the scoop

[jrtom]

Most of you know that I've been looking around at options for getting what some lightheartedly call a Real Job (TM) while I finish my PhD. I still do want to get the degree, but I'd prefer not to put off things like moving to someplace that is closer to where most of our friends live (Pacific NW, the Bay), making an actual salary (and concomitants such as buying a house)...put them off, that is, any longer than I already have. Plus, it's become apparent to me that working in industry, in a position in which I am asked to do research and development in aid of solving Real Problems, is what I'd prefer to be doing for the foreseeable future.

So a few months ago I was put in the way of this "applied researcher" position at Microsoft, in the MSN division, whose purpose would be to help MS develop reputation models for on-line interactions (eventually, over the next few years, in all sorts of contexts). This is related to a problem that I worked on a few years ago (during my most recent stint at the U of Oregon) and while I put it aside when I came to UC Irvine, I've continued to be interested in it, and I think that it's an important problem. It happens that my work at UC Irvine has given me a good background in some of the areas of knowledge that are germane to this problem, and my friend Danyel--a former UC Irvine grad student and colleague of mine on an ongoing project, now at MS Research--put in a good word for me.

Anyway, I talked with my potential boss and others a lot on the phone, I looked around at (and talked to) other companies, I visited, I interviewed, they were really excited and made me a good offer a couple of days later (early last week), and yesterday I called them up and accepted it.

There are some downsides: I won't have as much freedom to work on one of my cherished side projects, it will take me longer to finish my PhD than it would if I just worked on it until I was done (although in theory, all I'll have left to do once I start there is write my dissertation), and I hear that the procedure for implanting the mind-control chip is slightly painful. (At first. Then the Kool-Aid kicks in.) However, I think that it will be a fun and challenging job, the people there seem like generally good folks to work with, and it's pretty close to a lot of our friends and family. It's even possible that some of my work there might end up giving me some additional material for my dissertation, which would be cool.

So a few months from now, we will be moving up to the Seattle area, and hopefully buying a house that we can invite people over to and stuff. We're really looking forward to it.

And that's the scoop. (Mint chocolate chip, I think.) :)