Professional development for the Class of 2011

More than 100 students from more than 25 schools have participated in the IPC. © Alexey Malashkevich

By Paul M. Thompson and Robin Lougee

Where can the OR/MS graduating class of 2011 turn for experience and advice in transitioning from paying tuition to earning a paycheck? INFORMS, of course!

Every year, INFORMS offers a unique professional development opportunity to a select group of graduating OR/MS and analytics students who are interested in industry and government careers. This event, the INFORMS Professional Colloquium (IPC), is held in conjunction with the premier conference for analytics professionals, the INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics and Operations Research. The IPC is a one-day program that provides insight from leading practitioners in the field on how to manage the transition from academia to industry. The 2011 IPC will be held on April 10 at the Marriott Chicago Downtown Magnificent Mile.

In the six years since the colloquium began, more than 100 students pursuing master’s degrees and Ph.D.s from more than 25 schools have participated. IPC attendees develop their professional skills through an interactive and diverse program. Some program elements give practice-oriented students an understanding of what a typical “day in the life” is like for the different kinds of jobs they could hold as an analytics professional. Other elements, such as a pre-colloquium telecon, focus on the soft skills necessary to contribute effectively in the workplace. Other activities kick-start the professional network that participants will continue to develop during the subsequent INFORMS conference.

The IPC is organized and run by a group of active, experienced OR/MS and business analytics professionals from public, private and academic organizations, along with a group of past IPC participants. This year’s organizing committee includes representatives from Northrop Grumman, IBM Research, University of Washington, PROS Pricing, IBM ILOG, SAS, Booz Allen Hamilton, Heinz, UPS, Monsanto and Lockheed-Martin.

From the participant perspective, the IPC has been highly successful. Participants in previous IPCs offered the following comments:

• “Great insights on practical aspects of O.R.”
• “My favorite part of the IPC was hearing directly from professionals the career path they have taken and what they are doing now.”
• “A great overview of many aspects of O.R. I would not change much! Good job and very well organized.”
• “Well worth the sacrifice of time and expense to come to the session.”
• “Creative and thoughtful.”
• “Attending the [IPC] was one of the top-10 experiences I have encountered during my first year as an MBA student. Not only was I a member of a select group of students invited to the conference, but I was also sought out by professionals in attendance. During the three-day event I was invited to interview with two dozen organizations. I was even invited to fly out to a corporate campus immediately following the event.”
• “Great speaker, engaging. Gave a good impression of how it feels to be a consultant.”

Colloquium participants are nominated by their university departments and selected by the IPC committee. Historically, more than one quarter of the participants have been female, and nearly half have been international students (non-U.S. origin). Roughly half of the attendees have been master’s of science students, and half have been a mix of Ph.D. and MBA students. The University of California at Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Colorado at Denver, Naval Postgraduate School, University of Wisconsin and Texas A&M are some of the universities who have sent participants to the IPC.

The cost for attending the IPC is partially offset for many attendees thanks to the generosity of corporate sponsors. Sponsors of the 2011 IPC currently include IBM, INFORMS, PROS Pricing and SAS. Even organizers welcome additional sponsorships from companies – 100 percent of corporate sponsorship dollars go to subsidize student travel and conference costs.

Students interested in attending this year’s IPC should expect to complete a post-graduate degree between October 2011 and August 2012, or be recently graduated. They should have a serious interest in and be qualified for entry-level work as an analytics or OR/MS professional. Even organizers especially encourage master’s-level students who have not yet decided between pursuing Ph.D.-level studies or entering the working world of OR/MS practice, to attend the colloquium. Students with prior work experience will find the IPC especially valuable.

Nominations for IPC attendees are due no later than March 25. Graduate students with a background in analytics or OR/MS, and who have an interest in the world of analytics/OR/MS practice in the public or private sector, should seek a nomination to the IPC from their professor or department head. Professors and department heads of analytics, OR/MS and related fields should consider nominating their top, practice-oriented students to attend the 2011 colloquium.

Further information about IPC 2011 is available on the 2011 INFORMS Practice Conference Web site, http://meetings2.informs.org/Practice2011/.

Paul M. Thompson (paul1.thompson@ngc.com), chair of the 2011 IPC Planning Committee, works for Northrop Grumman Corporation in Northern Virginia. Robin Lougee (rlougee@us.ibm.com), co-founder of the IPC and member of the planning committee, works for IBM Research in New York.