This is part of the slides that I used in my public talk, namely Rebooted @ Amazon, that was given at ITS @ UC Davis in Nov of last year. Since then, I have been encouraged to share my experience with broader audience. So here we go. I hope that you'll find it useful and inspire you to pursue a career that interests you most. I also welcome your feedback and comments!
1. How Careers in Academia and Industry Differ?
ERIC HUANG
RESEARCH SCIENTIST @ AMAZON
FORMER ASSISTANT PROFESSOR @ CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
2. 2
Fresh off the boat
Deviations from
expectations
Seeking out/
psychological
struggling
Reboot
My journey
3. Mentality – new theory leads to new papers vs. resolve real problems and save $$
Problems – technically sophisticated vs. mingled with business details
Time/Resources – years from start to paper acceptance mostly with individual
efforts vs. months with team efforts
Collaborations – technical compliment from co-authors vs. different teams from
different background
3
Research in Academia : Industry
4. • A small enterprise (pilot/co-pilot),
• Independence,
• Flat relationship
4
• Team
• Collaborations/frictions,
• Corporate ladders
Life in Academia : Industry
5. • Stable career
• Clear career pathway
• (relative, staged)
Freedoms
5
Career in Academia : Industry
• Dynamic
• Uncertain career
trajectory
• Excitements and
breakthroughs