I want to start this post by telling you about a conversation that happened in my first year of graduate school.
The coursework during that year was particularly challenging for me because I hadn’t encountered condensed matter physics and quantum mechanics in my undergraduate studies. I’d seen small snippets of these in my semiconductor physics course, but I hadn’t studied topics like crystal structures in detail. I found it very exciting to learn all these new topics, but also somewhat overwhelming because there was so much to learn in every direction! To resolve temptations like this, I learned very quickly to talk with people who were exposed to these topics in detail and began asking how relevant they were to the research that they did.
At some point in the middle of my first semester, I encountered the discussion of crystal structures in Marder’s condensed matter physics book (strongly recommend it for all those who don’t like Ashcroft and Mermin but want a more modern alternative to Kittel’s book!). It discussed crystal structure from a group theory perspective, and I was fascinated by this. I’d never seen group theory before, and so I was confronted with yet another avenue where I could spend weeks learning something new without clear long-term benefits. So I followed my usual strategy of asking someone who has studied it: “Is this one of the topics that’s worth the time I would spend studying it? Has it been useful to you, and how?” This time, I was asking a professor. His response was, “There are only so many hours in the day, and you need to learn how to use those hours efficiently.”
Actionable vs unactionable advice
The reason I started with that story is to point out a memorable example of unactionable advice in my past. There isn’t much that a stressed out first-year graduate student can take from that feedback and immediately turn into action that resolves the question at hand. At least I didn’t know how to parse it, and wished for a more actionable advice.
In the past couple of years, several graduate students who are nearing completion of their studies and are starting to look for jobs in industry have asked me some version of the question, “What’s it like to work in industry? How do you choose where to work among the many quantum computing companies today?” There is so much unactionable advice that I’ve heard being given in response to this question, so I thought I’d compile some of my actionable advice on this topic in one place. I’m going to keep this specific to quantum information sciences (QIS), the field that I’m most familiar with, but hope that it translates into something meaningful for others too. I will also say this is specifically my own opinion based on my own observations, and does not reflect the views and values of anyone (including any current and previous employers).
Let’s start.
- Quantum talent is in high demand. Know your value.
That’s unactionable feedback, right? Let’s decode it. If you have a QIS degree (not necessarily a PhD), you are one of very few (~1000-10000) people in the world with a similar background. Part of this is because there simply haven’t been many institutions teaching QIS. This is slowly changing, but the talent shortage will likely remain for some time.
The best indicator of the talent shortage is the fierce competition to hire this talent in the quantum industry. That’s a good thing for you – it means you’ll likely be able to select a place that makes you happy and pays you well. While I would not advise picking a specific workplace for the compensation alone, I would advise you to reach out to people at places where you’re interviewing and ask if they are happy with their compensations. This will undoubtedly factor into your decision.
- Understand the incentives and decide if they align with yours.
Again, unactionable if I just say that to you. Let’s break it down. Remember that quantum talent is in high demand. That means there is an incentive for companies to hire as much (and as quickly) as possible and figure out their specific roles in the team later. Is a company hiring lots and lots of QIS grads without giving these hires satisfactory daily jobs? Does it hire with career growth for these hires in mind? Does it pay them at market value, or does it (knowingly or unknowingly) use other techniques (like non-competes) to hold them in place to avoid movement within the quantum industry? What does the career trajectory of a recent graduate look like in the team? Are there groups of people doing similar/identical work without collaborating with each other in the company? This may indicate aggressive hiring without career trajectories in mind. Is the company top-heavy (meaning your upward mobility is limited)? These are all questions that you can ask during your interview.
As an addendum to this, the incentives at each company are surprisingly good predictors of workplace culture. Is there relentless hiring without specific roles? In that case, recent hires may be competitive instead of collaborative. Is a clear career trajectory in place for new hires? If not, people may resort to doing (perhaps random) things on the side to stand out from the crowd.
- Learn to thrive in uncertainty.
Another vague-sounding unactionable advice. Let’s dig deep. The quantum industry is growing, and there are many things that you can do on top of using your quantum expertise daily. Oftentimes, it’s a combination of your training, collaboration with other experts, and an optimistic but realistic resolve that allows the science and engineering of QIS to move forward. One of the tools to add to your toolkit that helps you thrive in the uncertainties of your daily work is a firm grasp of project management. Even if you think you know what that means, I urge you to take Google’s project management specialization on Coursera. It’ll make you a lot more productive and resourceful to others.
- Unlock your superpowers.
You may not think so, but you have superpowers. It might be your ability to calculate the parameters of a superconducting circuit in your head. Mine is the ability to rally a large number of people toward a common goal. Whatever it may be, take stock of the time that you spend each week and write down what took you more time than you’d like, and what made you happy as you were doing it. This method of actively tracking your work also allows you to look back at your growth over time, and to reflect about things that make you happy and may very well be your superpowers. Unlocking your superpowers will help you become a vital productivity multiplier to your team. People who do this well also tend to be well-compensated, so you can set up an incentive to be a better version of yourself while also unlocking high earnings.
- Managing vs rallying people.
I know several people who are people-managers because they think of it as the only way to grow their careers, but do not do it well. Managing people should not be the only way that people can grow. Going back to understanding incentives, try to understand if the place you’re considering has an incentive structure that allows you to thrive both as an individual contributor and as a people-manager. If people-management is for you, then so be it. If not, your trajectory should not be limited by this, and your excellence should continue to be rewarded.
I mentioned above that my superpower is rallying large groups of people. When I say this, I’m not necessarily referring to managing large teams. I’m referring to leading by influence – setting up a structure that makes it easy for others to participate, allows them to make their contributions to their best, and collectively extends the impact of the whole group. Leadership by influence requires a collaborative environment where people are not afraid to work with each other. This might seem like a no-brainer but try to gauge whether upward career trajectories are limited to people-management and decide if that aligns with your goals.
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I’ll keep adding to these as I remember more. Last updated March 13, 2022
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