Ask HN: Tips for a prospective Ph.D student

[nagVenkat]

I am a 25 year old guy who is going to be a PhD student in Europe. I have a bachelors in a pure engineering field (Ciivil), masters in operations Research and now my PhD is going to be in the field of Discrete Optimization. It is a three year program and I would like to solicit some advise from the community with respect to the following issues:

1) Any pitfalls that I have to avoid. My advisor is already decided and I can not change it.

2) It has been my life long dream to work for google and I think this PhD program is a good stepping stone. How can I utilize the next three years towards my preparation for a google interview?

3) Any other life advise?

[gradschool]

Structure your thesis so that each chapter is publishable independently as a conference paper. That way you will have built up a publication list by the time you finish, and it will be hard for your examiners to take issue with something that has already withstood peer review. Make sure you cite your potential examiners. Throw in a favorable comment about everything you cite. Start writing it from day 1 even if you don't know where the rest of it is going. Get good at LaTeX and PGF/Tikz. Get good at schmoozing at conferences and cocktail parties. Negotiate with your advisor about the scope of your research and hold him to it if he tries to expand it too much. If you want to work at Google or anywhere else, do research on topics that might be useful to them and make connections with people who work there, preferably at conferences, so they can fast track you through HR. Co-authoring with someone at Google would be ideal if you can swing it. Keep a work/life balance, keep regular hours, don't drink too much, and do some outdoor activities.