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Perspectives from the editors: a graduating PhD and Master’s student .. tips for success

Perspectives from a graduating PhD student: 

Michele Pfund

When preparing my CV for the academic job search, I was amazed at all of the accomplishments that I have attained over short three year period.  There were so many activities that I engaged in and so many unique opportunities.  As a successful graduating student being interviewed by many top schools in the nation, I feel uniquely qualified to discuss some of the things that I observed that worked well… and others that didn’t.  I would like to discuss them here.

Things to do:

Learn the job

Over the three years, I was focused upon learning what it would take to be an academic.  My focus was never really on surviving a particular class, or doing a specific research project, but was more on learning what it is like to become an academic.  This means learning the requisite material to be successful in my research, learning how to teach, and learning how to mentor graduate students.  This was crucial to me becoming confident that I could be a good professor.

Become active in research

I clearly learned more from my research projects than I did in the classroom.  Learning the classroom material, at least to me, was like building a strong foundation for my research.  It gives you baseline fundamentals, but you must build the house around the foundation.  While I was fortunate to have a research assistantship for three years, there are other ways to become involved in research as well.  Instead of doing a typical class project, ask a professor if there are any active research projects that you could work on as a part of your class project.  This will allow you to become engaged in research and may result in a publishable paper.

Become active in teaching

Teaching is an integral part of the academic career, and for me is the icing on the cake.  I loved the days that I came into teach class.  The students were active and engaged and always asked great questions.  True, there is a lot of preparation involved in teaching ..you never know how well you know a topic until you get ready to teach it to a group of undergraduate students.  You have to know it well, and you have to know how to explain it in several different ways.  But this makes you clearly understand the subject as well.  During the job interviews, teaching was a very important discussion topic and having this experience clearly made a difference. 

Become active in service

Not all PhD students have an opportunity to teach courses… but they can become involved in service activities.  Ask your adviser if you can review papers and get involved with your campus high school summer programs.  These programs may be in desperate need for someone to develop curriculum for the engineering / business programs.  For example, I developed a production management mini-course for the Women in Science and College of Engineering high school summer programs.  This gave me additional teaching/ curriculum development experience, but also was an incredibly rewarding experience as well.

  Things not to do:

Lose your balance

The PhD program is a long-term time investment.  It is important to balance your life between family / friends / and school.  Make time for some relaxation and fun time with them every week.  Don’t get so caught up in your studies that you losetrack of what really is important.

Let someone choose a topic for you

Make sure that you have a thesis topic that you are interested in.  Don’t take the easy route and let someone choose a topic for you that you may not be interested in.  Remember, you will be spending a lot of time on this topic…. Make sure you will enjoy it.

Take the easy route

Challenge yourself.  Never choose a topic that you know the answer before you start.  It will be boring and routine.  Look for the less intuitive … it will be more interesting and can be more groundbreaking than following the standard path.

 I wish you the best in your studies.  I hope your program turns out as well as mine.  It has been a wonderful journey and I would recommend it to anyone.  Obtaining a PhD is a dream for many people.  We are very lucky to have the opportunity to fulfill our dreams… try to make sure that you are enjoying the journey.

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Tips from a Graduating Master’s Student

Shari Murray

It has taken me more than three years to earn two master’s degrees in a dual-degree program for International Management and Industrial Engineering.  I’ve studied abroad in France and Mexico, completed projects for the US Air Force and the Semiconductor Research Corporation, traveled to three national conferences and received two national awards for my work.  If anything that I have learned along the way will help you all in any way, I am more than happy to offer the following advice. 

First of all, LEARN!

When I returned to school after three years in the “real world”, for the first time, I had entered academia on a true quest for knowledge.  This time I wasn’t simply seeking to get A’s in all my classes or to come home with a diploma at the end of four years.  I had identified where I wanted my career to go and was preparing myself for that future.  I put in the extra effort to really understand what the professors were talking about.  I actually read the textbooks (well, on occasion), I read some technical journals to get some real world examples, and continuously assimilated the topics from all of my different classes.  Memorizing information might get you an A, but won’t serve you well as an industry professional.  A real desire to learn makes a big difference.

Get to know your professors

Soak up their knowledge and witness their passion for what they do.  Few professors entered academia for the financial rewards, to “get ahead” or, contrary to popular belief, to torture students.  They are in academic institutions because they wanted to teach, they wanted to do research, and they wanted to mentor students.  Many of them are simply a wealth of information in their field in addition to being good people.  Go to their offices, ask them questions about the homework, inquire about their research and tell them about your background.  Establishing a personal relationship will increase the professor’s commitment to you and your commitment to that professor’s class.  You might get a great project idea thrown your way and maybe even a position as a research or teaching assistant in the future. 

Tailor your skills to an industry

This is something fun that has been really interesting for me.  Since my first semester in graduate school, I’ve been reading, working and studying about the semiconductor industry.  I’ve been lucky to work as a research assistant on a variety of projects funded by semiconductor companies, and I’ve been able to see the OR and simulation applications in the “fabs”, in the supply chains, and in the enterprise resource planning tools.  Working within the industry has cemented a lot of the concepts from my different classes, enabled me to put in practice many of the tools I have learned, and most importantly, has made me a much more marketable graduate in this field.  Graduating during an economic recession is never good, and any way that I can differentiate myself from other students during my academic career will help me find the job that I want in the future.  Pick an industry that interests you or investigate the interests of your favorite professor.  Whenever you have the opportunity to pick a topic for a given project, select something relevant to your industry of choice.  It is easier to do than you might think and will bring you a variety of rewards in return.

Be prepared for and open to new experiences

Finally, my two cents (if it’s really worth even that much) wouldn’t be complete without adding something else.  This may be advice that is more pertinent to life in general than to your academic experience, but I would really like to pass it along.  Please, everyone, if you don’t already, start picking up a newspaper on a regular basis.  Be aware of what is going on in the world around you and form educated opinions about what you read.  Travel, study at least a little about the social sciences and really get to know a different culture.  Learn a second language or just go and see a foreign film, but don’t be oblivious.  The world is becoming a smaller place even as we speak, and being a good citizen, no matter what nation you may be from, is more important than ever before.  Keeping up-to-date and taking advantage of these various opportunities will help you define exactly who you are and what’s really important to you. I understand my capabilities and my limitations much better than I used to and I feel like a part of the something much bigger than just the communities of my friends, family and schoolmates. 

So that’s it.  I don’t know if any of this will help, but it has helped me.  Some were conscious choices, others were just luck, but all of these things have made a difference in my life and have helped me get to where I am today.  A good attitude, interaction with good people, a little focus and a bit of curiosity and adventure can make your academic career a more fulfilling, enlightening and rewarding experience all the way around. 

Good luck to everyone as you pursue your degrees.

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