the Young Mathematicians' Network by adopting the resolution "Supportive Practices and Ethics in the Employment of Young Mathematicians" (see footnote). Last spring the editors of CoYM wrote to Jim Maxwell of the AMS and to Harriet Lord of the AWM, suggesting that their respective organizations respond to submitted advertisements for one-year positions by sending the advertiser a copy of the resolution and a letter explaining to the advertiser why the AMS (resp. AWM) objects to the practice of hiring young mathematicians into one-year positions. A copy of the letter sent to the AMS appeared in CoYM, vol. 2, no. 15, April 20, 1994. Attentive readers of this newsletter will have noticed that the AWM acted upon our suggestion. In the April 5, 1995 CoYM (vol. 3, no. 13) Harriet Lord announced that the AWM will send a copy of the Employment Practices resolution and an explanatory letter to all advertisers of temporary positions in the AWM newsletter, unless that position is explicitly described as post-doctoral. On May 22nd of this year a letter signed by 14 members of the YMN board was sent to MAA President Ken Ross suggesting that the MAA adopt a policy similar to that of the AWM. I am delighted to report that President Ross has decided to implement just such a policy. Specifically, the MAA plans to: i) "Send appropriately worded letters to the people placing one-year ads in FOCUS;" ii) "Routinely include a statement in the ad section of FOCUS about the ethics statement." I think I speak for the whole YMN board when I offer my appreciation of the efforts of Professors Lord and Ross. I do not know what steps the AMS intends to take, or has taken, in response to our suggestion. I am hopeful that the positive actions by the AWM and the MAA will stir the AMS to action. I have written to the new Executive Director of AMS, John Ewing, asking where this proposal stands with them. I will post any information I get in reply here, as soon I receive it. submitted by Steve Kennedy skennedy@mathcs.carleton.edu . Footnote: The statement of the resolution passed by both the AMS Council and the AWM Executive Committee can be found on p. 202 of the March 1994 NOTICES of the AMS, on p. 8 of the March-April 1994 issue of the AWM Newsletter, and at the YMN ftp site ftp.ms.uky.edu in pub3/mailing.lists/ymn-list. The MAA resolution differs slightly and can be found on p. 12 of the February 1995 FOCUS. _______________________________________________________________ Item #4 Closing Credits Charles Yeomans cyeomans@ms.uky.edu Mark Winstead mwwinst@pic.net Nancy Wilson nwilson@stmarys-ca.edu Emil Volcheck Emil.Volcheck@risc.uni-linz.ac.at Frank Sottile sottile@math.toronto.edu Vic Perera vicum@math.ohio-state.edu Franklin Mendivil mendivil@math.gatech.edu Kevin Madigan madigan@math.nwu.edu Leigh Lunsford lunsford@math.uah.edu Steve Kennedy skennedy@mathcs.carleton.edu Matt Hudelson hudelson@math.washington.edu Silvia Heubach silvi@cinenet.net Bob Dobrow dobrow@cam.nist.gov Greg Dresden dresden@fireant.ma.utexas.edu Lyle Cochran lcochran@fresno.edu Kevin Charlwood kec1@bradley.bradley.edu Neil Calkin calkin@math.gatech.edu Wendy Brunzie brunzie@mathfs.math.montana.edu Curtis Bennett cbennet@bgnet.bgsu.edu Frank Arlinghaus frank@math.ysu.edu Edward Aboufadel aboufade@sun.scsu.ctstateu.edu _______________________________________________________________ End of Journal -- Next week: The Discussion Continues