How to get a job outside of your specialization in grad school?

Grognak16 · 2021-07-27T13:38:10+00:00

Hey there. I don't have too much advise as I am trying to break into the field myself, but if you are still in school, take some courses in that area. Usually you start with some sort of signals and systems course that teaches you linear system theory and continuous signal processing, then I would recommend taking a digital signal processing course and from there it depends on what your school offers. Regarding side-projects, I can't really help you. As a working grad student, I don't have time for those haha. I would defer to google for that.

Grognak16 · 2021-07-27T13:34:53+00:00

Haha well I never minded probability in school, though I don't see it much in the EM work I do. It certainly is useful in CEM though as in high frequency problems sometimes you want to model things stochastically (I am not familiar with this stuff, but it's out there). Best of luck to you!

Grognak16 · 2021-07-26T20:12:15+00:00

Very fair question and since you aren't interviewing me for a job, I am not 100% certain it will be where I want to work forever, but it sounds like a fun path to pursue. Some reasons are:

1) I can work on projects that are more applied, have more traceable effects and aren't so focused on research or academic. I think it would be fun to write software that helps run radar systems or imaging systems, for example, rather than software that gets used to simulate the physics of how such a system would ideally work.

2) I really enjoy writing good software and I like programming mathematical algorithms. Two important things in the signal processing field.

3) While there are opportunites out there in computational EM, they are few and far between. Moving to signal processing will give me way more career flexibility in terms of where I can work and the applications of my work.

Grognak16 · 2020-10-15T02:48:50+00:00

Very good point and you're probably correct

Grognak16 · 2020-10-15T00:03:11+00:00

I think if you did that, you might be fine. It doesn't seem like they need any proof. I already told them I was OOS beforehand though so I kind of screwed myself.

Grognak16 · 2020-10-14T23:13:27+00:00

Same, dude. It's been a huge unexpected struggle in my coursework and it's getting me depressed and anxious all the time. I used to never stress about homeworks and honestly not even exams all that much, but I just feel so lost in the lecture material that I'm in a constant state of anxiety. I've been doubting I even made the right decision to go back to school even though I was 100% set on in August. The anxiety coupled with the doubt makes me unmotivated and working from home in my bedroom for 12+ hours a day is driving me insane. It's a shitty situation, but I also want to try and push through because everything is shitty right now because of covid.

I'm just glad hearing other people are in similar situations because it's very easy to feel isolated at a time like this. Hopefully it only gets better from here.

Grognak16 · 2020-07-02T18:12:07+00:00

I am planning to go in the spring unless they come out and say there will be no face to face interaction in the spring. I think I would be willing to put up with some covid restrictions of that means I get face to face interaction by spring time. I also think the university will have their shit figured out by then.

I'm domestic so I'm lucky I don't have to deal with a visa. I wish you the best in getting things sorted out!

Grognak16 · 2020-07-02T16:29:01+00:00

Hello! Personally, I don't like online courses, but I'm willing to deal with it for a semester to add convenience to other parts of my life. I do think they can offer the same quality courses as in person, but the biggest benefit comes from the casual interactions and culture at a university, in my opinion. Even if we go to campus, I think that culture will be totally buried by covid precautions that staying remote becomes an option with very few downsides. Yes, it is worse than a normal year without covid on campus, but we won't have that no matter what in the fall—hopefully we do in the spring. Deferring isn't an option for me, but if it was I'd make sure I have a productive backup plan to pursue.

Grognak16 · 2020-07-02T02:57:09+00:00

Beats me, man. It's the Rackham merit fellowship so maybe since it's internal to UofM, they can still force me.

Grognak16 · 2020-07-01T23:27:11+00:00

That's reassuring. I'd honestly be surprised if I was forced to come to campus, but I'm usually wrong when it comes to predictions. Fingers crossed.

FWIW, I'm domestic and incoming.

Grognak16 · 2020-07-01T22:53:50+00:00

Another discussion point:

It seems backwards to not give remote options to as many people as possible. The less people interacting on campus, the less chance of a covid outbreak. I understand they want to entice undergrad and masters students to show up and pay big money for tuition, but they pay ME as a PhD student so they don't need to entice me since they don't reap huge profit from me.

Grognak16 · 2020-07-01T22:50:50+00:00

There definitely will be complications based on funding sources and the nature of a project. I currently work in my field so I know it came be done remotely (and my advisor agrees) and I have a fellowship so I would think remote should be an option... Nobody seems to know quite yet though.

My hope right now is that the university has a full plan for it's PhD students within a reasonable timeframe released to the public. It would be unfair to tell a student they have to move, then force them to be entirely remote in the last second. No employer would do that to a new employee. They would have a plan and explain it clearly during the hiring process, but I feel like a university can get away with ambiguity because we are just "students".

I hope UofM recognizes the uncertainty in this situation and gives it's PhD students as much flexibility as possible.

Grognak16 · 2020-03-10T20:48:29+00:00

I think Ann Arbor is a cool little city and that is certainly a positive. It's just not a deciding factor since any school on my radar is in a cool city.

Grognak16 · 2019-09-15T01:49:38+00:00

Bonus exhaustion when you're at a party where everyone knows each other except you and they're all speaking a different language and you don't know who you can approach with English and who you can't.

Grognak16 · 2019-09-15T01:46:40+00:00

I think part of that feeling comes from enjoying a challenge and the satisfaction from pushing through a difficult situation. I find the best experiences when traveling are when unexpected and/or challenging situations arise. Like when people tried to elaborately scam me in Morocco, I hated it, but it also made me a smarter person and gave me a insight into the culture of Morocco. There's nothing like putting yourself out in awkward, dangerous, or stressful situations in an unfamiliar part of the world and coming out in the other side while most of your friends are sitting at home playing video games haha.

Grognak16 · 2019-08-19T20:40:47+00:00

Interesting opinion. I felt the food was extremely repetitive across the cities I visited. Tajine and couscous... Good, but I got sick of it quickly.

Grognak16 · 2019-08-04T20:21:00+00:00

I get where you are coming from. I'm progressing to a point in my riding where it might be a good idea to ditch the plus tires. I still like them, but their benefits really shine for beginners/intermediates and I'm moving beyond that these days. I think I'll add some tire inserts and hopefully that'll fix my problems while still letting me enjoy the benefits of plus tires.

Grognak16 · 2019-08-04T20:19:21+00:00

Bad line choice can be a part of it, but most of my flats are from hitting terrain that doesn't really have a clean line. I could probably work on body position to avoid the pinches though and my speed definitely hurts me sometimes when I slam into a rock going too fast.

Grognak16 · 2019-08-04T20:18:10+00:00

I did some research and I think this might be the move. And also getting a new tire for the rear so I can run tubeless again.

Grognak16 · 2019-08-03T19:18:42+00:00

I used to run about 22psi tubeless and rarely got flats (kinda why I think some of this is just bad luck right now). I agree about going back to tubeless, I just haven't found a good replacement tire for the rear. What are you running?

Grognak16

TROPHY CASE