Next Physics Careers Seminar by UIUC PhD Student Taylor Byrum on Nov. 4

The Fall 2015 Physics Careers seminar series continues on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015, with PhD Student Taylor Byrum of the UIUC Dept. of Physics.

Time: 11 a.m. on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 (refreshments served at 10:30 a.m.)

Location: 204 Loomis Laboratory (Interaction Room)

Title:  Interning and Networking:  My Thoughts

Speaker: Taylor Byrum, UIUC Dept. of Physics

Abstract:   The length of the Physics PhD program affords us the ability to procrastinate planning our careers for a few years. We can insulate ourselves from the so called “real world” while we get paid the big bucks to work on interesting problems. Eventually, we have to get a job. Nearly every UIUC Physics PhD Graduate (96% over the last ten years) lands a job after graduating. That high placement rate does not, however, reflect the stress levels of the job search process.

In this seminar, I will discuss two ways I avoided a stressful job search process: Interning and networking. In the first half of the talk, I will address some of the advantages and disadvantages of my internship at Inprentus, a local startup company, and their impacts on my PhD program and job search. The second half will be focused on my attempts at networking. In particular, I will detail how I built and nurtured valuable relationships that helped me land my first job.

Bio: Taylor Byrum is currently in his final year of graduate school in the UIUC physics department, where he is a member of an experimental condensed matter group advised by Lance Cooper. He also interns part-time at Inprentus, a local startup company founded by Physics Professor Peter Abbamonte. Taylor has a fresh perspective of the job search process, as he recently accepted a job offer from Texas Instruments.

You can see the rest of the Fall 2015 Physics Careers Seminar series here: http://physics.illinois.edu/events/seminars.asp?cal=4014