1.
How to Be Competitive for Industrial Research
© 2011 IBM Corporation
Jobs
Yuanyuan Tian
IBM Almaden Research Center

2.
Application
 When to start applying?
• Industrial research labs do hire year around, but the bulk is in spring
• Try to send out your application before Feb, but the earlier the better
 Application materials
• Resume/CV
• References
• Research Statement
 Where to send the application
• Directly to the researchers of the lab
• Applying online is usually not useful – gets lost in the flood
 What gets you an interview?
• Publications
• Past internships or collaboration
• References
© 2011 IBM Corporation 2

3.
Interview Format
 Phone Interview
• 30 minutes or 1 hour
• About your PhD work and intern experiences
 Onsite Interview
• 1 or 2 days
• 1 hour job talk on your PhD work (expect questions during the talk)
• 30 minutes dedicated Q&A (grill time)
• One-on-one with individual researchers, 30 to 45 minutes each
 Usually about your PhD work and other experience
 Usually, people won’t ask you to write a sort algorithm on the white board
© 2011 IBM Corporation 3

4.
What are interviewers looking for?
 Phone Interview
• The candidate is the same person as on the resume
• Communication is reasonable
• No surprises
 On-site Interview
• Is the candidate smart?
• Can the candidate stand by his/her work?
• Will the candidate work well with people here?
• Will the candidate be successful here?
• Will the candidate be happy here?
© 2011 IBM Corporation 4

5.
How to prepare the interview?
 Know your stuff well
• Practice your job talk
• Think about what questions people will ask
 Be honest when answering questions
 Do some research on the lab
• Who are the people working there, What are they working on,
especially your interviewers
• Any chance to connect your work with their work?
• Think about what questions you would like to ask
© 2011 IBM Corporation 5

6.
Interview is a bi-directional process
 You are also interviewing the company
 What should you look for?
• Do you like the way they do things?
• Do you like the work environment?
• Do you like the people there?
• Do you see yourself successful there?
• Will this place help achieve your long-term goal?
 Observe during your interview
 Ask questions during your interview
 Talk to people you know
© 2011 IBM Corporation 6

7.
We are hiring at IBM Almaden Research Center!
 Full time and Post doc
• Talk to me if you are interested
• Or email me ytian@us.ibm.com
© 2011 IBM Corporation 7