Week Eight

             After a dry spell of work in ISM, the tides have finally turned. I branched out from Emerson and contacted an engineer that I know through engineering club. In engineering club I am apart of a group that is building a massive rocket that we will launch at Washington D.C. and possibly in England. The lead engineer of this group was an engineer at Boeing, so I reached out to him, and set up an interview after next Wednesday’s meeting. I am hoping that after the interview that he will have more names to contact since Emerson is now a dead end.

            This past week I also wrote my last research assessment, and I did it over weapons engineers. I have never heard of a weapons engineer, and while I was looking up articles, I happened stumbled upon it. The exciting thing however is the fact that a weapons engineer is exactly what I want to do when I get out of college. However, since no colleges offer it as a major, I would still have to major in mechanical engineering. This is not bad thing actually because mechanical engineer is such a broad major I have more options with it. Overall, it was good to read the article because I was able to double check that I am on track for success.

             

             

Week Seven

            Once again, this week has been another slow one. With the heavy homework load in other classes, I have fallen behind with my interview assessments. However next week I plan to fully catch up. Also, I have been searching for other people to interview, and no one has responded back to my emails yet. I was able to get a few more names of people from Emerson, but I am wondering if I should interview people from other companies other than Emerson. In the future, I am just going to keep sending out emails until someone responds. So, my plan for next week is to send out my thank you letters and do my two interview assessments.

            The one eventful thing that I have done this week however is my research assessment. This week I did it over obtaining security clearance. I learned a lot about it, but I now worry how I am going to get my foot in the door in the future since the process is extensive. Also, on the topic of research assessments, I need to think of a topic I can research for next week: next week being the last research assessment before we make our research presentation.

Week Six

            This week was a rather slow week compared to the past week. I spent a lot of time in class bread boarding in digital electronics. However, it wasn’t a total loss, on Wednesday I sent an email to the two people I have interviewed with, and asked for there mailing addresses. Only one of them responded with the mailing address of the company. So, since they work at the same company, I am going to send both of the thank you letters to address given.

            On a different note, in my last blog I mentioned my shock when Aaron Dowdell stated that engineers maybe make $100,000 at the end of their career. So to check the validity of this statement, I did a research assessment on this idea last week. I read an article that stated how much an average Mechanical engineer made, and what I found proved what Aaron said was true. Lastly, I emailed Justin today and asked if he knew any other engineers in the field that I could interview in the future, and I am still waiting on a response. Once he does respond however, I will set up my third interview this week if all goes well.

Week Five

            This past week was a week full of suits and professionals. First off, on Thursday I had my second interview with another engineer at Emerson named Aaron Dowdell. The interview consisted of an hour-long tour of Emerson and a 30 minutes interview segment. I was shown the unsexy but very necessary side of engineering, which are regulators. Also, I was shown a test run in their high-pressure line and the data that was outputted from the test. Afterwards the interview caused another reality check where I was told that engineers make maybe $100,000 a year at the height of their career, instead of the $150,000+ I thought they made. Overall, I learned a lot in the interview that made me happy that I interviewed Aaron Dowdell.

            After the interview, on Friday we had the business symposium. The day started awkward with small talk and the nerves of what we knew was to come. However, when the interviews started I felt more comfortable being there and talking to the professionals. I found it interesting the diversity in interviews that I had. I went into each interview thinking that it would be like we practiced; however, it was not. For example, in one interview, I had a couple that asked very situational questions, and in the next, I had a man who would only analyze my responses and suggest better options. Overall, the business symposium was a fun experience that will help me with interviews to come.

Week Four

            This week has probably been the most interesting week so far. On Monday, I reached out to two of my contacts to set up interviews, and Justin replied that same day. We set up an interview, and I had it yesterday! On Wednesday night, I had to go and get another suit for the interview. I did this because the one I have is black, and I needed a less formal one since I already know Justin. I decided to get a blue suit and accent it with brown. After the interview, Justin gave me a name of a person to reach out to for another interview, and he told his co-worker Jake to respond to me to set up another interview.

            During the interview with Justin, I learned a lot about my field and about how he got where he is today. He gave me an important piece of advice pertaining to school, which is “Homework really is the best way to help you learn.” I am happy he told me this because until then I hated doing homework. Lastly, he told me the classes you take as a mechanical engineer during college. Overall, I hope my next four interviews are as successful as this one.