the academic CV Vol 1-4
While it’s a subject that follows on from my previous post and could be debated at great length, I just thought I’d comment on a perfect little example.
Firstly I must start by saying the computing industry and computing research are inevitably inextricably linked and in many areas research leads to breakthroughs used in industry, so it’s not all bad news.
However I came across a brilliant example of one major difference in the two worlds when I decided out of curiousity to read through a CV of an academic which they posted on their website. I could not believe my eyes when a 20 page document presented itself, packed full of names of published research articles and projects undertaken. Now in private industry generally as soon as something this monolithic arrives on the desk of an employer, it will probably be instantly rejected. Certainly it is highly unlikely to be read in much detail. Clearly though this must be just the sort of thing a university wants to see because this chap obviously had done a lot of research in his time.
I just found it amazing how things could differ so much. The more serious point about this is that there are many people out there in academia and industry who as individuals are poles apart in the sense that neither has worked or studied in the other’s environment before. This can be a problem and usually, though I hate to say it, it is professors that never worked in or with industry that present a problem. Though their research may be advancing important computing science and technology, it is often the case that it will be a long time before it sees light of day in the ‘real world’ and when it does, it will probably be somewhat unrecognizable compared to the original research. Additionally it causes problems for students wishing to go into the software business trying to learn from people who don’t have much interest in it.
However sometimes the worst culprits are those in academia or industry that misguidedly think they know what the other place is all about because they have very limited experience of it. In some circumstances it is much better to admit what you don’t know. That’s exactly what this guy’s CV said to me with no uncertainty: I’m not of the business world, and that’s just fine.
Perhaps it would be better if everyone was this honest, rather than some academics pretending they are really in touch with the software industry when they are not, and conversely some software developers pretending they are using technology on the cutting edge of research when they are implementing old technology?
The problem is it’s not fashionable or in line with self-preservation to admit what you don’t know.
