Numerous students and companies attended the anxiously awaited Job Fair. Registration was fast and easy, and the time spent in the waiting line was minimal. Most students dressed appropriately for the occasion but, of course, there were a few that did not. Same applies to the companies; while some brought a big efficient team, some brought few or unprepared personnel. Almost all of the companies requested that we applied online and if we hadn’t, they would move on to the next candidate. Therefore remember to apply days, if not weeks, prior to the Job fair! Although we, first-timers, did not get an internship or co-op, we did get many pointers, experience and knowledge. Not to mention the big box of goodies! We learned a lot of the companies and the recruiting process which will help us prepare better for future Job Fairs.

General Motors’ Info Session was also over-capacity. They played videos show casting their products while the students sat down. Then they told us about their company and the opportunities they provide. Most of the company’s team was Puerto Rican as well; among them, Alba Colón, the iconic female engineer and creator of the SAE team. Colegio co-op students that worked with them shared their experience and advice. Our own Sara Rivera was one of them. The audience was pumped about the company. At the end, they had a Q&A session and gave bags full of goodies to those that made questions. Then, everyone enjoyed complimentary Subway sandwiches. It was so full that SWE had to go get more food! The General Motors’ team invited the students to go by their info table the next day at Stefani and to visit them at the Job Fair.

The whole team was at the info table talking to every student that approached them. They took resumes and coordinated interviews. They also gave away goodies, for example, notebooks, pens, magnets, etc., and shared what they expected from the Job Fair.

The Exxon Mobil Professional Workshop was full over-capacity. The students were very interested in the company and what they had to say. They made a lot of questions that were answered by the company’s recruitment team and everyone that made a question got a prize. The team was fully bilingual and comprised mostly of recent Colegio grads. They gave us tips on how to build our resumes; what information to include and what information to leave out. They also talked about how we should prepare before an interview, how to dress for an interview, how to act during an interview and what to do after the interview. At the end, the attendees enjoyed pizza and refreshments. The Exxon Mobil team talked individually with every student that approached them.  Some students even got one-on-one help with their resume.The information Exxon provided was to the point and dynamic.

Exxon Mobil also had an interactive Info Session. After telling us about their company and the opportunities it had for us, they introduced us to two Colegio students that worked for them as Co-ops. They talked about their experience with the company—which was a great one—and told us about the projects they worked on. The Q&A section was long but interesting. The students that asked questions were well prepared and knew exactly what they wanted to ask. The interns were also prepared and willing to answer questions and give useful advice for the job fair. At the end refreshments were served.

The Regional Collegiate Representative (RCR) is part of our Region Leadership Team. You can be part of this team too, just let us know and we’ll find the information you need.

  Dyani C. Cox is pursuing a dual degree, a Bachelor of Science in Engineering with an Electrical Engineering specialization and a Master of Electrical Engineering, at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.  During FY 2010, Dyani served as Section Vice President and the Region D Excellence Programming Award Chair.  This year, Dyani is the Region D Regional Collegiate Representative (RCR) and the Mercer University Section President.  Dyani is an act … Read More

via Society of Women Engineers Region D Blog

While you were away Southern Company came looking for you! Are you going to respond?

You have until August 6, 2010 to send us your resume to swe@ece.uprm.edu

INEL,INME,INQU,INCI,ICOM.

DARE TO BE

Left: Heizel Rosado, Maricarmen Collet, Eileen Vélez, Nora Lin Right: with Georgia Tech's SWE

Hey everyone! I write this post to let all of you know the amazing time we had this semester @t SWE Regional Conference. On March 4-7 Heizel Rosado (SWE UPRM president) and I went to meet with fellow SWE chapters (both professional and collegiate) and represent our dearest COLEGIO!!! It was really a great experience, from beginning to end. First of all, let’s begin by saying the thing I enjoyed the most: NETWORKING! Since the day we set foot on Memphis we were very well received. People were so friendly, we felt like home (well, except for the cold!!!). On Friday, we mainly did sightseeing. We went to the Pink Palace Museum, which had a variety of exhibitions: geology (minerals, rocks), history (artifacts from the US Civil War and such), natural science and the history of chocolate!!!-yum. After that we went to GRACELAND, Elvis Presley’s home . It was truly awesome, and we learned a lot about Elvis. I was impressed by the amount of awards he received during his lifetime. And to see all the objects that were precious to him, so very well conserved, it was marvelous. One thing to notice about Memphis is that people are very proud of their history. Just talk to a taxi driver and they will tell you lots of things about Memphis. Did you know that the first Holiday Inn ever was established in Memphis? I didn’t. The last thing we did on Friday was the Welcome Dinner at Central Station. Guess who was the invited speaker? Bonnie Dunbar, NASA Astronaut.

Saturday was a day with lots lots and lots of things to do. After breakfast with keynote speaker Eileen Vélez (Region D Governor and UPRM ex-alumni) we went to several professional development workshops. Among them: How to find your dream career; Poised, Polished and Professional; Leadership:How do I leave my mark?; What recruiters can do for you, and such. We also had lunch with SWE President Nora Lin (see picture with us in the left). More workshops and meetings followed in the afternoon: How to Host a Region D Conference and SWE Collegiate Meeting in which we discussed matters important to each SWE student chapter. There was also a Career Fair with companies like Raytheon, Medtronic, Southern Company, among others. In the night we had the Awards Dinner with speaker Penny Manuel from Southern Company. And this was the part were SWE UPRM excelled. Our collegiate section received three awards!!! We were the stars of the night. (Best Website, Best Newsletter and Collegiate furthest traveled). Congrats to our webmaster Manuel Maldonado and newsletter editor Teresa Hernández. Keep up the good work guys.

But the night doesn’t end there. After the awards we went to hang out with fellow SWE Georgia Tech group (see photo at the right). They were a huge group-25 I think-. We had so much fun dancing and playing pool. I actually learned to play pool when one of the guys taught me (thanks De’ Von). In general, it was a great night. I wish all the best to Georgia Tech’s SWE and hope to see them in future conferences (Orlando coming soon! ).

So yes, the end is coming. Sunday we packed our bags and returned home: PUERTO RICO. I hope I’m not forgetting any detail of our journey. Anyway, all there’s left for me to say is that it was a great experience. University of Memphis really put a lot of effort in planning this conference and the results were great (approximately 250 people from US Southeast Region attended).

I want to encourage all of you guys to attend this kind of conferences. These  kind of experiences don’t happen too often, so you have to appreciate them while they are available to you. The things you learn and the people you meet are just a few of the good things.

SO LETS BE MORE INVOLVED IN SWE!!! DARE TO BE!

NEXT YEAR: SWE ANNUAL CONFERENCE

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (November 4-6 2010)

Don’t miss it. And remember: questions, comments, suggestions or anything you want to tell me maricarmen.collet@upr.edu

Hasta luego,

–Maricarmen Collet

SWE UPRM Public Relations Manager

This job fair, Harris http://www.harris.com/ has shown a great interest for SWE members. They even requested we organized an informal get together so they can meet our members. This is great news! They have available internships, COOP and full time for CCOM, CONT, FINA, ICOM, INEL, ININ, INME, MATE students.

The SWE Get Together will be held TODAY, Thursday February 18, 2010 at 11:00AM II204 and Harris also has an info-session TODAY at 6:00PM at Figueroa Chapel.

Opportunities like this one are part of the great benefits of getting involved in extracurricular activities. Remember that no matter which company you’re interest in, do a research beforehand, apply online if possible and dress to impress! See y’all there!

I’ve had an idea for a newsletter layout inspired by Google since last semester but the truth is I had absolutely no idea how I was going to do it. It took a LOT of help from our Webmaster, Manuel Maldonado to see the final product, which also means I learned a lot during the creation of this newsletter. This newsletter, along with past ones, will be available this week on our website http://swe.uprm.edu

We are pleased to announce our President, Alba Burgos and our Treasurer, Lourdemar Torres will be participating this semester in a COOP Experience here in Puerto Rico. Because of this great opportunity, which also requires them to be outside UPRM for the whole semester, they resigned from their positions to let others have the same leadership experience they had within SWE at UPRM. Our Vice-President, Heizel Rosado will be working with us as our new President FY10 and FY11.

We also have other Executive Board members who are about to graduate and have a heavy academic workload this semester, so they decided to step down from their positions and let other members have the opportunity to be great leaders. The positions we have available are:

• Vice-President
• Treasurer
• Secretary
• VP Charity
• Student Activities Leader
• INQU Representative

More information will be distributed to our members on our next General Assembly next Thursday, February 4 at II202, 10:30AM.

If you’re a SWE Member eager to let your leadership skills flourish and thrive in extracurricular activities (this is a great way to appeal your future bosses!), then this is YOUR opportunity, don’t let it get away!