June 2018 – WITS Happening

June 27, 2018smithr27 No Comments

Navigating Job Offers

By: Becky Smith

You get an offer from a company and you are glad…except you wish you had more time to decide!

Good news: It is normal – even common — to ask for time to think things over! It is just a matter of maintaining trust and using savvy communication skills.

It is strongly advised that you reply to an offer of employment within 24 hours.

Be positive to maintain the confidence that the hiring manager has in you: Act excited. Thank the hiring manager or recruiter for offering the job to you.

Ask if you can have some time to think about it.

You don’t have to say why; just say you need some time to consider all of the factors. In fact, the reasons why can sometimes make employers feel uncomfortable – it can come across wrong, and/or they are not prepared to be involved in your personal life.

Be sure to clearly communicate when you will get back to the employer with an answer, and keep your word no matter what.

You may ask for up to a week to think about the offer.
The company may need an answer sooner. Settle on a mutually convenient date.

This kind of negotiation is fair, given that they don’t want to lose other candidates while they are waiting to hear from you.

During the time you have negotiated, you may speak with your Co-op + Career Advisor, your faculty, your family, and other prospective employers. You may take some time to reflect on what you want and need (i.e., salary, start date, schedule).It is best to take your time to prepare if you are going to negotiate any of the terms of employment.

Be Aware of Common Misunderstandings:

Interviewing for a job does not mean committing to the job. Interviewing is exploration to determine whether you are a fit for the job…and whether the job and company are a fit for you.

If a co-op employer offers you an opportunity to return for a second co-op or a full-time job, you are not obligated to return. Be appreciative and respectfully consider the opportunity, but if it is not right for you, politely decline. Things are not going to turn out well for anyone if you accept a job that you know is wrong – including headaches for professionals with whom you’ve built relationships!

You do not need to accept the first job you are offered. You do need to reply to all offers within 24 hours.

For more information on how to navigate a situation in which you get an offer for one job but you’re really waiting to hear from another company, read our handout about Deliberating Job Offers.

As always we encourage you to stop by CO-OPS + CAREERS to discuss your co-op and job offer questions with any Co-op + Career Advisor. You can make an appointment or swing by summer drop-in hours, held every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 2:00 – 4:00 PM. Stop by 101 Wentworth Hall, or contact us via email at coopsandcareers@wit.edu, or by calling 617-989-4101. We look forward to connecting with you soon!

June 21, 2018pobera No Comments

What Makes Wentworth Unique

Wentworth Hall

By : Robbin Beauchamp

Sure, all of our undergraduate day students are required to complete two co-ops to graduate. That requirement certainly makes a Wentworth graduate unique. The question is: how do we get our students prepared so they are successful?

First Year Seminar

All first year Wentworth students are required to complete First Year Seminar. This first semester class is designed to help our students’ transition to Wentworth by learning about time management, academic expectations, academic integrity, and how to register for classes.

Co-op Institute

It is strongly suggested that all second year students complete Co-op Institute, a seven-week hybrid class taught by the student’s dedicated CO-OP + CAREER Advisor. During this seminar, students learn how to write a resume and cover letter, conduct an effective co-op search and interview, learn how to use social media for networking, create an “elevator commercial”, how to be successful at the co-op and how to register for the co-op. Attending Co-op Institute has shown that students are better prepared for the co-op search and have better results.

WITwear

Better results includes invitations to interview. All students should dress professionally for this meeting and some students don’t have access to a business suit. Let’s face it, it is an item of clothing that will only be worn for interviews. Once hired, students on co-op wear business casual attire, so why invest in this garment? Our current students are part of the “sharing economy”. This is a generation that has made Uber, Lyft, Airbnb and Spotify hugely successful so why not share business clothing, too. CO-OPS + CAREERS created WITwear during the fall 2016 semester so our students could have access to professional clothing when they need it. Donations were made by faculty and staff and all garments that were not new have been dry cleaned and are dry cleaned between each user. WITwear is located in Tudbury Hall and open Monday-Thursday between 5:00-8:00pm.

Wentworth On The Road

One way for our students to meet employers is to have them visit the employer at their location. In May 2016, CO-OPS + CAREERS launched “Wentworth on the Road”, a program that allows our students to meet employers at their office, have a tour, meet with hiring supervisors and learn about the opportunities they have for co-op and post-graduation jobs. In our first year, three employers participated and this year, 10 are confirmed. The employers are located in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island and hire from all of our majors. We host this program during the first week of May so the visits are not during a time classes are in session. Students are not necessarily in the Boston area which is why the sites are throughout the region. Students are responsible for their own transportation and lodging if needed. Wentworth on the Road is a great way for our students to practice the networking skills they learn in Co-op Institute.

ASPIRE Partnership

For some students, networking is a challenge. Personal interactions can be difficult, as can situations that produce stress, such as interviewing. With co-op a requirement of graduation, CO-OPS + CAREERS has partnered with the Massachusetts General Hospital’s ASPIRE program to provide personal job coaches to students who need intensive assistance before and during the interviews and during co-op. ASPIRE meets with each student to help them assess the level of assistance they need and provide practice interviewing. The job coach can attend the interview with the student if the student would like. Once the student has begun their co-op, the student is required to attend a weekly seminar facilitated by their ASPIRE job coach and attended by other Wentworth students in the program. Students who are interested in this program need to discuss ASPIRE with their CO-OP + CAREER Advisor.

All of these programs are in place to ensure that Wentworth continues to graduate highly-sought-after students by employers. In the last two years, between 98-99% of our graduates were employed or going to graduate school within six months of graduation. Wentworth itself is unique as a college and our uniqueness has translated into exceptional career success for our students.

June 14, 2018pobera 1 Comment

Class of 2017 Career Outcomes

By: Abbey Pober

Each year The Center for Cooperative Education and Career Development survey’s the graduating class to analyze and report on employment and graduate school status of students’ post-graduation. Responses are collected at the December, April, and August commencements, and again six months later from all graduates who reported they were still seeking employment at graduation. These efforts resulted in a 70% knowledge rate of day student career outcomes. Wentworth graduates obtain well-paying jobs in a wide range of fields and we are seeing a continuation of this trend from the class of 2017.

Of those that we do have data, 98% are in graduate school or are employed and their median salary is $60,000, slightly higher than the NACE reported national median and higher than the last few years of Wentworth’s graduates. More than half (56%) received offers of employment from one of their co-op employers and 36% accepted. We have a knowledge rate of 24% of CPCE graduates, down significantly from prior years. Of those that reported, 100% are employed or in school. The median salary of a CPCE graduate is $71,500. Of those that are employed, 96% of students report that their work is related to their academic major, up from last year’s 92%. This year, seven employers hired at least four members of the class of 2017.

Most our graduates continue to live in the Northeast with Massachusetts overwhelmingly having the most, followed by New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Outside of New England, many of our students are working in New York, California and Pennsylvania. Of those that we have data, 14% of our students are going on to graduate school. The majors that are sending the most to graduate school are: Architecture, Biomedical Engineering, and Civil Engineering. Most students are continuing their education at Wentworth. More than one is heading to Northeastern and Tufts University. Some of the unique schools to which an alumnus is attending are: Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, the Institute of Technology Eindhoven, and University of Southern California. Most our students are seeking an M. Arch followed by an M.S. Three are seeking an MBA, two are seeking a PhD, and one is seeking an MPS.

For the third year, the survey asked graduates from the College of Professional and Continuing Education about the impact their Wentworth education has had on their professional life. Of those that reported, 50% reported receiving a promotion and 43% reported receiving a salary increase. Seventy-seven percent reported that job opportunities are available to them now that were not prior to their degree, 72% reported that their job performance has improved, 77% reported that their technical knowledge and skills have improved and 73% report feeling more confident in the workplace. Using the learning outcomes of each of the day program’s majors, the survey asked questions to measure the effectiveness of the education at Wentworth. This data is reported on for each major and may be used for accreditation purposes.

The comprehensive report, including salary and employment data broken down by major can be found on our website.

June 6, 2018pobera No Comments

Alumni Spotlight: Ben Kazan, Director of Information Systems and Staff, John Hancock Investments

Meet Ben Kazan, Wentworth Computer Science 11’ Alumnus and current Director of Information Systems and Staff at John Hancock Investments.

Tell us about your current role: I manage and lead an agile team which directly supports and delivers technology for John Hancock Investments. We largely specialize in data warehousing solutions but also support a variety of business applications that are crucial to our business function. The team I manage is comprised of analysts, developers, technical experts, and scrum masters – all to deliver a cohesive product to our end users.

Tell us a bit about your Co-op as a Wentworth student: I was a Support Analyst for Harvard University IT (HUIT). I supported the students and faculty in a variety of ways including, maintaining the helpdesk inbound call center, supporting walk up desktop issues at the computer clinic, and managing several computer labs.

What did you learn from during co-op that you still use today? The communication skills and ability to triage/prioritize issues are fundamental skills I learned during my co-op that I use each and every day. Communication skills by phone, email, and in person were all areas I improved on while with HUIT and those soft skills have gone a long way in furthering my career. The other skill I use every day is to triage and prioritize issues that may arise. This level of quick problem solving and understanding how systems and processes work together is a skill that is hard to learn, its one of those things you learn by trial and error and my co-op experience gave me many opportunities to build this skill and understand how to keep calm when there are multiple priorities competing for your attention.

How has your career progressed since you left Wentworth? I started at John Hancock with an entry level position as an operations analyst and over time I explored different career paths at John Hancock including: release management, data modeling, production support, project management, system management, and ultimately the director of both staff and systems. I’ve learned that the finance industry is one that is constantly evolving. Through that change I’ve been fortunate to get different opportunities that have ultimately shaped my view of the John Hancock organization and allow me to understand the various touch points and key contacts across the organization that can help move things along. At an organization the size of John Hancock, this is a critical skill and the only way to really get all these skills is to try out different roles. John Hancock offers rotational programs to new hire and recent college graduates, which allow you to explore different parts of the organization in 3, 1 year intervals – before settling into a full-time and long-term role.

What advice do you have for students looking for co-ops and soon to be graduates seeking full-time opportunities? Try new things, don’t be afraid to fail, understand what makes you stand out – and own what you do! Ownership and follow through are skills that will always show your true value, taking on new challenges and owning those as you go is the best way to grow and succeed at any organization. Aside from this, I recommend finding people within your organization and outside that you can connect with for guidance and mentor-ship. As your career unfolds having people who truly understand what your ‘differentiator’ is, and who will speak up for you and understand what you bring to the table that makes you unique is an extremely important part of career growth.

Want to learn more about what it’s like to work at John Hancock? Join members of their Software Development Program on June 13^th for an Info Session from 5PM -7PM in Beatty 401. Register on WITWorks and bring your questions about working as a software developer, what it’s like to work for John Hancock, and how to apply for their Software Development Program. Info Session will include a brief presentation, Q&A time, networking, PLUS pizza and beverages.