ibm pathfinder mentoring program with nc state university

© 2009 IBM Corporation

IBM Pathfinder Mentoring Program with NC State University 2013-2014

Linda Brown, Global Talent Partner - Legal, Finance, RESO

December 18, 2013


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


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


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


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


Website ( http://www.ibm.ncsu.edu/pathfinder )

http://www.ibm.ncsu.edu/pathfinder


Facebook

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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)


2013-2014 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)


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.


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


How are we doing?


IBM Recognition – NCSU Poole College of Management 2013 Recruiter of the Year


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


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%


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


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.


Q&A

ibm pathfinder mentoring program with nc state university

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