Informational Interview: From Ph.D. to Analytical Developement

 I had the honour to conduct my first informational interview with John Howat, Ph.D. - Analytics Developer at Kinaxis. Dr. John has a Ph.D. in Computer science from Carleton University - Ottawa, Canada. In this interview, he shares his insight and advice regarding transitioning from academia to industry.

{Make sure to read the last question as it answers an important concern regarding hiring Ph.Ds.}

* This article is a part of a series of informational interviews, check here for the full list

* These are Dr. Howat’s views and do not necessarily represent Kinaxis' positions.

Q9: Hello John, first of all, can you tell us about Kinaxis?

A: Hello, Kinaxis provides a solution for the supply chain management in this unpredictable world. Kinaxis has a fast-growing and innovative application called Rapidresponse® that provides a flexible and rapid solution to several companies from diverse industry.

Q8: As an analytical developer, what are some of your responsibilities?

A: In my team, we create algorithms to optimize the supply chains. For example, to build a smartphone, hundreds of parts are needed to be gathered from different warehouses worldwide, we propose algorithms to facilitate this process while optimizing the inventory at different stores. We do this by analysing large amounts of data. We usually use Heuristic approaches to minimize the response time. My team uses C++ programming language.

Q7: What is the biggest challenge you face?

A: Different industries are using Rapidresponse® to manage their supply chain. It is very challenging to make sure that this one application is optimized for each and all sectors.

Q6: You have been working here for 2+ years, how do you like it?

A: I really like it here. At the beginning, the learning curve was steep. It is challenging, but I work with smart and cooperative teammates, the atmosphere is friendly, so whenever someone has questions, other team members are happy to support.

Q5: What are the transferable skills that facilitated your transition into the industry?

A: For me, my research was in theoretical computer science, so there was a lot of overlap with my current job. A big advantage of doing a Ph.D. is learning how to learn. Another skill that is very important is being persevere; during my research, I had to deal with difficult problems where the answer is neither easy nor clear. This makes me comfortable working on hard real-life problems even when the solution is not clear.

Q4: What do you suggest regarding overcoming the lack of industry experience?

A: A post-doctorate fellowship is a good option to gain an industry experience in a research-related field. Many companies will be happy to hire a postdoc. fellow and there are available some governments fellowships like: NRC-IRAP and NSERC.

Q3: What advice can you give to Ph.Ds. to secure their first industrial job?

A: My best advice would be to find a company that is able to put people with Ph.Ds. to good use. Typically, this means a company that is working on hard problems. Personally, I would not have been satisfied working on simple CRUD (create, read, update and delete) apps, so there was no point in pursuing companies where that was the goal. Conversely, I would not spend too much time looking for companies that specialize in your area of study; there should be some overlap, but it is unlikely you'll find a perfect match, and that's completely fine! Once you find a good role, it becomes a matter of getting used to a new type of working environment. Most companies move a LOT faster than even the most fast-paced academic labs. That can be a pretty big adjustment, but I also think it's a big benefit to working in the industry.

Q2: If you are the interviewer, what skills would you look for?

A: I usually look for people with good experience of data structure, I ask blackboard questions, expect to be asked about link lists, hash tables, binary search, and other algorithms. Also, interviewee needs to show me that they have experience with software development on a large scale.

Q1: What is the majour concern regarding a Ph.D. candidate?

A: One IMPORTANT concern you should address in the interview, even if not explicitly asked, is why you left academia, the perception is that once a Ph.D. gets an academic position, they will leave the company. One possible way to answer this question is by talking about the difficulty of making an impact in academia (takes 3-10 years); while in the industry you can make an impact early and often.