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:

11:00 am- Introductions and we begin!

11:12 am- Why do we need a resume?
-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!

Sammy and I are waiting at Debra's Parking Spot (yes Sammy you can order one when you graduate I suppose)

Look at all the people who came!

Sammy, Habib and I in front of the Henry Booker Suite and with Debra Roy.

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.

'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!

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!