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OxfordGuideToCareers2017
OxfordGuideToCareers2017
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OTHER CAREERS<br />
<br />
Deep Learning Scientist,<br />
Apple<br />
— using artificial intelligence, specifically<br />
‘deep learning’, to help computers<br />
understand what they see. I spend the<br />
majority of my time doing scientific<br />
research in artificial intelligence and<br />
improving products with it.<br />
teach) but with many more resources<br />
(computational infrastructure &<br />
large amounts of data for training AI<br />
methods) and higher social impact<br />
(building amazing products like the<br />
iPhone that are used by everyone).<br />
OTHER CAREERS<br />
Wolfson College,<br />
DPhil in Engineering<br />
Science, 2015<br />
WHAT: I work on artificial intelligence<br />
in Apple’s Cupertino office. My<br />
research focuses on computer vision<br />
WHY: I love this field because it’s so<br />
creative and has almost limitless potential<br />
to improve the world. Silicon Valley is<br />
an amazing place to do that — people<br />
genuinely think anything is possible.<br />
Getting started: Ever since a child I loved<br />
observing people and understanding their<br />
feelings & emotions. During my undergrad<br />
in Cambridge I got curious about whether<br />
computers could do that too. This got me<br />
into artificial intelligence, which I then<br />
pursued for my PhD at Oxford.<br />
After the PhD I decided to shift to industry<br />
as that’s where most progress in AI is now<br />
being made.<br />
Top AI companies have much of the perks<br />
of academia (freedom to do long-term<br />
research into problems that matter the<br />
most, to share your findings with the<br />
community through publishing, and to<br />
TOP TIPS: Ask yourself what problem<br />
breaks your heart in this world and<br />
work on solving that. Passion and<br />
motivation will follow.<br />
Wherever you go, remember to actively<br />
help the people around you, listen and<br />
love them. That’s what really matters.<br />
Be humble of your achievements<br />
(including your degree) — you did not<br />
achieve them alone.<br />
Slow down and embrace your limits.<br />
The world never runs out of things to<br />
do — but you will run out of energy if<br />
you don’t rest.<br />
Remember that anything is possible.<br />
FINAL WORDS: If you’re interested<br />
in computer science and artificial<br />
intelligence, learn about deep learning!<br />
Mark Belcher<br />
Staff Interpreter,<br />
United Nations<br />
St Edmund Hall, BA Modern<br />
History and Modern<br />
Languages, 2003<br />
WHAT: I attend UN meetings and<br />
interpret the proceedings from French or<br />
Russian into English. My work is mostly<br />
in New York, but occasionally I travel<br />
elsewhere – last spring I was in Turkey<br />
for a week – which is fascinating but not<br />
always as glamorous as it sounds, for<br />
example when we’re sent to a prison or<br />
factory.<br />
WHY: It’s an interesting, varied and<br />
demanding job and you are confronted<br />
with something new every day.<br />
PROS AND CONS: I’ve been interested<br />
in interpreting since school, but I<br />
assumed you had to grow up speaking<br />
several languages, which was not my<br />
case. I moved to Berlin to improve my<br />
German after university, and did written<br />
translations. My first interpreting job<br />
came via a friend who asked me to<br />
do some work on a film: I got to meet<br />
people and see new places - I loved it!<br />
However, the rise of English as a lingua<br />
franca means we’re all wondering how<br />
long there is left for the profession.<br />
Employability depends on how many<br />
languages you can interpret from (for the<br />
UN you need at least two passive<br />
languages) and whether your<br />
languages are in demand. Politics<br />
can have a direct impact though<br />
– Russian has definitely made my<br />
career so far.<br />
GETTING IN: To work for the UN you<br />
should have an MA in Conference<br />
Interpreting, so I took a one-year<br />
course at the University of Bath.<br />
I then passed the UN freelance<br />
interpreting test, before passing the<br />
Competition for staff a couple of<br />
years later.<br />
ADVICE: Because it is difficult to<br />
get into the profession you need to<br />
decide whether you want to invest<br />
so much time and money. Anybody<br />
who’s interested should talk to<br />
working interpreters and potential<br />
employers.<br />
“People think it’s for them if they love<br />
languages - but the languages are<br />
just the starting point. You need to be<br />
interested in everything, even if only<br />
for one day...”<br />
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