From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.ecf!utgpu!cunews!nrcnet0!bnrgate!bcars267!news Tue May 12 15:49:13 EDT 1992
Article 5430 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: Reg Foulkes
Subject: Re: AI, Linguistics, Philosophy, and a Job
Message-ID: <1992May6.164914.12474@bnr.ca>
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Organization: Bell-Northern Research
References: <aog9JB1w164w@netlink.cts.com> <TT6BkB1w164w@cybernet.cse.fau.edu> <1992May6.151819.4287@saifr00.cfsat.honeywell.com>
Date: Wed, 6 May 1992 16:49:14 GMT

In article <1992May6.151819.4287@saifr00.cfsat.honeywell.com>
shanks@saifr00.cfsat.honeywell.com (Mark Shanks) writes:

>I am speaking only from my experience with large corporations (McDonell
>Aircraft and Honeywell), and therefore these remarks may not be appropriate
>for some smaller (kinder, gentler) employers.
>
>The personnel department has very strict hiring guidelines with little/no
>leeway for discretion, and the undergraduate degree is one of the first
>things they look at. A degree in philosophy, even with a Masters in
>linguistics, won't get you anywhere near AI activities. I understand that
>you are interested in AI research (as opposed to practical applications);
>this would best be pursued in academia, because the business world isn't
>interested. I worked with some AI-related programs at McDonnell, and frankly
>I don't think philosophy or linguistics had any application at all to what
>we were doing. My recommendation would be to get an undergraduate degree in
>CS or EE, a graduate degree in CS/AI, and some courses in linguistics,
>philosophy, and human factors or psychology.

  What a waste. I always wonder how many good people get dropped from  
the personnel departments just because they don't have Degree X. 
--------------------------------
Reg Foulkes                                                   Bell-Northern
Research
riskit@bnr.ca                                                 2745 Iris Street
Telephone :(613) 763-4131                            Ottawa, Ontario., Canada 
K1Y 4H7


