ibm pathfinder mentoring program with nc state university
TRANSCRIPT
© 2009 IBM Corporation
IBM Pathfinder Mentoring Program with NC State University 2013-2014
Linda Brown, Global Talent Partner - Legal, Finance, RESO
December 18, 2013
© 2013 IBM Corporation
Agenda
Program Objectives
Agenda for this year’s program
Best Practices
Results
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© 2013 IBM Corporation 3
Pathfinder Mentoring Program Objectives
Provide students insight into professional life to better prepare themselves while at school
Professionals and students meet approximately once a month to discuss career experiences and to explore areas of student interest
One school year in duration, but the student and advisor pairs can continue the relationship longer if desired
IBM visits, lab tours, and NCSU events held to provide students additional insight
Solicit feedback from students for continued program improvement
© 2013 IBM Corporation 4
Benefits to IBM
Opportunity for employees to refine mentoring skills
Giveback to the community
Strengthen ties with IBM’s most highly recruited university
Insight into possible co-op/intern candidates
Understanding of current engineering curricula
© 2013 IBM Corporation 5
Pathfinders Core Team
Warren Bailey
Soloman Barghouthi
Philip Godbolt
Laura Zalph
Kevin Schultz
Chris Dawson
Marcie Corral
Kathy Brown-Fitzpatrick
Tayon Dancy
Leah Stark
Linda Brown
© 2013 IBM Corporation 6
Who the Pathfinder Mentoring Program is For ?
NCSU students and IBM professionals within the disciplines of:
Hardware Engineering
– Electrical, Mechanical, etc.
Software Engineering
– Computer Science, Computer Engineering, etc.
Technical Communications
– Technical Writers, Web designers, etc.
Human Factors
Graphic and New Media Design
– Graphic, Animation, New Media, etc.
Industrial Design
MBA
– w/degree/experience in any of the above
© 2013 IBM Corporation 7
Website ( http://www.ibm.ncsu.edu/pathfinder )
© 2013 IBM Corporation
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© 2013 IBM Corporation 9
2013–2014 Activities – First Semester
Kick-off at NC State August 26 – AISES/SHPE Fall Kick-off Meeting August 28 – Technical Communications SIGDOC August 29 – MBA/Services Management students August 30 – WICS Fall Kick-off Meeting September 4 - ASME Fall Kick-off Meeting September 4 - SHPE Fall Kick-off Meeting September 5 – IEEE/ACM/AITP Welcome Back Bash September 12 –NSBE Fall Kick-off Meeting September 12 – Engineering Village September 18 – NC State College of Design (Industrial and Graphics)
Meet Your Mentor at NC State/Networking Event (October 3, 4)
One-on-one meetings between students and advisors
IBM Green Solutions Center and SuperLab Tour (October 18)
Early Career Panel Discussion (November 8)
Resume Session (November 22)
© 2013 IBM Corporation 10
2013-2014 Activities – Second Semester
Job Shadow Month (January)
Phaedra Boindiris, Global Serious Games Lead for
Center of Competency (January 17)
Executive Career Panel Discussion (January 31)
Mock Interview Session & Mock Phone Interview (February)
Event (February or March)
Event (March or April)
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Best Practices
1x1 Meetings – One mentor took the initiative to schedule the meetings vs. wait for the student to set them up. The meetings got on
the calendar and fit in best with the mentor’s schedule.
Group Mentoring – The technical communications team held a panel discussion in which we had people from various areas explain what
they do and answer questions. Some of the representatives were writers, information architects, editors, marketing writers, management, and web writing. The other session was an introduction to XML DITA. This is an open standard that IBM developed and handed over to OASIS. It is used at IBM, and there are also open tools that you can use to process and edit DITA. It is widely used in the technical communications field.
Communication – Design Team set up a "Design Learning" Facebook Group to help the IBMers and students communicate on reminders
about the meetings, posting resources, as well as communication.
Mini Lab Tours – Mechanical engineering mentors took several students on a tour of one of their labs to focus specifically on mechanical
engineering projects
Experiential Learning – Human Factors mentors took project of ordering a pizza and helped with design – Human Factors mentors invited students to take part in a usability test and shared some design practices and methods
Networking – Student spoke to colleagues of mentor to understand different perspectives of the particular job – Mentor was invited to speak at National Society of Black Engineers meeting on, “The Importance of Developing and
Communicating Your Personal Brand “
Job Search – Like coaching a ball player I focused on communication fundamentals so when he got up to bat he could swing at the
pitches with confidence. See for example, Company A was the first opportunity, he actually had 2 phone interviews. I met with him before each interview. We spent several hours on the fundamentals of communicating. We did this work before the IBM managers did the mock interviews. Once we got to the mock interviews, we fine tuned. The mock interviews were a very important piece to his success. He ultimately got an internship with IBM India.
Project Approaches – Mechanical engineers brainstormed with student team on an assigned project, to stimulate their thinking on how to
bound the problem, use available technologies, and apply proven methods to meet their goal.
© 2013 IBM Corporation 12
How can you get the most out of your mentoring relationship?
Open and active communication
– Ask questions
– Seek advice
– Draw on the mentor’s knowledge and
experience
– Let your mentor know when your plans
change
– Notify program mgr if there are any issues
Participation in the Group Events
– Ask questions at the event
– Have your mentor make the connections
with your area of study
– Open your mind to the broader application
of your degree
Offer feedback to improve the program
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How are we doing?
© 2013 IBM Corporation 14
IBM Recognition – NCSU Poole College of Management 2013 Recruiter of the Year
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Statistics Year to Year
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
2004-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-2008
2008-2009
2009-2010
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Nu
mb
er
of
Part
icip
an
ts
Program Year
Participants per Year
Students
Mentors
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2012 – 2013 Program Student Survey – 49% responded
ExtremelySatisfied
Satisfied
SomewhatSatisfied
Not Satisfied
N/A
Mentor Match
ExtremelySatisfied
Satisfied
SomewhatSatisfied
Not Satisfied
N/A
Knowledge
Gained ExtremelySatisfied
Satisfied
SomewhatSatisfied
Not Satisfied
N/A
Face-to-Face
Contact
ExtremelySatisfied
Satisfied
SomewhatSatisfied
Not Satisfied
N/A
Communication
with Mentor } 93.3%
} 76.8%
} 84.1%
} 81.9%
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What did you enjoy most about the program? (29 comments)
1x1 mentor meetings
Meeting knowledgeable IBMers
Job Shadow
Mock Interview Session
Learning about IBM
Feeling like a part of IBM
Industry understanding
Meet other students in the same discipline
Leadership Datacenter Tour
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Feedback from Students
In General Most mentor matches were good and communications were open
“I would like to participate again next year.”
The Mentor Relationship I had many questions answered about my major and career options as well as learned a lot about
IBM.
What I liked most about the program was “My advisor, and the exposure to the professional world that this program offered. I believe this program succeeded in exactly what it intended to accomplish.”
It was interesting listening to my two advisors talk and compare IBM stories as this brought up plenty of topics I hadn't even considered.
On IBM I learned how large technology corporations like IBM work which was very informative and
interesting. The dates and times for the IBM events were perfect for my schedule.
The experience of getting to look around IBM's campus and see where people work. It was nice to be able to talk to people in their domains and see what real people are working on.
What I enjoyed most was getting to learn both the business and technical aspects of the IBM company.
© 2009 IBM Corporation
Q&A