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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
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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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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
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