How to showcase your quantum skills outside academia

The second 2014 Quantum Industry Lecture Series hosted by the Institute for Quantum Computing Graduate Student Association (IQC GSA) welcomed back IQC alumnus, Phil Kaye.

Kaye has worked for the Canadian government for the past 10 years and shared the factors to consider when thinking about a career outside academia.

Preferring stability early in his career, Kaye chose a position with the government. It offered attractive compensation, a pension, job security and an environment with mature business processes. He soon realized that the work was driven by outside pressures such as the marketplace and what was happening around the globe. Kaye also talked about the focus on team and how satisfying it was to serve Canada working for the government.

Kaye offered suggestions to students looking to work outside of academia:

1. Look for experiences beyond your research. During his work at BlackBerry (then RIM), Kaye learned how a corporation works and how to utilize his soft skills such as communication skills. He also learned that writing software for a company is different than writing software for your research.
2. Supplement your research with knowledge and skills relevant to the research but that have a broader context. For example, Kaye suggested taking a programming course or, if students were studying quantum communications, to learn about optical fibre and internet protocols.
3. Go to all the networking events you can. He told students to meet people and find partnership and project opportunities. (Luckily, IQC offers many opportunities for students to go to events.)
4. Go out and find your own opportunities. Kaye not only joined the military reserves for leadership and personal development training, but he also worked with CIFAR to learn how to communicate complex ideas in a meaningful way.

Academia is a competitive environment, and students may feel that their strengths are more suited to industry or government. Kaye’s advice: if you are struggling with the decision about whether to finish your degree: Finish it.