Attending the admitted PhD open house at USC Marshall’s DSO department was an invaluable experience. It was a rare opportunity to engage with multiple faculty members. USC has a beautiful campus located in a delightful and convenient neighborhood.

One of the most interesting thing was when I tried to crowdsource representative attributes for a good PhD student by asking everyone the question: What makes a popular job market candidate? Their responses provided a well-rounded view of what it takes to stand out. Below are the key takeaways:

  • Master a particular domain. Depth matters. Establishing expertise in a focused area is crucial.
  • Balance technical depth with impact. Strong theoretical foundations should be complemented by practical implications.
  • Choose an important, contemporary, and fundamental problem. Research should be disciplined, impactful, and meaningful.
  • Prioritize contribution depth in a paper over quantity. Quality of contribution matters more than the number of publications.
  • Own the problem. Demonstrate a deep understanding to a model/method and commitment to solving it fundamentally.
  • Start with an interesting problem. Passion and curiosity drive impactful research.
  • **Invest in Theory and Applied Research (3:1) ** Having both strengthens the publication portfolio.
  • The academic job market is unpredictable. There is no fixed formula for success. Strong research is a given, but the process also involves positioning and advisor support.

In the end, cracking the PhD job market is like solving a non-convex black box optimization problem—there are personal, even unknown constraints, randomness, and no closed-form solution. But with depth, impact, and a bit of strategic maneuvering, we might just maximize our chances.

Courtesy to everyone in Marshall DSO. A truly well-organized and successful open house, showcasing an exceptionally supportive culture. One faculty member described it as “a boutique PhD program”—indeed. It’s well-structured, with an excellent student body, super strong group of people, and great care and attention for the students, plus generous funding. And of course, LA is gorgeous!