原文作者：Terence Tao (陶哲轩)
原文链接：https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/
建议就是当我们已经知道答案，却希冀一些不一样的答案时所寻找的东西。 —— Erica Jong
Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t. —— Erica Jong
这是我关于数学学术生涯建议的合集，粗略按与不同职业阶段的相关程度安排（当然，有的建议涉及多个阶段）。
免责声明：这里的建议本质上是很通用的，但我不会装作自己有能解决所有职业问题的"银子弹"。在做任何职业生涯的重要决定前，你肯定需要针对你自己的情况考虑很多因素，背景，当然还有一定的常识。我尤其建议你和指导教师或顾问讨论你的决定，如果有的话，毕竟他（她）熟悉你的情况。还有，请注意我的大多数建议是针对数学学术生涯的；当然此外还有其他很多职业生涯选择，但我对它们的特别深入的了解。
- 小学层面
- 高中层面
- 本科层面
- 如何更擅长于解决数学问题？数学不只是分数、测试和方法；也不只是严谨和证明。重视局部进展，并以此为问题完整解决方案的垫脚石。
- 别基于魅力和声望去做生涯决定。以及你应该尝试不同的地方。
- 必须是天才才能在数学上成功吗？
- 毕业后层面
- 努力、专业地工作很重要。但享受工作也很重要。
- Think ahead to understand the way forward; ask yourself dumb questions to understand the way before.
- Attend talks and conferences, even those not directly related to your own work.
- Talk to your advisor, but also take the initiative.
- Don’t prematurely obsess on a single “big problem” or “big theory”.
- Write down what you’ve done, and make your work available. In this regard, I have some advice on how to write and submit papers.
- 博士后层面
- Learn and relearn your field, but don’t be afraid to learn things outside your field.
- Learn the limitations of your tools, but also learn the power of other mathematician’s tools. In particular, you should continually aim just beyond your current range.
- In your research, be both flexible and patient.
- You should definitely travel and present your research if given the opportunity. But be considerate of your audience; talks are not the same as papers.
- Be sceptical of your own work, and don’t be afraid to use the wastebasket.
我还在（慢慢地）收集我关于时间管理的想法，以一个研究型数学家的角度。
- Here are some general thoughts on this topic.
- Batch low-intensity tasks together to take advantage of economies of scale and to reduce distraction.
- What are some useful, but little-known, features of the tools used by professional mathematicians?
更多建议:
- John Baez’s page on career advice.
- Po Bronson’s article on the relative importance of innate intelligence versus effort.
- Fan Chung’s advice for graduate students.
- Lance Fortnow’s “Graduate Student Guide“.
- Oded Goldreich’s “On our duties as scientists“.
- Richard Hamming’s “A stroke of genius: striving for greatness in all you do“.
- Matt Might’s “Illustrated guide to a Ph.D.“
- Gian-Carlo Rota’s “Ten lessons I wish I had been taught”.
- J. Michael Steele’s “Advice for Graduate Students in Statistics.”
- Ian Stewart’s “Letters to a Young Mathematician“.
- Ravi Vakil’s “For potential students“.
- The Princeton Companion to Mathematics‘ section on advice to younger mathematicians, with contributions by Sir Michael Atiyah, Béla Bollobás, Alain Connes, Dusa McDuff, and Peter Sarnak.
- AMS advice page for new PhDs
- AMS graduate student blog
- The Mathematics Stack Exchange has a number of questions and answers on career development (and one can ask further questions that have not already been posed on that site). MathOverflow similarly has questions and answers on careers. Finally, the Academia Stack Exchange has a large number of questions and answers on all academic matters, including career issues.