Society of Women Engineers

Chapter of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University 2012-2013

Daily Career Advice!
Day 1:
Heels should not exceed 3 in length and less is better!
Aspire Advance
Achieve
NC A&T SU Chapter
2012-2013
Executive Board
President
Juanita Weaver
Vice President
Xavier Johnson
Treasurer
Sydni Cobb
Secretary
Brittany Hewlin
Membership Chair
Rayelle Garrick
Outreach Chair
Kiara Brooks
Community Service Chair
Anika Whitener
Scholarship Chair
Gabrielle Jordan
Webmaster
India Jones
Publications Chair
Samira Johnson
Career Development Chair
Harry Bryant

Day 2:
Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, gave a now-famous TED
talk on why we have too few women leaders. As a mother of two, she is
sympathetic to women feeling like they have to choose between career and
family, so she offers this: "Don't leave before you leave. Stay in. Keep your
foot on the gas pedal, until the very day you need to leave to take a break
for a child--and then make your decisions. Don't make decisions too far in
advance, particularly ones you're not even conscious you're making."
Link to TED talk:
http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_
leaders.html
Day 3:
Make up for Interviews Tip#1
It is to be borne in mind that you have to always maintain good eye contact
during an interview. So don't go overboard with eye makeup. The goal here is
to translate a serious sense of capability and competency. Stick with muted
tones of brown, taupe or gray.
Day 4:
A career is not just a job. Its a lifestyle. Like any lifestyle you assume, make
sure it agrees with your personality. You will have to wake up everyday and
assume this role. Dont chase money! Chase dreams!
Day 5:
Make up for Interviews Tip#2
Because of the stressful nature of an interview, you might perspire a bit more
than usual. It's a perfectly natural response. So be prepared with blotting
tissues to use before the interview that might help you to clean off your face
by not removing your make up.
Day 6:
Sex sells everywhere including the workplace, but dont let it measure your
worth as an employee. Your ability to perform the job should! Use sex
appeal where it belongs!
Day 7:
Dont do drugs! Especially close to interviews and drug-screenings!

ncat.swe@gmail.com

1601 East Market Street, Greensboro NC, 27411

Society of Women Engineers

Chapter of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University 2012-2013
Day 8:
Professional Dinner Etiquette Tip #1
Infosessions, professional dinners, and any other professional environment where food is served is NOT
just an opportunity for free food. Were college students, not savages. Do NOT eat like a savage. Stick to
small and healthy portions that can consumed neatly. Skip the Buffalo wings with extra teriyaki sauce and
order the Caesar salad. People are watching you.
Day 9:
Make up for Interviews Tip#3
Reach for interview a few minutes early to touch up in the restroom or a nearby cafe, to check for
perspiration, lipstick on the teeth, crumbs around the mouth, and anything around your nose.
Day 10:
Step One to Solving Problems in groups:
See the problem as an opportunity to grow!
Day 11:
Step Two to Solving Problems in groups:
Begin with the end in mind!
This is the most crucial portion of solving problems. Proper implementation will reduce disturbances that
will more than likely appear later in the problem-solving process. Take it serious!
Day 12:
Step Three to Solving Problems in groups:
Assign leaders.
Day 13:
Step Four to Solving Problems in groups:
Research the problem. Preexisting solutions may exist. These may provide framework for your groups
solution.
Day 14:
Step Five to Solving Problems in groups:
Create a plan and delegate tasks to the members.
Day 15:
Step Six to Solving Problems in groups:
Execute the plan. Remain flexible.
Day 16:
Step Seven to Solving Problems in groups:
Come to conclusions and reflect.
Day 17:
Achieve sustainability!
ncat.swe@gmail.com

1601 East Market Street, Greensboro NC, 27411

Society of Women Engineers

Chapter of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University 2012-2013
Day 18:
Professional Dinner Etiquette Tip #2
Respond to RSVP invitations immediately. Typically hiring managers from HR or your area of work in the
company will be organizing the event. Prove yourself to be prompt and on-time with tasks by being swift
about responses. Showing this common courtesy is an easy way to make a good first impression.
Day 19:
Go where the opportunities are! Volunteering provides good opportunities to assume leadership
roles!
Alice Korngold, founder of Korngold Consulting, points out that on nonprofit boards, the person who
raises her hand and offers to spearhead an initiative often gets to do it. There are an abundance of
boards with no glass ceilings," she says. "Consequently, nonprofit boards provide extraordinary
opportunities for women to engage at the highest levels of leadership--including as board chairs, vice
chairs, secretaries of the board, treasurers, and committee chairs.
Day 20:
Make up for Interviews Tip#4
Don't apply your makeup in a hurry. Give yourself an extra few minutes to blend, especially foundation
and blush.
Day 21:
The solution is in the question! Use your resources.
Day 22:
Women have distinctive body language that is very characteristic of their gender, but some habits may
hinder their success. One habit in particular, the constant head nodding, is not necessarily a positive trait
in the workforce. Throughout conversations, women have the tendency to keep nodding, which although
makes one seem agreeable, may also come off as being too eager to please. Bobbing your head while the
speaker is talking will make you seem more approachable and friendly, but it will also lessen your
authority and leadership role.
We should take a page from men who tend to only nod when they agree or when they are about to
express a point. Women are, at heart, great communicators with high EQ, but we shouldn't try so hard to
be likable and a team player that we end up losing a bit of our authority. It's OK to nod, but try to keep it
to a minimum and limit it to when it's necessary.
Source: www.savvysugar.com by Emily Co accessed on September 25, 2012 at 1:17 PM
Day 23:
Set goals and focus! The tunnel is shorter when there is a light at the end.

ncat.swe@gmail.com

1601 East Market Street, Greensboro NC, 27411

Society of Women Engineers

Chapter of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University 2012-2013
Day 24:
Eliminate slang, profanity, and poor grammar from your daily speech and writing (papers, e-mails, text
messages, etc.). Its harder to control a bad habit in a professional environment when you practice it
everyday.
Day 25:
Whats the first step towards creating an extraordinary engineering career?
Anthony Fasano: The first step is setting career goals. Engineers have so many deadlines that if you
dont set any goals for yourself youll get caught in this cycle where you complete your projects but you
dont really know where you are going. I always tell engineers to imagine theyre going to a new project
site for the first time. You need the address and you need to map out your route or else you probably
wont end up where you want to be. The same principles apply in your career.
Resource: Interview with engineer, Career Coach, and author of Engineer Your Own Success: 7 Key
Elements to Creating an Extraordinary Engineering Career, Anthony Fasano by K-Exchange at
knovelblogs.com. Published on September 20, 2012.
Day 26:
Professional Dinner Etiquette Tip #3
Turn cell phones and pagers off or on silent and keep them in your pocket. This may sound redundant
but it still must be said. Your professor may not care if you are playing on your phone in class, but this
shows at a business meeting. Professional dinners are opportunities for business officials to associate
with candidates in a relaxed atmosphere. This is where you show all of your best qualities and hide the
worst. When you play with your phone in your lap, it shows that you are uninterested in others at the
table and are not willing to communicate. This eliminates you for any job which requires regular
interpersonal communication.
Day 27:
The world is very small and increasingly interconnected. Play nice. Dont burn any bridges.
Day 28:
Stay in your first job out of college for one year, preferably two to three. Anything less is job hopping,
and it doesnt look good. Companies shy away from people that will leave directly after money and time
was spent on new-hire training.
Day 29:
Challenge opinions! College students may have little experience in the field compared to an older worker
with tenure, but we tend to offer something valued in industry. New eyes. Be young and inquisitive.
Companies love this, especially from engineers. Create solutions to problems that your manager does
not realize exist.

ncat.swe@gmail.com

1601 East Market Street, Greensboro NC, 27411

Society of Women Engineers

Chapter of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University 2012-2013
Day 30:
Can you give us any networking advice as discussed in your book?
Anthony Fasano: Many engineers think that if they go to an event and get a few business cards, theyre
networking, but thats only skimming the surface.
On the other hand, you cant act like a salesman. The person that walks up to you and says Im a civil
engineer and have x amount of experience and can design anything youd likethat person isnt going to
have a lot of luck networking either.
Networking is simply building relationships. After you meet people at an event, follow up. Give them a
call and get lunch. Get to know their families and their hobbies. Even though its business, its still human
nature that people want to work with and be around people who they enjoy and trust. Just build
relationships; dont make it more complicated than that.
Resource: Interview with engineer, Career Coach, and author of Engineer Your Own Success: 7 Key
Elements to Creating an Extraordinary Engineering Career, Anthony Fasano by K-Exchange at
knovelblogs.com. Published on September 20, 2012.
Day 31:
Make up for Interviews Tip#5
Don't wear lip-gloss to an interview. Keep the lips semi-matte and muted; a neutral pink or berry tone is
pretty and appropriate.
Day 32:
Professional Dinner Etiquette Tip #4
Ladies though we are in the 21st century, it is still unfeminine to carry a beer around at a professional
event with food and drinks.
Just like accessorizing, a woman must drink appropriately for her age. If you insist on that cool,
refreshing taste you learned to love in college, order a Light and ask the bartender to pour it in a wine
glass for you. No one will be the wiser, as long as that once-charming belching habit you perfected at frat
parties doesn't showcase during the event.
Resource: 7 Professional Etiquette Tips You've Probably Never Heard Before, Monica at
employeeevolution.com. Published on January 14th, 2012.
Day 33:
If your company, school, or group has a letterhead, use it and save your work in PDF so that it cannot be
tampered with! The information will be appreciated more as a legal document with factual evidence. It is
impressive as well. If your organization does not have a letterhead, then make one and share it.

ncat.swe@gmail.com

1601 East Market Street, Greensboro NC, 27411

Society of Women Engineers

Chapter of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University 2012-2013
Day 34:
Make up for Interviews Tip#6
Don't use makeup that contains shimmer, sparkle or glitter, as you should always remember that you are
going for an interview and not with your boyfriend.
Day 35:
Save your resume in .PDF not Microsoft Word. When an employer opens up your resume in .doc or .docx,
there is no guarantee that he or she will see the same resume that you saved. Margins may not be the
same and the document will exceed one page (which is not okay). Fonts may not transfer over. Bulleted
and numbered lists may be offset or different.
A resume should look neat. Saving it in Microsoft Word jeopardizes this objective. PDF files are virtual
documents that cannot be tampered with and will retain the business-professional integrity of the
resume originally designed.
Keep a copy of your resume in Microsoft Word in your personal storage. Use this to edit/update it. Then
use the Save As function and choose the file type to be pdf.
Day 36:
Professional Dinner Etiquette Tip #5
Never butter a whole piece of bread. Take some butter and place it on your plate. Use the butter knife if
one is available. Break a bite-sized piece off of your bread and hold it on the corner of the bread plate
while you butter.
Compliments of Cal-Berkley Career Center & Georgia Tech Career Center
Day 37:
Collaborate. Working with and through others is requisite to innovating, creating, and producing
business results. Adopt a mindset for teaming and collaborating, and put it into daily practice.
Day 38:
Believe in yourself!
Day 39:
Make up for Interviews Tip#7
Keep blush natural looking; a soft pink hue will work well. But personally I feel blush is too much of a
make up for an interview.
Day 40:
Dont procrastinate.
Day 41:
Dont just work hard! Work smart and hard. We all have those hours spent late at night in the library. Ask
yourself: would you be more productive then when you are fatigued or sitting in class the next day with a
full night of rest.
ncat.swe@gmail.com
1601 East Market Street, Greensboro NC, 27411

Society of Women Engineers

Chapter of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University 2012-2013

Day 42:
Use common sense!
Day 43:
Surround yourself with people with similar goals and ambitions. Human nature makes us learn and pick
up habits from our friends, even when we dont realize it. Try to avoid picking up bad habits from a
person stagnant in life.
Day 43:
Be in it to win it! Never accept less!
Day 44:
Work in step with your companys goals. Connect the dots from your role to your companys vision and
key objectives. How does your work align with the organizations goals? What can you do to maximize
your contributions?
Resource: 11 Smart career tips for 2011 by Kathryn Ulrich at techrepublic.com. Published on January 12,
2011.
Day 45:
Make sure you register with Office of Career Services and maintain an up to date resume. This is the
official connection between campus and industry. Use it. Many companies that recruit from campus
requires all of its student recruits to be registered with Office of Career Services for interviews.
Office of Career Services is located in Murphy Hall.
Day 46:
Professional Dinner Etiquette Tip #6
Soup-spoons are usually too large to fit completely in your mouth, therefore, sip from the side of the
spoon. When finishing, tip the bowl away from yourself to spoon the remainder of the soup. When
finished, place the spoon on the service plate beneath the bowl. If a large shallow soup plate has been
used, then leave it in the soup plate.
Day 47:
Remember your Ps and Qs! You can never say please and thank you enough. That will speak a lot
about your personality and goes a long way in both your personal and business lives.
Day 48:
Avoid the BCC option when sending e-mails concerning business affairs. Regular private trading of
information seems sketchy and unprofessional. Use it only when absolutely necessary.
Day 49:
Be careful when using social networks. This explains itself. Everybody is watching.
ncat.swe@gmail.com
1601 East Market Street, Greensboro NC, 27411

Society of Women Engineers

Chapter of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University 2012-2013
Day 50:
Try to stay fit and dress well. When you look good, you feel good, and when you feel good, you perform
more efficiently.
Compliments of Harry Conrad Bryant IV (Career Development Chairman) on behalf of the Society of Women
Engineers of North Carolina A&T State University (2012-2013).

ncat.swe@gmail.com

1601 East Market Street, Greensboro NC, 27411