Jill Johnson: Thoughts from WE12

1. Always follow up with a personalized thank you note after meeting a recruiter, interviewing, etc. Someone is always going to open up a personalized card addressed to them, however may overlook a thank you email in their inbox. A personalized card makes a better impression.
2. When you are budgeting your money, take notice of tax brackets. For example, for the first 8,000 dollars you make, you will be taxed let’s say 10%. After you earn the first 8,000 dollars in the fiscal year, you move up a tax bracket. This means that your tax will now be 12% on the money you make between 8,000 and 35,000 dollars. As you move up tax brackets, your monthly paycheck actually decreases. Your paycheck will be higher in January than it is in November. This means you must save your money. You will need it come November!

Madelaine Saunders: Thoughts from WE12

1. The most important thing about working is not to be afraid to make a mistake.  Mistakes are learning experiences and the way you relate to people is more important than being right the first time.
2.  What you put into SWE – and your professional life – is what you get out.  If you want to people to notice you and make connections put in hard work and effort.

Ashley Vassell: Thoughts from WE12

1.  I learned that one of the advantages of cloud computing is that the resources are always available, whenever a project requires them, so this lessens the amount of machines that are hoarded.
2.  I also learned that work, life balance is hard to achieve and you will almost always have to pick one aspect of your life over another

VP Ashley's SWEFL Experience

Hello RPI SWE!

At the end of last school year I was nominated to be the SWE Future Leader (SWEFL) for Region F and I was chosen! As a part of being on the Region F Collegiate Team you are invited to the Collegiate Leadership Forum in August. This year it was in Minneapolis, MN from August 16^th – 18^th. This was a great opportunity to learn more about how National SWE works and how the Board of Directors works with the Regional Collegiate Teams and how the RCT works with Collegiate sections. A special part of CLF is the Installation of the FY13 President, Board of Directors, and the Board of Trustees. Melissa Tata (FY12 President and RPI Alum) installed Alyse Stofer. She said a few words about her theme for this year “A Lifetime of Opportunity”.

One the first day I learned about the History of SWE going all the way back to 1950 with the Green Engineering camp in 1950. I also learned about the importance of having your own “Personal Board of Directors” which means having a mentor for different parts of your life. In my first SWEFL meeting I learned about what the different positions of the Regional Collegiate Board do, which you can read about on the Region F Blog (http://regionf.wordpress.com/). On the Second day I learned about Navigating the National SWE website. Which has a lot to offer! I also created my plan of action for this year.

Overall this was a great experience and I hope to contribute a lot to Region F as well as RPI SWE this school year!

Ashley Vassell

Vice President

RPI SWE Alumnae Named a Winner at the 2012 Women of Innovation Awards

Summary of the article from Inside Rensselaer:


Four Rensselaer alumnae were named finalists, including one winner, in the 2012 Women of Innovation Awards: A Celebration of Connecticut’s Outstanding Women in Science and Technology, sponsored by the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC). Now in its eighth year, this awards program gathers the Connecticut technology community to recognize women in the workforce who are innovators, role models, and leaders in the technology, science, and engineering fields.

Kimberly McLean (’90 M.S. Computer Science), principal engineer, General Dynamics Electric Boat, was honored as the winner in the “Community Innovation and Leadership” category. McLean has spent 27 years working in engineering and information technology at Electric Boat. She is a member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and has been working with SWE and the Girl Scouts for almost 20 years to develop and present science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs for girls of all ages. McLean works with the Girl Scouts to provide girls at camp with opportunities to learn about astronomy and the use of telescopes.

To learn more about the awards program, go to the CTC website at www.ct.org.


The article can be read here, http://www.rpi.edu/about/inside/issue/v6n6/women.html, or the edition of Inside Rensselaer can be watched here,  

Thoughts on the Region F Conference from a First Time Attendee!

From Emily Frantz, 2011-2012 Freshman Representative:

The Region F Conference at MIT was the first SWE conference I have attended.  It was an absolute blast!  If you have never gone, I highly recommend it.  As for cost, SWE usually offers reimbursements for those who apply! 

The first of four sessions I attended was Interview Skills by Michael Ross, a recruiter for General Dynamics with inside knowledge on the in’s and out’s to expect from employers.  He described a resume as your profile, where you want to create questions but not to be vague or lie.  He personally scans a resume in 8 seconds, looking from top to bottom, left to right.  He advised bolding key phrases, not just headings and to tailor each resume for the job.  Networking is crucial so always get the business cards of professionals you meet, with the goal being to get to hiring managers.  He also advises getting your own business cards to hand out.  Once you get the interview, prepare for it like game day.  He shuts off his phone and electronics to focus in.  You want to do your homework prior to the interview so that you have questions to stump the interviewer, and look for odd statistics on the company to ask about.  Keep in mind you are looking for a company that is a right fit, just as much as they are looking for the right employee.  The interview starts the moment you enter the building.  If you got into a car accident on the way over or faced other stressful situations, do not mention it and be composed.  Arrive 15 minutes early, no more no less.  Know the interviewers name and title, and be prepared for a team of interviewers or a behavioral interview.  In the interview, it is a good idea to ask to take notes and never let yourself relax.

Mr. Ross had great answers for when people typically cannot find the right words:

Three days after getting a business card, shoot them an email that says:

“I’m looking for networking opportunities.  I was wondering if I could use you and your network to look for future opportunities” OR “Is there any way I can utilize your networking circle for assistance/help in finding future opportunities.”

Do you plan to have a family?  (An audience member said she was asked this, but Mr. Ross stated that an interviewer typically stays far away from such a tricky topic)

“A family may or may not be I my future but I am focused on my career”

Do you have any questions?

“Could you tell me about the team I could be working with?” or “Give me three adjectives to describe your company”

What are you looking for a salary?

“I’m looking for an average wage within my field given my skill set”

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

“My weaknesses are that I’m too focused; take too much on, etc.”  (Make weaknesses strengths instead)

The second session I attended was on Acing the Technical Interview by Alison Cichowlas, a software engineer at Google.  She said that interviewers look for algorithms, code, data structures, analytical skills, and sound design.  Her tips were to review algorithms and data structures, as well as to practice writing code.  Employers will want to see actual code, not pseudo code, and to have a preference on what you like to use.  During the interview, think aloud, ask questions, and go the long way using all the tools in your toolbox.  Define an approach, propose a solution, and prepare for change and the problem to get more difficult.  The thought process is more important than the answer.  Do not let the first question affect your performance on the next.

The third session I attended was An Unconventional Approach to Engineering by Dana Canby.  The presentation was on the opportunities within the nuclear field through the United States Navy.  These opportunities are not just for nuclear engineers, but a wide range of engineers and scientists.  Much of the job training is done with the navy.  There are two sides to the career opportunities: the operational side working on aircraft carriers or submarines, and the support side.  The support side includes Nuclear Power School Instructors where you sign a contract for four years in Charleston, South Carolina, teach one or two classes a day, get secret clearance, have graduate school opportunities, a salary of $50,000 a year for four years, working ten hours a week.  The other support opportunity is working as a Naval Reactor Engineer on a five-year contact in Washington DC.  This is the top job held by approximately 380 naval reactor engineers, about a third of that is hired a year and typically have a 3.8 to 4.0 GPA.  An excellent program to jumpstart a career with the Navy in the nuclear field is to join the Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate Program (NUPOC) as a student.  The navy is 15% women and the NUPOC program is as well.

The final session I attended was a personal development workshop titled, Fight of Your Life: How to Stay Motivated Crossing the Sahara, by Kathleen Aston.  Her message that we have many deserts in our life and that we can’t let fear,  underdeveloped confidence, negative mindset, overwhelmed/chaos, fatigue, or disappointment detriment self-motivation.  The take away is that you want things to END well:

Environment:  find a shelter (safe haven), bring the right gear (emotional and mental intelligence), and tribe (surround yourselves with common direction and mindset)

Nourishment:  physical (take care of yourself to guard against fatigue and illness), emotional, intellectual, and spiritual

Destination:  always focus on where you are going instead of the sand dunes on the horizon (various hurdles you must face)

I took away a great deal from the various sessions and I encourage you all to attend the next conference!



 

RPI SWE Member Featured in Rensselaer Magazine!

Congratulations to RPI SWE member Meghan Olson ('14), 

who was recognized in the most recent edition of Rensselaer Magazine! 

Together with Caroline Pitner ('14), Meghan was featured on the cover of the Winter 11-12 edition of the on-campus magazine for her involvement in Rensselaer's entrepreneurship program.

From the article:
"When Meghan Olson '14 began her college career at Rensselaer last fall, she didn't expect to end up pitching a new product she helped develop to a panel of judges. But she and classmate Caroline Pitner '14 got 90 seconds to deliver their elevator pitch about a filter to remove arsenic from contaminated drinking water - using the natural filtering power of cattails. Entrepreneurship was not on Olson's mind when she decided to double-major in Mechanical Engineering and Design, Innovation, and Society" [page 25]

For the full article, see this link.