Graduate students must be the nicest people in the world. It takes dedication and self-restraint to be consistently nice to peers and colleagues, but to be so selflessly caring and so committed to the best interests of Google LLC, Rutgers University or Nvidia Corporation, one truly has to be the nicest person in existence.

Therefore, as I watch one after another graduate student in my practice fret over whether they really are the best candidates for a job or internship they really want, I have no choice but to conclude that graduate students must be a unique breed of selfless people. That is the charitable interpretation, anyway. The less charitable interpretation, of course, is that many grad students have not read the memo about looking out for their own best interests, so please—treat this blog as just such a memo.

The idea here is very simple: Industry employers and universities are very good at looking out for themselves, and they require no help from you. Therefore, if a job is posted that you think would be good for you, your task is to........

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