David Xia

Category Archives: Career

How to Find Good Mentors

2012-02-09T18:34:11+00:00 | By

I spent time over the holidays thinking about what makes a good mentor. Here’s my summary after thinking about the mentors I’ve had so far.

Good mentors:

  1. cultivate long-term relationships with their mentees
  2. can distill their years of experience into good advice that’d take mentees years to figure out on their own
  3. want a mutually beneficial relationship where they get something out of it too
  4. have experience and proven track record in an industry related to the mentee

1. Ben, whom I’ve written about before, is a good mentor because he was good at setting aside… more

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How I Learned to Program

2012-02-09T18:34:27+00:00 | By

I’ve always liked to write and decided a good way to share my writing was on a personal blog. Three years ago I registered a free Wordpress blog with the url “davidxia.worpdress.com.” I decided the “wordpress” in my URL was lame so I Googled how to buy a domain name. I registered “davidxia.com” through GoDaddy and rented some hosting space. (Unfortunately I rented hosting space with GoDaddy because I didn’t know any better. I’ve since switched to Linode.)

I didn’t like my Wordpress blog’s default theme so I browsed other ones. I didn’t like any that I… more

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My Awesome Cofounder and Advisors

2012-02-09T18:38:54+00:00 | By

James
I had the opportunity of meeting James the day he left his law firm to start a company. He’s one of the most affable, able, and ambitious people I know. He told me that he wants to “Go big or go home” and for him its closer to the truth than you might think.

James and I worked very closely for half a year. I’ve never had a peer with whom I had such a close working relationship. How close? I spent more nights at his apartment than his girlfriend and kept an extra toothbrush in his bathroom… more

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How to Learn Stuff with Minimal Effort

2011-09-02T17:35:43+00:00 | By

Learning new things requires effort. After a long day at work, I just want to knock back some beers and watch Jersey Shore. But I found some simple steps to learn without feeling like it’s forced. I will be adding to this list over time.

  • Every time I’m about to watch Youtube videos of cats, I watch a video lecture from MIT’s Open Course Ware instead.
  • I replaced my Facebook bookmark with Quora. If I really can’t control myself, I’ll edit my /etc/hosts file. Quora is a total nerd fest where it’s impossible to
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My Privileged and Precarious Life

2012-02-11T10:45:06+00:00 | By

I’m always painfully aware of how privileged my life is. I grew up in New England’s affluent suburbs as part of the upper middle class. I attended college at Columbia University with generous financial aid. And now I’m working in one of the few industries that’s aggressively hiring in a job position that’s seeing growth. There’s a stark contrast between my situation and those less fortunate around me. New York City’s current unemployment rate of 8% remains unchanged since a year ago. U.S. unemployment is 9.1%.

Right now there’s so much more demand for technical… more

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Dear Employers, JobVite Can’t Handle Word Docs, Is There Something Better?

2012-02-09T19:07:34+00:00 | By

I’ve noticed that lots of Internet companies have a job listings page that links to JobVite.com, a third party applicant tracking system. I click on a position at company X. It links me to hire.jobvite.com/stuff. The branding is consistent with company X insofar as the logo and color scheme are at the top.

What irks me about JobVite is the fact that it’s not easy to upload a resume or cover letter. There’s a form with two textarea elements and a “insert document” link above them. So I’ve already spent hours in my word processing program writing my resumé… more

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Public Speaking: Get Noticed at Your Workplace

2010-11-02T11:48:02+00:00 | By

If you’re at your first job after college, I have important advice for you. If you get a chance to speak or present to a large audience at work, take it. I cannot overstate the significance of skills like public speaking, rapport-building, and simply getting noticed.

When I stand in front of a group of more than five people, I become nervous. My voice shakes, I talk too fast, I don’t maintain eye contact. But if I prepare just a little bit beforehand, my performance improves dramatically. Here are some simple but often overlooked points for delivering effective and coherent public speeches. more

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Not All Grad Students Are Doomed

2012-02-11T00:25:58+00:00 | By

After writing about the lack of satisfying career paths for math/science graduate students in a previous post, I got a slew of responses from grad friends who said I’d simply ruined their day. One friend made a good point that this situation only applies to math/science doctorates who choose to remain in academia. There’s still demand for specialists in the private sector where a Ph.D. opens doors and bumps up pay. But of course, to the scientists sticking it out through academia, these guys are simply fallen angels and turncoats.

For those who are embarking on the Ph.D. path, I’ve found some advice. more

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Have Grad Students Made a Terrible Life Choice?

2012-02-09T23:52:01+00:00 | By

The article compares the academic system to a giant Ponzi scheme approaching assured self-destruction if it stays the course. A system that recklessly burns through the nation’s intellectual capital by taking in suckers of doe-eyed graduate students, chews them up, and spits them out. more

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Advice for College Students Seeking Jobs

2012-02-11T00:46:57+00:00 | By

Attention college juniors! Right now you’re enjoying summer weather, settling into your subleased apartment, and getting ready to make some dough from that sinecure of a resume-padding internship. But the summer ends and it’s senior year sooner than you think. With senior year and the approach of graduation also comes the specter of “What the f**k am I going to do with my life now?” more

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