The Good
(this is about feeling intimidated at first)
6 months ago, when I was doing research for my first (failed) startup, I interviewed 7 graduates from the top Computer Science and Math university in Poland, my Alma Mater, University of Warsaw. For an uninitiated reader, MIMUW — the tiny faculty at UW ranks #5 in the world in theoretical computer science and beats universities like Stanford and Oxford (source: csrankings.org, the world, 2011–2021, Theory).
Among the people I talked to is an executive director at an investment bank in London, a stay at home ex-Googler mom who lives in Zurich and a researcher at Twitter. They graduated between 2002 and 2012. The oldest is 23 years older than the youngest students today.
During our conversations they shared a unique outlook on their career and life choices. This is the first article in a short series called “The Good, the Mom and the Ugly”.
The Good (this is about feeling intimidated at first)
This is a popular scenario. In primary and secondary school everyone tells you you’re smart. You get better grades than everyone else, yet you seem to spend half as much time learning as others. Then you get to a top high school or college. And suddenly everyone is like you. Or better. And because school was so easy up until this point, you’ve never really learned to work hard or learn properly.
If you’re like this - you’re like the Good. Before MIMUW he was loosely interested in computer science. He participated in the Polish Olympiad in Informatics, but never got past the first stage. For him the first year of uni was the most difficult. Math problems appeared harder than anything he’s ever seen before in his life (hint: they were). And still there were some geniuses that ate those problems for breakfast. This was extremely intimidating for the Good.
Let’s stop here for a moment while you’re still reading. The Good wanted me to share some tips and words of encouragement for people like him who struggle during their first year. Here is his advice:
- It’s very easy to feel like you don’t know anything when you compare yourself with peers like that. This is not true; you’re here for a reason and many other people who applied are not.
- Those intimidating students and difficult problems? This is your opportunity to learn. Use it! Never be afraid to ask great students for help, they’ll enjoy explaining the problems.
- Take it slow. The first years of your career are the best time to try different things and experiment. Try working in smaller startups, try research. You have the time. See what brings you the most joy.
During the first year the Good was in survival mode. But then he got used to the pressure. He started participating in student communities — .NET and algorithmics. After the second year he got his first internship in a small software house in Warsaw. Over the next years he interned at Samsung and a small UK based startup that was eventually bought by Amazon. He took part in Imagine Cup and got to the second stage but he says that every participant he knew did. Then, after the 4th year of studies he got his first internship at Microsoft.
Before the last semester he completed all his courses and during the last semester he decided to see whether doing research fitted him. The Good started working full time at ICM (a research institute at the University of Warsaw) and it turned out he enjoyed the work a lot. First he worked on analyzing publications in digital libraries. Then he worked in a team developing prediction models for dairy farms, where they were predicting how much milk cows would produce in a given time period. He says the math involved was challenging and the problems itself interested him.
After 3 years at ICM the Good decided it was time for a change. He wanted to experience living abroad, in the UK or US. He applied to Google and Facebook, but they didn’t respond. Then he published his resume on a UK job platform and waited for companies to give him offers with sufficiently high salaries. He chose a large UK based media company and promptly regretted the decision. The pay was good but the job was too simple. He was maintaining systems and making sure they are online. It wasn’t creative.
He started applying again and after his 3rd of 4th application to Twitter he got invited for an interview. He got the job and works there in an R&D team to this day.
How does work compare between R&D at a company and a research institute?
While doing pure research he felt that the team had more freedom, he only did original work and the team could decide for themselves. On the other hand, this resulted in unfinished projects and slow progress. Now, at Twitter, the work is more structured but he still has the ability to choose the tasks that are interesting to him and doesn’t have to do the simple or mundane ones. And he keeps doing research and experimental machine learning projects, which he loves.
What does he think about moving abroad?
Most people he knows, including himself, moved to the UK for “a year or two” but stayed much longer. It starts with a simple inconvenience of moving back and having to settle into a new job, new house, new lifestyle. Then you say “just one more year and I’ll save enough money for x”. Then kids happen and you don’t want to change their entire environment so drastically. And the time goes by. So be careful about where you want to spend a large part of your life.
