Change

Change is not necessarily a bad thing. People change, goals change, life throws a wrench at you and forces change. The thing is, looking back, I never imagined I would be where I am now. I imagined myself on a completely different career path going a completely different direction. A quote shared with me by a friend recently is live so that twenty years down the road, you won't be where you imagined yourself to be. It's easy to depend on a schedule, to plan every second of the next ten years of your life but a little spontaneity may place you where you need to go.

I recently ran into two boys I had known back in high school. While we were talking I realized that your views of one another were based on what we had known of each other years ago. I thought one was going to be an architect and another a lawyer, but now they were on completely different career paths, as am I. I am no longer the meek, nerdy girl reading books during class. I've grown up into someone who's confident with who she is and not afraid to speak up. I'm not the girl I was years ago, and I won't be the girl I am now several years into the future. I think where I'm trying to go with this is, change isn't necessarily a bad thing, sometimes it just means better things are coming.

Cheers,

N. Riazi

Growing Up

Image Courtesy of The Sweet Misery

I'm growing up. It's a fact. After dreaming to become an engineer for about 10 years, I'm almost here. In fact, I consider myself 'HERE'.

In Middle School, I aimed to get as-far in math as possible. And I did. 

In High School, my goal was to take Calculus and Physics by the time I finished. And I did.

In College, my goal was "To Do the Best I Can," get involved in Undergraduate Research, and have at least one internship. And I did.

Looking from the eyes of high school, there are some things I never would have imagined I would do:

• Work for NASA
• Work for a Fortune 500 Company
• Move to Dallas, Texas on a whim
• Live and work in Washington DC
• Live and work internationally (To be done, but planned)
• Present at 3 research conferences
• Go to Ebay and get sent to New York City for Free.
• Consider a PhD
• Take such pride and value in engineering

Now what?  To be honest, it's unnerving not to have a specific goal. Do I get my Masters in Engineering and MBA? Or do I go for my PhD? Or do I just wait and see?

For you youngsters: All of the above is possible. Work hard, have fun, and keep your dreams in sight.

-Serena

Things you should do during an interview

After my post on the obvious things you shouldn't do during an interview, here are a few obvious and not-so obvious things that you should do during an interview.

1. Give a firm handshake
Ladies (and gents), a firm handshake makes the best impression on an interviewer. As an interviewer myself, I am far more impressed with someone that gives me a firm handshake. I asked around to my superiors, and most said their first impression on me was stronger because I gave a good handshake. It's actually been proven that women do better in interviews if they give a firm handshake. (Seriously. Google it.) Remember though, there is a difference between a nice, strong handshake, and causing physical pain. Pain = bad.


2. If you can get off topic with the interviewer, do it.
Not saying you should talk about the weather, but if the interviewer states anything personal about themselves, jump on the opportunity to talk about it. This takes it from being just another interview to "Oh yeah, I remember that one." To get this position I got in a detailed conversation about ladybugs. Seriously. Ladybugs.

3. Ask serious questions
Don't ask generic questions like "What is this subject" or "how did that start?". If they are questions you can answer in Google or off of a company page, don't ask it. Instead, ask questions about things you can't find online. Here are some examples:

• Ask the interviewer what they like most about the job
• Ask the interview what they like least about the job (this is a very good one to ask)
• What is a day in the job like?
• Are there company outings / group activities?
• Is there opportunity for advancement in the company?

 4. Overdress
I know it sounds weird, but (men) if you are deciding about whether to wear a tie or not, do it. Ladies, instead of your favorite shirt, why not your nicest one? You may not be hired into a position where you need to dress up that much, but it makes quite an impression on your interviewer.

Things you shouldn't do in an interview

Everyone says that there are things you should and shouldn't do in an interview, but here are a few obvious ones that surprisingly still happen quite often. I'm making this list because this can be automatic disqualifications from getting a job that you'd love to have:

1. Do not lie.
I'm dead serious. This happens way more than you'd think. During the process of one interview, the interviewee was talking about how he had written a massive report on regulation codes and how a project fit it. It sounded quite impressive, until he mentioned that he had brought it with him. In looking through the report, it was clear that he could not have written a good portion of the report based on language and reference documents. When he was asked about it, he stated that he actually only wrote about 40% of the report. Lying during the interview got him automatically disqualified from getting the position that he would have gotten otherwise.

2. Do not show up unprepared
In an interview for the main project being worked on, the interviewee did not prepare for the interview at all. I ended up spending most of the interview explaining background than actually interviewing the individual. If you come prepared to an interview with questions, it shows that you've researched into the job and are actually interested.

3. Do not ask about other positions
The worst interview I had was with an individual who had a great deal of experience in the field relating to the position. When I asked what he was most interested in for the subject field, he stated something that was not related to the position at all. Keep in mind, this is not a bad thing. I asked him how he would handle the position available as it wasn't his big interest. The possible responses he should have had could have been:

• I don't have experience in the field of this position, but it is something that I am interested in pursuing. I am currently interested in (A) because that is what I have experience in so far.
• I feel that my drive in (A) shows my motivation to learn new things.
• I am interested in this position in spite of (A)

Okay, so the last one could use some spiffing up, but you get the idea. The response he had was this:
"Oh well, are there any positions available that relate to (A) or a division I could transfer in to?"

At this point I should have just told him "Thank you for coming, have a nice day." He pretty much stated he had no interest in this position, and had just wasted an hour of my life that I could have spent interviewing someone that actually wanted the position.

Please, do not do any of this things if you actually intend on getting a job. These were all college graduate engineers, and they could have used this advice ahead of time. Don't be one of them.

Resume tips and pointers

Resume. It's a word most people have come to fear, though people simply fear things that they do not understand. I've spent a great deal of time sorting through resume's in both helping fix them up and actually sorting through them for hiring. Here are a few things that are extremely important to remember and will help to stop your resume from getting brushed into a pile.

1. First thing first, proofread your resume.

I cannot tell you how many times I have looked at resumes and had improper grammar and tenses used, and found spelling mistakes. I end up getting distracted by the errors that I forget I'm in the middle of trying to hire someone. Read over it yourself, have a friend read it, and then read over it some more. It may be just a minor comma that was added or a small fragment, but when someone is judging you off of a single sheet of paper, don't let it be because you can't spell.


2. Always write a cover letter

Unless a job specifically says to not include a cover letter, always write one. It gives you the chance to tell a potential employer the things your resume doesn't say. Are you applying to be a pilot because you grew up building model airplanes? Did you live through an earthquake and decide to do seismic studies for college? Is your GPA low because you had a part time job? Did you once rig your bedroom door to open with a remote control? We (as employers) want to know the person behind the resume.

Now, cover letters aren't a one size fits all for jobs. You may be able to make a general one to use as a template, but it really is important to make it fit to the job you are applying for. Go to the job website. Search it on Google or Wikipedia. The more you know about what you'd be doing, the better your cover letter can be created to suit the position. This is part of the reason searching for a job can be considered a full time job on its own - a lot of time gets put into it.

3. Ask for more information

If you are applying for a job to an email or though a school job listing, ask the employer for more information or where you can get more information about the company. This is good for two reasons: 1. It shows that you are interested, and 2. if they respond, you can try to keep a dialog going. Your name will remain in their head, and you will be a more likely candidate.  Do not ask about the pay.

4. Use a resume template

I know templates can be overused, but when everything on the page is the same size, same font, no sectioning, no bullets, etc. it becomes a little difficult to follow and understand. Templates were made for a reason: they work!

5. Your email is not your cover letter.

A cover letter says you spent time thinking and writing it all out. An email says you spent 5 minutes looking into the job then applied. Employers want someone that is actually interested in the job they may have!



I'll be sure to make a posting on how to write a decent resume and cover letter, and other useful hints in this regard as well. This should be useful in the meantime!


Good luck job hunting!