Hector Williams, Electrical Engineering Senior 2010

The main thing that I gained from this class was a more accurate sense of how the world really is post graduation. As undergrads I feel as though a lot of times we float around in our bubble of college believing that we know all there is to know about the real world, and what this class taught me is that we really don't know anything. Of all the classes and all the exams we have to take to graduate with an engineering degree none of those classes effectively taught me how to be a professional. I have never before taken a class that will teach me which fork to use at a formal dinner. I have taken many speaking classes but none have ever taught me how to make effective power point slides and certainly none have ever taught me to present myself in such a profound way. I really feel as if this semester I have grown so much professionally, more so than I ever would have in any other class.

For one the etiquette dinner was absolutely amazing. It is something I am deeply grateful for because now I can spend less time concentrating on how to eat and more time concentrating on the conversation at hand and potentially getting a job.

One of the other things I definitely appreciated was the entire presentation on presenting yourself effectively. That is one of those areas that I seriously knew nothing about. I knew nothing about the line between bragging and being confident. I initially thought it was always best to err on the side of modesty than to risk coming off as someone who is too full of himself. However, I now see that it is probably as bad, if not worse to be too modest than to be to bold. Basically what I took away from the presentation is common sense.

Overall I feel the course was extremely productive. I appreciated all of the presenters and feel that each of them had a unique viewpoint to bring to the table. I definitely got a ton out of the seminar and would certainly recommend it to a friend.

Qi Zhang, Mechanical Engineering Junior 2011

I would have never known that I will have to be the one to ask for the position and negotiate salary in the real world, and no one would promote me if I do not speak up for myself. This course was very helpful especially for us women. 

One of the most interesting classes to me is the one about the Myers-Briggs personality assesment. It amazes me how similar I thought of myself compaired to the end result. It really helps me understand myself as well as others a lot better. Now, I would observe people who are close to me and apply the 16 learning styles.

Georgia Karmee, Engineering Junior 2011

My enrollment in ENGR 497G Career Development Seminar is probably the biggest single accelerator in this entire mixture of learning and growth opportunities in college. It definitely introduced me to disciplines that I was not as familiar with and thus are fairly new. This allowed me to have a fresh new look at the entire big picture of this distinct world of engineering, as well as the details.

This class helped me to properly assess myself by offering me the tools, through the presentations and assignments, needed to clearly identify where I am, and where I want to be. The presentation Dr. Persaud included in the syllabus, “Learning Styles/Personality Preferences" (MBTI) served to be very rewarding. Identifying some of my strengths is very important in this exercise of self-assessment. It is very interesting to me that looking back at all the things that I identify, as my strengths are things that I love doing. My leadership style is not very common in my business surroundings and has been criticized many times. But her presentation assured me that uniqueness is an important asset to bring to industry. Employers desire diversity and the more I distinguish myself from the rankings of my peers the better I stand.

This course has helped me discover and cultivate paths to success. It fostered an environment open enough to allow students to feel comfortable exploring a wide range of choices and opportunities in the engineering industry.

Angie Veintimilla, Architectural Engineering Junior 2011

The gender communications presentation was a lot of fun, and it was really interesting to learn some of the differences in the workplace depending on your gender. The PowerPoint presentation was excellent. It was interesting how changing the way we do PowerPoint presentations can have such a huge effect on the quality of a presentation. I, like most people, have only used PowerPont with the default settings. But learning that we don’t need to use those settings, in fact try to avoid them, can make a much more captivating and memorable presentation. 

The group presentations were great. What was great about them is that we got to learn about 6 different books that are all for self-help and professional development without having to read them all but probably will read them now that I have learned about them. Overall I learned some great things in this course, as well as refresh on some older ideas I already knew about.

Jessica Greenberg, Engineering Junior 2011

Coming into this class, I had no idea of what it was like to be in a workplace. After taking this class, I learned a lot of valuable lessons. The first speaker who spoke about gender differences in the workplace, showed us how men and women communicate differently. Another aspect of this class that I found interesting was the different ways to adapt to the workplace. For you to be the best employee, you should quickly adapt to the environment you are in. 

One of my favorite presentations was the PowerPoint presentation. Before this class, I was taught that a “good” PowerPoint was a PowerPoint with few bullet points. However, after the presentation I learned that a “good” PowerPoint does not have bullet points.

Lastly, the etiquette dinner was great because it made me feel more comfortable having a meal with my future boss and co-workers. Now, when I have a meal, I don’t have to worry if I am doing something wrong. I learned many useful things from this class and I really enjoyed it. 

Mercedes Hill, Chemical Engineering Sophomore 2012

Every class that we had for this seminar there was a different speaker seasoned in the field of engineering that was very helpful to each and every one of the students in the class. The topic for each speaker was different which was good because it helped us look at all aspects of what it takes to be an engineer from getting the job with the resume to climbing up higher on the corporate ladder in the field of engineering.

I knew that you have to talk and handle situations differently from person to person, however I wasn’t aware of the several different types of personalities and necessarily how to deal with them accordingly, on judgment. This presentation was very helpful because it helped me understand how people successfully work together. 

I really appreciate Dr. Persaud for starting this class and I hope that it continues so students can learn all that I have learned. I also liked the fact that the class can be offered to students of all years and ages because it was very beneficial to students from every year because of the diversity in the course. It showed how you get to a job for us younger students who are still looking for jobs, through our resumes and older students who already have jobs, giving them tips on how to keep their jobs and advance in their  jobs. I am really glad I took this class.

Rita Zell, Mechanical Engineering Senior 2010

As engineers, the technical knowledge comes much easier than the social skills. Unfortunately, once you mess up, you have to work ten times as hard in order to re-prove yourself. This course focused on much the social skills that are not taught in the technical courses. I have learned a lot in this course. I wish that it was offered in my freshman year so that I could use the knowledge that I learned in it for my first set of job interviews and internships. This course was very well done and I can’t think of any other way to do it than to have lectures from industry personnel every week.

Brianna Hammond, Engineering Sophomore 2012

This class has given me an enormous amount of insight on the engineering industry as it is today. I enjoyed being in a semi-professional environment every Thursday afternoon and learning about how to better myself as an engineer.

As an Industrial Engineer, Six Sigma may very well be something I work with once I begin my career. I had no idea who was using it and even what it really was. When the presenter, Jesse Shearin from PPG explained it, I began to understand why it is such a critical part of the functionality of thriving companies. Conclusively, anyone who took this course will tell you that at least one thing has been changed about his or her professional behavior.

Kendal Coates, Industrial Engineering Senior 2010

I assumed every company worked the same way in terms of getting a job. The process of getting a job differs for every company. As an individual wanting a job, the key is knowing the culture of the company and not sitting back thinking the company will always let you know of any updates. Another important topic I thought was very interesting was importance of following up with a thank you letter after receiving an interview. All in all, I appreciated the class greatly. I was happy to actually speak with employers from many different companies about how their companies work. If I had the opportunity to retake the class, I would do so without a doubt.

Kristen Estocsin, Civil Engineering Junior 2011

Now as I reflect upon this class after taking it, I realized everything I learned in this classroom, I will take with me for the rest of my life. I have learned that people with big titles weren’t just born into leaders they have worked extremely hard from day one to progress in their field. These presenters have given us great tips on how to stand out among the crowd and show someone you were made for this position. From the interviewing stand point I feel now I will be more prepared because I know the question types and what they are looking for in your answers. If I receive an offer from a company I will now understand a little more the hiring package which I felt was a very important lecture. I never thought about researching the geographic location and figuring out how much I was worth let alone how to negotiate the hiring package.

Also, how to deal with being in management positions especially when people are older than you because those are challenges one day we can be faced with. One important topic I will take away is the self evaluation. You will always have to evaluate yourself in life in order to keep progressing. What I thought was interesting was not to concentrate on your weakness but to put most of your focus towards your strengths.

Ahmed Awadelkarim, Electrical Engineering Junior 2011

This course was exciting and I was able to learn a great deal of new information that I would not have had the opportunity to learn in other courses.  From the abundance of guest speakers, to the relaxed environment I found myself really enjoying going to class each week, and not viewing it as a burden. I feel like after taking this class I have a great deal of knowledge about how to have a successful CAREER in engineering.

What I was most happy about with this class was the fact that we were able to be introduced to live corporate representatives and have the opportunity to converse and learn from them in a very relaxed environment. I found that when I talk to most of these representatives in a career fair setting it is very impersonal, and I tend to be very nervous because instead of trying to be myself I am trying to be this vision of what I believe a good employee is. In this setting I was able to interact with these people as nothing except myself, and I was very pleased and surprised by the positive responses that I received. It was nice to see that these people are human and not just robots looking for other robots to work for them. 

This just showed me how valuable our work is as engineers, and it also showed me that there is a definite need for engineers to have these soft skills that we unfortunately do not have the opportunity to develop in our major courses. Overall I am very happy I took this course, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested.

Alec Tanida, Engineering Sophomore 2012

Overall, I am very happy that I decided to add the Career Development Seminar to my schedule. I have not had a class during my career at Penn State that has properly introduced me to the working world. I think my favorite presentation of the year was the stress management class and time management assignment. The paper only took about a half an hour to write but it has saved me much time throughout the year and has allowed me to excel in my classes. The assignment made me think to study in between classes and stay in places around my classes to save time during the day. A final presentation I found to be very useful was Dr. Gochnour’s Why do I want to hire you. I haven’t had many interviews yet but I never really knew that there would be different interviewing styles. 

I have found this course to has improved my knowledge of the working world and the skills needed to go into it. This class has helped me get through the semester and will continue to help me in my future in college and the working world. I would definitely recommend this class to students of my age looking for an internship or job.