Hey guys, I'm sick so to make me feel better, we're going to play a game. You can count how many times I say "big," "number(s)," "90," and any synonym of "amazing" and I'll have fun writing things like 90, that's an awesomely big number.
Haven't really talked about the main event which is coming in, oh let me count, (90-77) days! So you're going to get a crash description of DECaF starting...(90-90) minutes...aka now.
90 companies. That's right. It's big, it's awesome and yes, I'm going to say it, it dominates. We have industry folks coming from all aspects of engineering, from Apple, Viasat, BAE Systems to Boston Scientific and Pfizer! Each and every one of these 90 companies is unbelievably excited about meeting our engineering students and recruiting from an extremely talented group of students. I remember when we pitched DECaF to companies who came for the Career Services-hosted Winter Job Fair, recruiters were continually impressed by the quality and capability of students who had gone through previous internship programs. We are definitely going to keep that fantastic tradition and confirm to industry that the Jacobs School engineering student body is one of the best around! Not only that, we have close to half of the engineering school in attendance, not to mention all 16 engineering organizations working together to help make sure the event runs smoothly! We're talking 2,000 students in and out of the Price Center Ballrooms within the space of a couple of hours. Plus 90 companies. Did I mention that those are really big numbers?
While DECaF is running, we will also be operating a Prep Room where students can do some last minute editing of their resumes with a Career Center Peer Resume Adviser in attendance. We want this to help students make any necessary revisions to their resume so they are more prepared for the career fair. We are also providing laptops, printers and resume paper for the students.
This year, we're also giving back to the volunteers who help make DECaF happen by inviting them to an exclusive post-DECaF mixer at the Faculty Club where they will have the opportunity to speak to industry representatives in a more casual and intimate environment. This is going to be awesome and exciting! We're bringing in a live jazz band! Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/alanlechuszamusic. Plus, we're talking about some nice Faculty Club appetizers and desserts. Think classy and stylish, not your average run of the mill mixer. Over 70 recruiters have signed up for this event so volunteers will essentially be speaking to them one to one! That's a pretty good ratio...scratch that, it's a magnificent ratio.
So guys, let's give a round of applause to the DECaF Chairs: Sammy, Habib, and Scott who made this happen. Our DECaF committee is also amazing and kudos to all! We still have two weeks to finalize and tweak details but things are looking great! Remember, 90 companies are coming! DECaF is going to be BIG, AMAZING, AND FANTASTIC!
Did you have fun counting? Because I sure had fun writing! Well here you have it folks!
The Disciplines of Engineering Career Fair
Friday, February 22, 2008
9:30am--2:00pm
Price Center Ballrooms
Be There or Be Square.
Check out a video from last year's fair!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNSInFudWWw
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Really Big Numbers
Friday, February 8, 2008
BAE Systems Professional Workshop!
Well...let's just say we had about 40 students at this event. I'd say that was a success, what about you? =D
Sabrina, the DECaF Publicity Chair, went all out and bought some amazing snacks and refreshments for the workshop. We also had a great group of volunteers who helped set up the adjoining kitchen as well as the audio/video equipment for Debra's computer. All in all, I think it was a great presentation; students were engaged, asked questions, handed their resumes, and were attentive. Debra was very pleased that her audience had their full attention directed at her. Although we didn't have slide handouts and examples for the students, she was kind enough to email it to us so we'll be distributing that out to the attendees sometime this weekend.
Funny anecdote: Habib, Debra, and I got into this hilarious conversation about turning the BAE Systems Workshop into...drumroll...The BAE Systems EXPERIENCE! Kind of like the Terminator 3-D show in Universal Studies fit with 3-D glasses, fog machines, laser lights, and Debra moving across the stage. And it all started with the guy in the white body suit with the yellow checkerboard. Engineers have fun too!
Here's an overview of the presentation:
-To impress the recruiter, to get a job
-Covered resume formates, sample action words, and a sample resume
-Good to have a generic resume that you can tweak for a specific job or company
11:20 am- Why do we need a cover letter?
- It's an indication of your sriting skills--important in the email and communication age
-Also acts as an explanation of your credentials
11:25 am- Questions
- When submitting to a search engine, use generic greetings
-If you receive a business card from a recruiter, send a followup email and the body of the email is your cover letter. ***B e careful what you write in email, the company is still observing you in different environments
11:28 am- Interviews
-Go to mock interviews and interview sessions for good practice!
- Research the company and the culture (BAE Systems is business casual)
- Know yourself, describe yourself--"Why should I hire you?" Focus on what you can bring to the table and what your aspirations are for the position
-Think Positive and Speak Positive!
-Scope out the area, come early, observe and watch
11:35 am-
Appearance-First impressions are lasting impressions
-Well groomed, leave the cell phone (you can survive for an hour without it)
11:50 BAE Systems overview
-Candidate has afew weeks to decide to take a position
-If you have multiple job offers, it's polite to let them know that you're considering and will get back to them
And there you have it! Thanks so much to everyone who helped make this happen. The Henry Book Room was amazing and a great venue for our workshop. Pictures are below!
It was a great workshop and we all had a lot of fun! Hopefully this will continue as a new DECaF Tradition!
90. That's a really big number.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
'Nuff Said.
Be There or Be Square.
Some more detailed information:
Who: Debra Roy from BAE Systems is coming to speak about Resume and Cover Letter Writing as well as Interview Techniques. They'll also give a brief info session about the company.
Setup Timeline:
10:30am--Sammy and Katherine will be meeting Debra at the parking lot next to EBU1
10:30am--Habib, Jeff, Sabrina, Emily, Chris, and Pavitra will be available to help set up the room and make sure things are in order. Feel free to grab some snacks when you need to leave for class =)
10:50am--Students start arriving, prepare sign in sheets and volunteer sheets for DECaF, maybe we'll also set up nametags.
10:55am--Last minute A/V check
11:00am--Introductions and we are ready to rock!!!
Check back here soon for pictures and an update!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The Calm Before the Storm
While looking on Wikipedia and trying to find the origin of that phrase, I discovered that it apparently is also a song by Fall Out Boy (who by the way sucks...no offense). But more importantly, we're at a lull right now where everything seems to be working just perfectly and we're kind of strolling along until the storm hits.
One thing that gave me the chills today (in a good way I promise) was something that Jeff Mounzer, the President of TESC, mentioned today at the TESC GBM. E-Week here at UCSD is being called "one of the biggest and most magnificent Engineers Week celebration IN THE COUNTRY." Booya! That is freaking amazing and I'm sure it's lifted the spirits of every single person who is involved with all the planning and preparation like to the max. Honestly, when you think about it, what other school in the nation has 90 COMPANIES...i repeat...90 COMPANIES coming to an engineering career fair to recruit from their engineering student body? Not to mention more than 70 RECRUITERS coming to meet and speak with the volunteers who helped make that happen? Um...lemme guess...no other? Seriously, there is no competition. I think all the other schools should just bow down to our dominion.
Updates from the DECaF GBM:
-We're very lucky to have a DECaF team that is great and dedicated to the event, without everyone all the planning would have been a success! We're getting ready to appoint volunteer "head" positions for the big day to help supervise the massive amounts of volunteers that will be helping out on the day of DECaF. Our "day-off" pamphlets are being revised, all the food is ordered, the prep room is ready, and all we have to do is run the event!
-Publicity is going to be a major focus of the next couple of weeks. Volunteers and the committee members are going to go out and chalk boards, speak in classrooms, hand out pamphlets, flyer like madwomen (and men), and eat dessert while talking about DECaF with their friends. We have flyer parties every Monday to blanket the campus with flyers about E-Week. And the scary thing is, some engineers just walk on by without ever noticing that there is a whole culture on campus celebrating how amazing and awesome engineering is! So the motto is "more is better." The more we advertise the better turnout we'll get and the bigger the engineering school culture will get.
See you all again soon! Don't be afraid of pitching DECaF to your friends and random people on buses! Think of it in terms of self-fulfillment; the more you pitch, the more people will come, the bigger the event will be and the bigger the success and the more happy you are! Really, it's all basically a circle of happiness.
Are you ready for Professional Workshops?!?!?!?!
Because I am!
Hello everyone, as a brief introduction, I'm Katherine and I'm the DECaF Professional Workshops Chair. I've been working with the DECaF team the past couple of weeks to set up some awesome and amazing professional workshops in preparation for DECaF and you should all come and check them out! I'm a 2nd year Bioengineering-Biotechnology major and a Public Health minor. I'm also the TESC Liason for the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and I act as a representative from my org to the Triton Engineering Student Council (TESC). I love helping people out and being a part of the DECaF team because we're basically helping our student body find jobs and improve on their professional lives. I also love dessert and anything fruit-related. Anyway, you'll see me here or there blogging about how DECaF and all things DECaF-related is coming along!
Whew these past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind blur. I can't imagine it was literally only about a month ago when the DECaF team came up with the idea to host professional workshops in preparation for DECaF and look at where we are now! Week 5 and our first workshop is this Friday!!
Debra Roy from BAE Systems is coming to speak at UCSD about resume and cover letter writing and give us the 101 on Interviewing this Friday, February 8, 11:00am-12:00pm in EBU1 2512. We have been in contact with the industry folks at BAE since the beginning of this quarter and through a couple of weeks of communicating we are all set and ready to go! Hopefully it will continue as a new DECaF tradition!
See you back here tonight when I give an update on our DECaF Committee Meeting. The Career fair is in two weeks!!! Get excited!
