For example, I assumed the median staring salary for computer scientists was a reasonable estimate for what my starting salary would be. It turns out that I can expect to make about twice that much money if I use certain job hunting techniques I learned at the workshop and optimize for money (instead of, say, cool sounding problems).
What changed your expectation of your starting salary?
Talking to a large number of computer scientists at the workshop, and deciding I’d be fine with, among other things, working in finance in the general San Francisco /Silicon valley area.
working in finance in the general San Francisco /Silicon valley area.
Is that a better idea than trying to get a market-rate salary with a significant chunk of equity at an early-stage startup that your unusually rational brain has suggested to you has an unusually large chance of making it big?
I’m not sure. I just assign very high probability to it being better than going into academic psychology or the sort of CS jobs I had been considering in my hometown. Do you have some reason to believe I should try the start-up route?
I would point out that a psych/CS person could be really useful to a startup. Having more than just coding skills can be huge, and if anything you know about psych is related to behaviour, then you’re golden. I’d like to point to this article about instagram by Nir Eyal:
“But at its core, Instagram is the latest example of an enterprising team, conversant in psychology as much as technology, that unleashed an addictive product on users who made it part of their daily routines.”
Either/both. Someone who can just code is limited to that range of experience. Someone who can code and knows psych can not just code, but also use their knowledge of psych to shape product design decisions (e.g. Instagram) or even design software to solve problems in the field of psychology (either psychological problems people have or problems psychologists have). You get way more options by having not just one niche.
Well, there’s this. The startup thing is probably better for someone like me who has spent a ton of time thinking about what sort of startup is likely to be successful. I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on it.
BTW, it’s worth noting that there are probably also ways to strategically maximize your income as a psychologist.
A standard way to make more money as a psychology professor is to get a job in a business school instead of a psychology department. It’s worth maybe a factor of 2.
Dan
(beoShaffer, we talked some about jobs at the workshop, but the business school option didn’t come up. PM/email me if you want to talk more.)
What changed your expectation of your starting salary?
Talking to a large number of computer scientists at the workshop, and deciding I’d be fine with, among other things, working in finance in the general San Francisco /Silicon valley area.
Is that a better idea than trying to get a market-rate salary with a significant chunk of equity at an early-stage startup that your unusually rational brain has suggested to you has an unusually large chance of making it big?
I’m not sure. I just assign very high probability to it being better than going into academic psychology or the sort of CS jobs I had been considering in my hometown. Do you have some reason to believe I should try the start-up route?
I would point out that a psych/CS person could be really useful to a startup. Having more than just coding skills can be huge, and if anything you know about psych is related to behaviour, then you’re golden. I’d like to point to this article about instagram by Nir Eyal: “But at its core, Instagram is the latest example of an enterprising team, conversant in psychology as much as technology, that unleashed an addictive product on users who made it part of their daily routines.”
Do you mean as a founder, an early hire, or both? I don’t really have many start up concepts on hand.
Either/both. Someone who can just code is limited to that range of experience. Someone who can code and knows psych can not just code, but also use their knowledge of psych to shape product design decisions (e.g. Instagram) or even design software to solve problems in the field of psychology (either psychological problems people have or problems psychologists have). You get way more options by having not just one niche.
Well, there’s this. The startup thing is probably better for someone like me who has spent a ton of time thinking about what sort of startup is likely to be successful. I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on it.
BTW, it’s worth noting that there are probably also ways to strategically maximize your income as a psychologist.
A standard way to make more money as a psychology professor is to get a job in a business school instead of a psychology department. It’s worth maybe a factor of 2.
Dan
(beoShaffer, we talked some about jobs at the workshop, but the business school option didn’t come up. PM/email me if you want to talk more.)