Preparing students and new practitioners for the real-world of OR/MS

Most OR/MS textbooks and literature and many professors with no in-plant industrial experience do not properly prepare students and new practitioners for what they can expect when they start their careers in industry. The usual structured approach to OR/MS education, although necessary and valuable, gives students little insight into the true nature and extent of industrial problems and what is required to get usable solutions in a short time-frame. The word ‘optimization’ is overplayed because of its mathematical sophistication; whereas, the words ‘good-enough’, ‘better’, and ‘quick-and-dirty’ are all but ignored. This article gives students and new practitioners some insight, based on the author’s extensive industrial and teaching experience, into what to expect and not to expect when applying OR/MS in industry.