tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post375421012109237834..comments2024-03-27T19:58:17.387-05:00Comments on Computational Complexity: The Annual Fall Jobs PostLance Fortnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06752030912874378610noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-12059651553775838772010-10-13T04:12:58.525-05:002010-10-13T04:12:58.525-05:00The discussion about Canada vs. the US regarding i...The discussion about Canada vs. the US regarding immigrants is a bit pointless since most non-Canadians more or less view Canada as part of the US.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-10294435516509571972010-10-11T17:22:32.411-05:002010-10-11T17:22:32.411-05:00Sorry Ryan.
But you are a good Southerner.
Most of...Sorry Ryan.<br />But you are a good Southerner.<br />Most of the other people from Alabama are really stupid.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-39546021244630585072010-10-11T17:10:06.630-05:002010-10-11T17:10:06.630-05:00I am from India. I like everything about America o...<i>I am from India. I like everything about America other than its stupid politicians and people from Southern states.</i><br /><br />Wow. Do you have any idea how incredibly evil that sounds?<br /><br />You're probably just trolling, but maybe some good will come out of this. Maybe I will give the talk at FOCS in my deepest possible Southern drawl, just to annoy you, and entertain everyone else.Ryan Williamsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-38187351836761808682010-10-11T16:30:07.138-05:002010-10-11T16:30:07.138-05:00> I don't view a "second generation im...> I don't view a "second generation immigrant" to be an immigrant. If the person was born in the US or born with US citizenship, they are not an immigrant.<br /><br />What is important is not if they count them as immigrants or not (of course they are not counted as immigrants), what is important is how they are treated. If you have lived in US you know what I mean.<br /><br />> Also, what is Canada's policy towards citizenship? If you are in Canada (even to illegal immigrant parents), are you still a citizen?<br /><br />I haven't checked but I guess the answer is positive.<br /><br />>If you look at job ads for most Canadian universities (Waterloo, McGill, etc) they explicitly state that they will give preference to Canadian citizens. I've never seen such a things stated in a job ad for a US university.<br />> I don't think that makes Canada more friendly in terms of employing foreigners. <br /><br />This is similar to the statements that women are given preference, i.e. if the applicants have similar quality those with Canadian citizenship are preferred.(universities in Quebec like McGill might be different from the rest, check the wiki if you don't know why.)<br />Getting a permanent resident status is way easier than US.<br /><br />Foreign students are not counted as immigrants, they have a temporary resident status, though getting a permanent resident status is not very difficult.<br /><br />Generally, Canada has a very strong policy against any kind of discrimination (including xenophobia). In a country where almost half of the population are immigrants or their children, it is hard for groups like tea-party and racists to become and remain the main topic of political discussions. There are still influential political groups in US that cannot even tolerate a black president. If you had any experience of living in both of them, you would understand how ridiculous it is to argue that immigrants are treated better in US than in Canada.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-66474312228450515802010-10-11T13:34:53.444-05:002010-10-11T13:34:53.444-05:00If you look at job ads for most Canadian universit...If you look at job ads for most Canadian universities (Waterloo, McGill, etc) they explicitly state that they will give preference to Canadian citizens. I've never seen such a things stated in a job ad for a US university.<br /><br />I don't think that makes Canada more friendly in terms of employing foreigners. <br /><br />Also, note that many foreigners in the US (such as PhD students) are specifically designated NOT to be immigrants. They have to claim (for their Visa) that they do not intend to stay in the US after their studies even if that is not the case. Thus, these people would not be counted in a tally of "immigrants".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-23842335358584939632010-10-11T13:27:11.981-05:002010-10-11T13:27:11.981-05:00I meant, if you are born in Canada ...I meant, if you are born in Canada ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-24574665908401035642010-10-11T13:26:25.280-05:002010-10-11T13:26:25.280-05:00I don't view a "second generation immigra...I don't view a "second generation immigrant" to be an immigrant. If the person was born in the US or born with US citizenship, they are not an immigrant.<br /><br />Also, what is Canada's policy towards citizenship? If you are in Canada (even to illegal immigrant parents), are you still a citizen?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-49828242570503796462010-10-11T13:23:01.380-05:002010-10-11T13:23:01.380-05:00The Math of Networks & Communications Research...The Math of Networks & Communications Research Dept. at Bell Labs, in Murray Hill, <br />NJ is likely to be looking for candidates for the position of member of technical staff.<br />Potential candidates are required to have a PhD in Computer Science / Math / EE <br />/ OR or related fields with 1) demonstrated strength in theory and 2) evident interest in networks and systems. Interested candidates may send a cover note and a current resumes to iis at research.bell-labs.com with "Position <br />at Bell Labs" in the subject line.<br /><br />Iraj SanieeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-43552282417164863672010-10-11T13:22:05.747-05:002010-10-11T13:22:05.747-05:00Another correction: the number were from 2002 (htt...Another correction: the number were from 2002 (http://www.cbc.ca/news/becomingcanadian/overview.html), I guess they have increased considerably during last 8 years.<br /><br />From wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Canada): Approximately 41% of people currently living in Canada are first or second generation immigrants.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-72506524299510016862010-10-11T13:14:29.954-05:002010-10-11T13:14:29.954-05:00a small correction about the percentage of immigra...a small correction about the percentage of immigrants: Canada 17 percent, Australia 21 percentAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1849551173336965272010-10-11T13:10:04.214-05:002010-10-11T13:10:04.214-05:00I checked it, percentage wise, only Australia is a...I checked it, percentage wise, only Australia is above Canda (more than 21 percent immigrants, not including their children born in Canada), one in eight Canadian has dual citizenship.<br /><br />And based on my own experience and experience of some friends I have talked with, Canadians are way friendlier than American's to immigrants.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-72716091915082779722010-10-11T12:27:11.072-05:002010-10-11T12:27:11.072-05:00Percentage wise?
i.e. does Canada actually have m...Percentage wise?<br /><br />i.e. does Canada actually have more immigrants than the US? Or are they more friendly to the (fewer numbers of) immigrants they do get?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-15142340675661452432010-10-11T11:19:00.073-05:002010-10-11T11:19:00.073-05:00Last anon, Canada is way better in accepting immig...Last anon, Canada is way better in accepting immigrants than US.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1261564938808793942010-10-10T22:18:53.604-05:002010-10-10T22:18:53.604-05:00I think that USA is the most immigrant friendly co...I think that USA is the most immigrant friendly country in this whole big world.<br />No country can accept immigrants with open arms.<br />I do not see why people like to bash America on this blog.<br />If there is some bias towards native English speakers, then I think that there is nothing wrong with that. It is we who are coming to this country and taking the jobs. We can definitely bend over backwards for this.<br />I am from India. I like everything about America other than its stupid politicians and people from Southern states.<br />Please donot criticize this great and friendly country.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-21997868028181854052010-10-10T14:10:09.742-05:002010-10-10T14:10:09.742-05:00I actually think 11:01 anon has it backwards. If ...I actually think 11:01 anon has it backwards. If a non-native speaker says something silly, people will think, did he really mean that, or is it just that English is his second language? Whereas if you are American and you say something silly during a talk, it can not be blamed on your language abilities.<br /><br />Also, as an American, I think Americans are biased towards other types of accents: i.e. we automatically think that people with British sounding accents are smart, and that goes for other accents too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-62716394664582393192010-10-10T14:05:55.302-05:002010-10-10T14:05:55.302-05:00Given that the talk is usually being heard/judged ...Given that the talk is usually being heard/judged by a large percentage of non-native speakers, I don't think this is true.<br /><br />Also, sometimes people who are non-native speakers of English have an easier time understanding other non-native speakers, since they tend to speak slower, use simpler sentence structure, etc. <br /><br />Additionally, there are so many places where Americans are not only the minority, but there are top grad schools with only one or two Americans in a particular field (in the grad student population and among the faculty). So being an American can make one feel very out of place sometimes, even in one's own country. There are many theory faculties that have more people from India than they have Americans, for example.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-67793444529502998642010-10-10T11:01:59.084-05:002010-10-10T11:01:59.084-05:00Americans still get advantages in the job search i...Americans still get advantages in the job search in the US, by virtue of being native, unaccented English speakers. This makes it much easier to give a good job talk.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-43505195212200614972010-10-09T16:48:21.824-05:002010-10-09T16:48:21.824-05:00There are many more foreign researchers in the US ...There are many more foreign researchers in the US than American researchers abroad. Sometimes this is for language reasons. The international contingent in the UK is not a coincidence, with English the international language of science. The UK may be changing, as well. Many countries, though, have explicit discrimination policies, if not at the university level then at the level of research funding agencies. There are also unofficial discrimination policies. <br /><br />"It would seem like a bizzare decision, to say the least, to hire a non-Israeli." That discrimination is natural and anything else is bizarre is the standard attitude in most countries. <br /><br />It is to the US's benefit to attract the best researchers from around the world. However, since this is usually a one-way street, this strongly discourages Americans from earning PhDs and trying to enter academia.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-60849953864496899592010-10-09T13:02:04.909-05:002010-10-09T13:02:04.909-05:00Moving to a foreign country (with an unfamiliar la...Moving to a foreign country (with an unfamiliar language and small number of non-natives speakers) for the rest of your work life (tenure track position) is different from doing a postdoc or phd. It is also important that there are reasonable number of researchers working in similar areas in close proximity.<br /><br />Other countries should follow Israeli model (Weizmann, huji, Technion, ... ) in establishing theory hubs. It can have a dramatic effect on the theory job market, specially if China and India become more active in establishing such centers, they have the resources and they have the need. Tsinghua seems to be moving in the right direction, but it will take time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-64365786818555369832010-10-08T23:33:27.174-05:002010-10-08T23:33:27.174-05:00Theoretical Computer Science has always been an in...Theoretical Computer Science has always been an international enterprise. There are American theoreticians in many countries, in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, and, of course there are non-American faculty members in the US.<br /><br />I know of American theoreticians having tenure-track and tenured positions in the UK, Israel, Italy, Denmark, Hong Kong, Taiwan off the top of my head. Singapore, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, even Brazil advertised open positions. There are American postdocs in France, Germany, China, Italy, etc.<br /><br />Anybody claiming that "not teaching undergraduates" is a good thing, should not apply to a faculty job.<br /><br />It is possible for Americans to get a job in many foreign universities. In some places (Denmark, Holland, etc.) some universities offer many undergraduate courses in English. Many universities will allow a period of several years during which the faculty member can teach in English, with the expectation that she will learn the language of the country during this period.<br />This is not a big deal--think of the number of non-native English speakers at a typical CS department in the US....Janosnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-18931926097436329402010-10-07T23:22:51.185-05:002010-10-07T23:22:51.185-05:00The only really open country in Europe/Middle East...The only really open country in Europe/Middle East in terms of hiring foreign faculty is UK, which has tons of foreigners, just like the US. Also, maybe Switzerland has some foreigners, but they are often from France, Germany and Belgium, i.e. countries with a common language. There are, of course, some exceptions, but usually these are spouses of someone of the nationality of the country or someone who at least got their PhD in that country.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-84256284741687430872010-10-07T23:15:50.626-05:002010-10-07T23:15:50.626-05:00"there are so many good Israeli TCS people th..."there are so many good Israeli TCS people that they are forced to go look for jobs outside of Israel. Thus, typically, there is a huge pool of great Israeli researchers just waiting to "come back". In such a situation, it would seem like a bizzare decision, to say the least, to hire a non-Israeli."<br /><br />As if that argument doesn't hold for the US. What's good for the goose ain't good for the gander.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-13413308903513763932010-10-07T21:48:15.304-05:002010-10-07T21:48:15.304-05:00To be honest, the situation with Israeli universit...To be honest, the situation with Israeli universities seems to go both ways: they typically are not crazy about hiring non-Israelis, and non-Israelis are not crazy about moving to Israel. The reason for not wanting to hire non-Israelis is particularly mundane: there are so many good Israeli TCS people that they are forced to go look for jobs outside of Israel. Thus, typically, there is a huge pool of great Israeli researchers just waiting to "come back". In such a situation, it would seem like a bizzare decision, to say the least, to hire a non-Israeli.<br /><br />The two exceptions discussed, R. Rubinfeld and Julia Kempe, are exceptions that prove the rule: they are both spouses of Israeli faculty members that are in the same university. (Knowing this blog, I should clarify that there is no claim of foul play: both of these researchers are just as good, maybe even better, than the typical for that university; it's just that the fact their spouses are Israeli excludes them from being good examples of non-Israelis at an Israeli university)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-91871847857926031352010-10-07T10:51:16.347-05:002010-10-07T10:51:16.347-05:00That would be good for the non-israelis .. not to ...That would be good for the non-israelis .. not to teach undergrads. But it could also result in them not being hired ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-67496331187438442512010-10-07T03:50:42.053-05:002010-10-07T03:50:42.053-05:00``I never saw an ad from an israeli university on ...``I never saw an ad from an israeli university on CRA, for example"<br /><br />Haifa university posted an opening in theorynet.<br /><br />One problem is that undergrad courses are often taught in hebrew, thus any non-Israelis would not be able to teach these courses.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com