Career and Career Paths
Of the 18 alumni who responded to the survey, the majority worked at
either a software (28%) or hardware (28%) company, with 20% working at
startups. 11% of the respondents worked in "other" careers, including
a venture capital company and a company that began as a startup but
grew to become a small company (the type of company was not
specified). Of the alumni that responded, 5% also worked as technical
consultants and 5% worked in academic research. No respondents worked
in the financial services, management consulting, or biotechnology
sectors.
Job positions mentioned by the alumni include System Administrator,
Software Engineer, Vice President, System Engineer, Project Manager,
IC Design Engineer, and Ph.D. student.
100% of the respondents said that, given the chance, they would choose
their current career path again. 17% of the alumni were somewhat
satisfied with their career, while 61% were fairly satisfied, and 22%
were very satisfied.
Degree
Of the responding alumni, 47% agreed that their current career was
highly related to their EE/CS major, 33% thought that their career was
fairly related, and 12% thought that their career was somewhat
related. One respondent said that his career was not at all
related to his EE/CS degree. The respondents who said that their
career was somewhat or not at all related to their EE/CS degree
included a Software Engineer for a startup company, a Hardware
Engineer, and a Senior System Administrator (who also said that he was
not satisfied with his EE/CS major).
Most of the alumni who replied felt they were satisfied with their
major, with 17% claiming to not be satisfied. All of the alumni who
pursued a masters degree replied that they were satisfied with their
degree, while those that were not satisfied only received bachelors
degrees. All of the responding 6A alumni also felt satisfied with
their degree. A lack of activities outside of academics related to
course 6 seemed to be a trend among those who were not satisfied with
their degree. None of the unsatisfied respondents listed a research
experience that they felt was helpful in their career, implying
that having an interesting or useful course 6 working/research
experience may influence the quality of one´s education.
Most alumni (59%) said that they were better prepared in the workplace
than their peers, while 35% said they were as prepared, and 6% claimed
to be not as well prepared.
Classes
By far, the most helpful EE/CS classes, as mentioned by the alumni,
were 6.033 and 6.170. Trailing these were 6.004, 6.001, 6.111, and
6.046. Other classes mentioned included writing classes (such as
Phase II classes), 6.823 (Computer Systems Architecture), 6.302
(Feedback Systems), and 6.012. The alumni also mentioned several
specific classes that they believed would have been useful, including
classes covering networks, operating systems, public speaking,
effective ways to present data, international software, more analog
transistor design, and "Career 101". There was some disagreement over
whether the EE/CS department should offer more practical classes. Two
respondents would have preferred more practical classes (covering
topics such as SQL, C++, Windows Programming, etc.) that could
possibly be worth fewer units. Two alumni, however, disagreed,
claiming that the EE/CS curriculum is perfect just the way it is and
that "trendy" but non-theoretical educations are a major problem in
the workplace. One respondent praised the EE/CS department for the
current balance of theoretical and practical classes, stating that
most schools (specifically mentioning Berkeley) make students
implement too many projects.
Research
Surprisingly, only half the people who replied had a research
experience that they felt was helpful to their career. Of these
people, everyone had completed a masters or gone through 6A. Of the
MIT laboratories, the Media Lab, LCS, and RLE were all represented.
Some people felt that the work they did in college had an influence on
their future career choices, however, most did not do research that
was directly related to their current jobs. Most of these
respondents felt the work was valuable in preparing them for
the working environment after college in terms of working on projects,
particularly, collaborating on projects, or in writing papers either
for funding or research journals.
Nonacademic / Extracurricular Activities
About 90% of the respondents were involved in extracurricular
activities (ECAs) of some kind while at MIT. The variety of
activities spread across a wide range of categories from sports, the
musical and arts groups, or other special interests to social,
service, and honor societies. The most popular ECAs were sports and
living groups. About half the respondents had been in involved in
sports whether intramural or varsity. About half (but not the same
half) were involved in aspects of their living group whether it be a
fraternity, dormitory council, or their particular hall.
Ties With MIT and MIT Graduates
All but one of the alumni had friends who were alumni of MIT, although
the actual percentage of affiliated friends varied from 8% to 90%.
Even though many stayed in touch with MIT affiliates, less than
half of them used the MIT alumni network to help them in their current
career. Those who did found that the network was useful in several
career related aspects, such as getting an interview, dealing with
office politics, keeping up with technical innovations, or just having
someone to talk to who shares a common background. An interesting use
of the alumni network was as a resource for entrepreneurship.
About one quarter of the alumni worked at companies where they were
the only MIT graduates. At the opposite end of the spectrum, one fifth of the
alumni worked at a company where over 25% of the people were MIT
graduates. The rest of the respondents worked at companies where the
percentage of people from MIT was relatively low (5% or less). This
suggests that most companies do not actively try to recruit as many MIT
students as possible, although one can find a few that do.
The MIT Reputation
The MIT degree carries with it many pros but also many cons. On the
positive side, the name opens doors for career opportunities that the alumni
felt they would not otherwise have had. It also
grants instant awe and respect from others, guaranteeing that one's
opinions are more likely to be listened to and more likely to be
assumed correct than if one was from another school. Even with these
advantages, alumni must work to maintain this respect from their
co-workers and deliver on their assumed abilities. The MIT name also
carries certain negative side effects. People automatically assume
our alumni are either socially incompetent nerds or arrogant snobs
unless proven otherwise. MIT graduates are expected to produce more,
even if they are paid the same amount as other employees.
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