Career Advice and Strategies for Students

Introductions

  • Tammy: Product Manager for Xfinity Mobile.
  • Eunice: Infrastructure Consultant for Avanade (joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture).
  • Karina: Campus Recruiter for Lockheed Martin.

Karina's Career Path

  • Current Role: Campus recruiter, focusing on building relationships with career services, professors, and student organizations to create opportunities for students to learn about Lockheed Martin.
  • Unique Story: Initially studied international relations and found it difficult to find a job in the field after graduation due to experience requirements.
  • Accidental Opportunity: A part-time job at a hotel led to a connection with a mentor, Antoinette, who helped Karina get a job in talent acquisition at MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital.
  • Talent Acquisition at MedStar: Spent a year at MedStar, gaining experience and developing a passion for talent acquisition.
  • Marriott Headquarters: Applied to multiple positions at Marriott headquarters and eventually joined their talent acquisition team.
  • Lockheed Martin: Met people at Marriott who later moved to Lockheed Martin and recruited her.
  • Key Advice: Seek a company where you can be an "entrepreneur" in your own job, with the power to bring ideas to fruition. Consider the company's values and mission. Build relationships and seek mentors.

Eunice's Career Path

  • Current Role: Infrastructure consultant at Avanade.
  • Rutgers Career Fair: Obtained her position at Avanade through the Rutgers career fair during her senior year.
  • Previous Experience: Worked with career services as a technology help desk intern.
  • Career Fair Strategy: Despite the hectic nature of career fairs, she waited in line to speak with Avanade recruiters, submitted her resume, and secured a series of interviews.
  • Advice: Maximize resources offered by Rutgers, emphasizing the dedication of university staff to providing opportunities and building employer relationships.

Tammy's Career Path

  • Graduation: Graduated from Rutgers Business School in 2015 with a degree in Business Analytics and IT (combination of finance, computer science, analytics, and economics).
  • Initial Interest: Initially wanted to major in international relations.
  • Internship: Interned at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) through the Rutgers career portal, enjoying the project-based nature of consulting.
  • Extracurriculars: Involved in the Douglas International Students Association and worked as an RA at Rutgers (Lippincott and Jameson).
  • Consulting Roles: After PwC, worked in a similar role at Ernst & Young, based in New York and traveling 100% of the time to financial services clients.
  • Transition to Comcast: Project at Comcast in Philadelphia led to an offer in a product role.
  • Product Management: Current role as a product manager at Xfinity Mobile involves owning the onboarding eligibility experience. She builds new functionality and features, working with different teams to determine the best solutions for customers.

Strategies for Success in STEM

  • Tangible Experience (Eunice):
    • Internships: Desktop support intern at Tory Burch; help desk intern with Rutgers career services.
    • Non-profit: Talent accelerator teaching Ghanaian women technical skills in finance and technology; participation in Ghana's first tax summit.
    • Networking: Crucial at Tory Burch, Rutgers career services, and during the Ghana tech summit.
  • Job Descriptions (Tammy):
    • STEM job descriptions often list many qualifications, but not all are mandatory.
    • Skills can be learned on the job; competency and mindset are key.
    • Example: Experience with another language showcases the capability to learn Java.
  • Key Takeaways (Karina):
    • Basic qualifications vs. desired skills on job postings.
    • Use keywords from job postings in resumes.
    • Involvements in technical projects (even without extensive work experience).
    • Leadership roles in student organizations, research, and publications.
    • Networking at information sessions and technical talks with alumni.
    • Apply to many jobs that match qualifications and interests.
  • Echoed Advice (Stephanie):
    • Apply even when meeting only some requirements.
    • Experiences differentiate candidates.
    • Employers are often willing to teach.
  • Lockheed Martin (Karina):
    • Actively participate in national conferences.
    • Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that meet monthly.
    • Research company diversity initiatives.
  • Comcast/Xfinity (Tammy):
    • Bengineers (Black Employee Network for engineers) actively recruits people into the pipeline.
    • Tech women organization refers people of certain groups into recruiting.
  • General Strategies:
    • Capitalize on the recruiting push for people of color and women.
    • Inquire about the environment, day-to-day experiences, and inclusivity.
  • Avanade (Eunice):
    • Surround oneself with a group that looks like oneself.
    • Inspire, a resource group for Black people, provides mentorship and opportunities.
    • Advocate for ERG cultures and ask questions about support for various groups.

Professional Development Opportunities

  • Avanade (Eunice):
    • Frequent training sessions on new technologies.
    • Company-paid certifications in Microsoft technologies such as Azure, Office 365, and Dynamics.
    • Opportunities to learn new skills to apply for different projects.
    • Collaborative environment with support for learning and growth.
  • Comcast (Tammy):
    • Less proactive training, but support for attending conferences and learning new skills.
    • In interviews, ask about steps taken to upskill and train workers.
  • Lockheed Martin (Karina):
    • Robust career development program with clear plans for short-term and long-term goals.
    • Online learning, mentoring programs, and education assistance.
    • Leadership Development Program: A three-year rotational program with training, mentoring and 100% tuition coverage for a master's degree.
    • Women in Computer Science Summit: Interns in computer science or computer engineering are flown to headquarters, meeting with leadership and networking.

Impact of COVID-19

  • Lockheed Martin (Karina):
    • Shift to virtual work and recruiting; no rescinded offers.
  • Xfinity Mobile (Tammy):
    • Minimal disruption due to existing virtual capabilities.
    • Challenges in replicating close collaboration with developers digitally.
  • Consulting (Eunice):
    • Transition was easy as remote work was already part of company culture.
    • Increased workload and expectation of faster deadlines.
    • Missing the travel aspect.

Mentors and Role Models

  • Mentorship Programs (Tammy):
    • Important to join mentorship programs to match skills and background.
    • Be proactive in finding a mentor (formal or informal agreement).
    • Look for someone you respect and wish to emulate.
    • Be judicious in choosing a mentor and understand what you want to gain.
  • Pulling Knowledge from Different Sources (Eunice):
    • Professors, older friends, and family friends.
    • HR professor encouraged a tech integration.
    • HR and cultural anthropology minors came from listening and asking questions.
    • Career advisors providing career guidance, and also mentors for personal growth.
  • Importance of Mentors (Karina):
    • Never too early or late to get a mentor.
    • Join student organizations, find mentors of your age, and get industry-specific mentors.
    • Meet on a monthly basis to discuss progress and goals.

Maintaining Work-Life Balance

  • Using PTO (Eunice):
    • Use PTO for self-care, even if not traveling.
    • Find things outside of work to focus on, such as starting a business (Odyssey Artisans), reading, and blogging.
  • Intentional Use of Time (Tammy):
    • Avoid comparing yourself to others.
    • Sign off when work is done, regardless of others being online.
    • Focus on your intentions and personal growth.
  • Work Schedule and Vision Board (Karina):
    • Take advantage of work schedule benefits such as a 9/80 schedule.
    • Creating and using a vision board to explore personal vision and values.
    • Pursue personal goals such as getting an MBA.
    • Travel to new places and learn new cultures.

Research Opportunities

  • Contact Professors (Tammy):
    • Ask professors about research opportunities or create one with them.
  • Personal Projects (Eunice):
    • Create your own projects to put on LinkedIn.
    • Show initiative to recruiters from different companies.
  • Relevant Projects for Target Companies (Karina):
    • Find out what projects companies you want to work for are working on and find a research opportunity that works with one of them.
    • If research cannot be found, look towards joining organizations that have research opportunities available.

Lenient of Work and Volunteering Experiences

  • Creative during COVID (Karina):
    • Students can use LinkedIn to learn new things and have certifications.

Mentioned Resources/Programs:

  • SHIP
  • BAYA
  • Grasshopper
  • WINGS
  • LinkedIn
  • Udemy
  • Project SUPER
  • Grace Hopper Conference
  • Bengineers (Black Engineer Network)
  • Inspire