Bridging the Generational Gap in the Workplace

By: Chris McIntyre

At each point in your career– especially on co-op– you will work with colleagues in a variety of age brackets. They’ll be different in almost every way, from communication style to attire to their views on what it means to be a professional. To be successful in any workplace it’s imperative to understand how to navigate these generational differences. Understanding this will lead to greater levels of collaboration and higher levels of productivity – as well as perhaps saving you from embarrassing faux pas.

First, a brief primer on generations (Keep in mind there are no official cut-off points):

Baby Boomer: Those born from 1946-1964

Gen X: Those born from 1965-1979

Gen Y/Millennial: Those born from 1980-2000.

Author Jean Twenge dubbed the next generational bracket (2000-Present) iGen due to growing up with smartphone technology. iGens, who the eldest of the generation are now college-age, have key differences than previous generations at the same age including:

  • Less religious
  • Much more comfortable with technology
  • A tendency to experience life events, such as getting a driver’s license, at a later age
  • Spending less time with friends in person, but always staying connected to them
  • Less likely to have a part-time work experience before entering college

That last point is key when thinking about applying to co-ops. Hiring managers, who probably are from a different generation, may not know a co-op will be some iGens’ first job. So, when putting together your resume, think about the transferable skills employers look for: communication, collaboration, time management, problem solving, etc. It’s important to highlight these skills whether you got them from a school activity, sport or student organization.

Female biting pencil

My work in Employer Relations allows me to interact with individuals spanning all generations. In addition to the importance of transferable skills, another consistent thing I hear is the importance of professional communication. iGens don’t use their smartphones as a telephone, something previous generations have a hard time understanding. Thus, it’s important to spend time working with your advisor to practice professional telephone communication if you’re not comfortable. Often your first-round interview will be a phone screen, so it is vital you feel comfortable.

Working with iPhone

Related to verbal communication, employers frequently emphasize the importance of professional written communication. iGens tend to write in a less formal structure and tone, while other generations are the opposite. So, when writing cover letters and e-mails ensure you are writing in a clear and professional tone (PS – your CO-OP + CAREER Advisor should be reviewing your cover letters and other professional communications).

Don’t overlook the importance of understanding other generations. While it will be necessary on the job, it could even be the difference between getting the job in the first place.

As always, to make an appointment with your Co-op + Career Advisor call the front desk at 617.989.4101 or stop by the CO-OPS + CAREERS Office.

Summer 2019 Drop-In Hours: Wednesday and Thursday 2:00pm – 4:00pm while classes are in session.

Co-op Stories: Prabhjyot Kaur

Prabhjyot Kaur is a Wentworth Junior studying Computer Information Systems. She recently completed her first co-op with The TJX Companies as an IT business Analyst in Marlborough, MA.  Prabhjyot sat down with CO-OPS + CAREERS to share her co-op story.

Student Smiling

Tell us about your co-op at TJX: 

I worked with the release management team for selling and payments, so I was involved in organizing deployments for the MarMaxx and HomeGoods/HomeSense POS (Point-of-Sale) systems. As an IT Business Analyst I was responsible for managing and communicating the schedule for deployments, sending beta statuses, creating business documentation and presentations, and reporting release defects.

What interested you in this company and the role?

Some of my friends did their co-op at TJX and talked very highly about the company including the people and work culture. They encouraged me to apply and I was very interested because TJX is a well-known company and I love the stores. I applied as an IT business analyst because that is one of the career paths I am looking into after graduation. I want to get some experience as a BA in an IT setting and see if I actually enjoy it.

TJX was my first offer and they gave me a week to accept or reject. Around that time I was waiting to hear back from a company I interviewed at but unfortunately I did not get the job. After that, I accepted the TJX offer instantly, I was hesitant only because it was located in Marlborough (45 mins from Boston).

Tell us about your search process and what steps you took to land your co-op at TJX.

I applied to the TJX website directly in August and then started my interview process around late September. The first interview was a digital interview where I had to answer questions under 3 minutes while recording myself. That was definitely one of the most awkward interviews I’ve had. After that, I was called into the headquarters for an interview. There were around 40 interviewees and some even flew in from schools around the country, it was very intimidating. There were three rounds of interviews and the questions were very behavioral and about related experiences.

To prep for the TJX interview, I made sure to research the company and what it stands for, values, etc. Interviewers find it very impressive when you can talk about the company, you’ll appear as someone who is prepared and puts in that extra effort. Also I read up on previous projects and class assignments that I could bring up in my interviews. I reviewed those projects and wrote down the process/steps, results, lessons learned, and how they can relate back to my role. For some job interviews I also read old PowerPoint lectures. Especially on networking, SQL, and JAVA so that I could be prepared for a technical question. I strongly encourage everyone to read up on lectures, projects, or even brush up certain technical skills before an interview because it helps a lot when you can speak about past experiences and concrete skills.

What was a typical day like at your co-op? Do you work alongside other co-op students?

My typical day consists of many meetings between 9am-5pm, sometimes 3-4 1hr/30min long meetings. I am usually the one taking meeting minutes so I will revise anything I have and send it out to all the teams. Then my manager will either give me my tasks for the day or I will continue working on any task or project. TJX hires around 70+ co-ops and they are disbursed throughout four buildings. I am the only co-op within my team and the selling and payments department, but I am part of a co-op project with two other students from Northeastern. I got to work with other co-op students for 2-3 months and met them a couple of times throughout the week to go over project details.

While on co-op, what project(s) have you been a part of, or something that you are working on, that has inspired you?

As a co-op I was a part of many customer facing deployments and projects. I cannot share much detail since they are still work in progress but it is amazing to see how projects we’ve worked on are customer facing, even I, as a customer, utilize those features. I’ve been involved in many of the project planning sessions and know about the upcoming releases. I find this so amazing and inspiring because even when I leave this company I can go to a TJMaxx and say “I was a part of this.”

I am also part of a project where we have to propose fixes to the current TJX buying system. Myself, along with two other co-ops, had been working on this for 2-3 months. It took a lot of research since this was a part of the company we weren’t familiar with. We spent a lot of time attending meetings with the business architects and shadowing merchandising leads and assistants. This experience allowed me to look into other interesting careers such as buying and merchandise planning. Also, this project gave me the opportunity to venture out and learn about something completely different than my field of work.

What was the biggest lesson you learned through your co-op?

The biggest lesson I learned through my co-op is that you have to be self-sufficient and take initiative. TJX is a huge corporation and for the first couple of months it was hard adjusting to the high risk, fast paced environment. At times I was given tasks that I didn’t know how to do, but I would either research about the topic or look up instructions online. There were days where I wasn’t given much to do, so I used the company training resources and educated myself on different methodologies and processes. It is important to be self-sufficient and productive even if you are not getting undivided attention or guidance.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, Prabhjyot! Be on the lookout for our next co-op feature. If you would like to share your co-op experience (positive or not-as-expected), or have any questions about the co-op process, please email us at coopsandcareers@wit.edu.

As always, to make an appointment with your Co-op + Career Advisor call the front desk at 617.989.4101 or stop by the CO-OPS + CAREERS Office.

Summer 2019 Drop-In Hours: Wednesday and Thursday 2:00pm – 4:00pm while classes are in session.

Getting the Most out of Your Sophomore Summer

By: Lauren Creamer

I’m a sophomore and I didn’t get an optional co-op this summer… what should I do?

The summer co-op deadline has come and gone, and you might find yourself disappointed that you weren’t able to find an optional co-op. I’m here to tell you that it is OK – there is so much time left in your summer. There is plenty to do to prepare yourself for your first mandatory co-op.

You can keep searching for co-ops. Our co-op reporting deadline is early because Wentworth operates on a trimester system – our classes end earlier than most other schools’. This also means that employers who are looking to hire summer co-ops might not have their recruiting cycles quite synced with ours. You can still find postings on indeed.com, engineerjobs.com, etc. And on the websites of employers. And you can still apply to these jobs! You just won’t be able to get co-op credit for them.

You can find a part-time job in your field, or a shorter work experience. Fun fact: if an employer comes to us seeking a co-op student past the deadline, we encourage them to post their position as a part-time role on WITworks. This will give you direct access to the job on the same platform you’ve been using to search all along. You can also use other job search sites to identify part-time work related to your field. Now that you don’t need to abide by co-op guidelines, you may find opportunities opening up left and right.

Summer co-op search

You can set-up some job shadows. You don’t have to commit to a new job to get experience and exposure in your field. Employers that wouldn’t otherwise be able to hire you may certainly be willing to have you in for a few days to a week, so you can learn about the work they do. This will help you build professional connections, too. Employers are impressed by commitment to the field outside the classroom, and this is an easy way to show you are dedicated to learning about your future profession.

You can do a bunch of informational interviews. Don’t have the time or transportation to commit to a job shadow? Consider using LinkedIn or your personal network to find folks with whom you could do informational interviews. This could be in-person, but over the phone works just fine. Similar to the job shadow, you would be learning more about your field and making connections you could later utilize.

You can volunteer at a non-profit in your field. If your technical discipline overlaps with the non-profit sphere, you should consider volunteering. This could be as little as one day per week where you would be exposing yourself to a specific work environment, learning about your field, and giving back to your community.

Volunteers

You can be intentional about identifying how your seemingly unrelated part-time job or familial obligations may be preparing you for a co-op. I know that, for some of you, the above suggestions are simply not realistic options. And that is OK. If you need to be working a job that pays well (but isn’t related to your field) or you need to be caring for family, we in CO-OPS + CAREERS understand. Your experiences are still valuable! Consider what transferable skills you are building. Are you honing your communication skills? Have you developed strong customer service skills? Are you utilizing your troubleshooting skills in a different environment?

Whether you spend the summer working in your field, setting-up professional development opportunities, or building transferable skills, the experience you add to your resume will be a strong asset you can bring to your mandatory co-op search.

As always, to speak with your Co-op + Career Advisor please stop by our office on the first floor of Wentworth Hall across from Admissions during summer drop-in hours 2:00-4:00pm or call our front desk at 617.989.4101.

Meet our Marketing Intern: Lauren Rodolakis

By: Lauren Rodolakis

Growing up, I always knew I had a passion for creativity. My favorite past-times were journaling, filming and editing footage of my family’s vacations, and blogging. By the time I was 16 I had taught myself how to edit HTML on Tumblr so I could customize my blog and had a Twitter account dedicated to the Boston Red Sox that amassed over 2,000 followers in 6 months. When my junior year of high school rolled around, I had decided on communications and public relations as a major because of the emphasis on all things creative.

LaurenInternPhoto

I spent my first two years of college taking public relations courses, joining clubs like the Public Relations Student Society of America, and securing my first internship. In the summer going into my junior year, I was given the opportunity to work as a social media intern for a national healthcare staffing agency. I created a full content calendar for each of their social media platforms, built them a blog and an Instagram account, started weekly employee spotlights, monthly office tours, and worked with the in-house graphic designer to create promotional materials for career fairs. This internship was my first look into the world of social media and at the time, I had no idea how instrumental it would be towards my future career.

Although I loved working as a social media intern, I had never worked in a real public relations agency setting so I left to peruse a more traditional PR career. My junior and senior year were spent at a boutique tech PR agency, a world-renowned PR agency doing consumer account work, and a mid-sized integrated agency where I did traditional PR for a consumer electronics brand. At each agency I went to, I kept hoping I would like the next one better. I always blamed my reasons for not loving the internship on the agency culture, the clients, or the tasks I was given. One day, I realized I just don’t love traditional PR. I missed the work I was doing at my social media internship and felt the tasks I was being given did not leave much room for creativity.

With my senior year spring semester approaching, I knew I needed to find a great opportunity that would expand my knowledge in the social media world. Finding my internship at the Wentworth Institute of Technology’s CO-OP + CAREERS department has been the perfect way to end my college career. I was given the ability to be more creative in a work setting than I ever have before and enhance my skills in graphic design, video editing, and social content creation.

LaurenInternPhoto

My experience at Wentworth was also instrumental in helping me land my job for after graduation. In May, I will start my career as a Social Media Community Manager at Reviewed, a USA Today company where I will focus on building engagement with our followers across our social channels. My career path has certainly not been linear, but I learned a lot. Through my internships, I was able to pinpoint what I truly love to do and what I am passionate about and now, I am lucky enough to be able to make a career out of those passions.

Thank you for dedicating your semester to our marketing team, Lauren! Follow all of Lauren’s updates on her website: https://www.laurenrodolakis.com/.

Co-op Stories: Sophia Seltenreich

Sophia Seltenreich is a Wentworth Junior studying Business Management with a minor in International Business. Sophia recently completed her first mandatory co-op with Yesware in Downtown Boston where she worked as a Content Strategy Co-op, which was a hybrid position of content marketing and market analysis. In this role, her tasks included developing cadence and curating content on social channels, establishing perspectives/thought leadership & analyzing data in the area of sales to write about on Yesware’s blog, tracking KPIs for Yesware and competitors to measure growth and success, designing graphics for website and social platforms, and customer outreach for data insights and review generation. Here’s what she shared with us about her experience:

What was it like to work at a start-up like Yesware?

It’s incredible! Every day is so lively and so different. You have a lot of flexibility and independence, but also a lot of responsibility. Given the ever-changing start-up environment, you have to be adaptable and ready to pivot at any time. Personally, I love that aspect of the start-up environment. I also love the work I’m doing because even though I’m a co-op, everyone in the company is so interconnected and reliant on each other that even small things like writing a blog post make a difference!

Sophia Seltenreich Headshot(Photo courtesy of Yesware)

Speaking more to the company culture, Yesware was voted Boston’s Top Place to Work two years in a row (2017/2018). Everyone at the company is treated exceptionally well, and as a co-op, I was treated no different than a full-time employee. Some office perks include: free catered lunch every day, pet-friendly office space – which means people often bring in their dogs, weekly yoga sessions, monthly massages, board game nights, a nap room, a fully stocked kitchen (including vegan ice-cream & oatmilk), and great people! I cannot speak enough to the character and integrity that each person at Yesware embodies. For example, every two months, all the execs participate in an AMA (Ask Me Anything), exhibiting complete transparency and authenticity, taking the time to answer everyone’s questions. Another example, when an employee makes a successful hiring referral, instead of getting a cash bonus, they make a $5,000 donation to a charity of their choosing. Our People Team also plans and hosts several community events throughout the year, like a Galentine’s Day celebration with She+ Geeks Out & the Big Sister Association of Boston. Getting to work with these kinds of genuine people is the best environment to learn and grow in, and it shows me how passionate people are about the work they do and the communities they’re a part of.

Galentines Event(Photo courtesy of Yesware)

How did you choose to work at a start-up?

I received a competing co-op offer for social management at Liberty Mutual, the antithesis of a start-up company. While working at a fortune 100 company can provide stability and safety, I wasn’t looking to sit at a cubicle and do the same set tasks every day (even if it meant getting a lower wage).

What was a typical day like for you on co-op?

As I said before, every day can be different! A fairly typical day starts off with me scheduling Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn posts (after I’ve made myself some breakfast & tea) and going through new emails. After that, I work on sprint goals such as drafting new blog pieces, creating review campaigns, conducting customer outreach for feedback, sorting through data in Pardot, designing graphics in canva  etc. Then (free) lunch comes along! After lunch, marketing has a daily stand-up at 1:30pm where we usually discuss the tasks we’re working on (and everyone’s progress as we re-watch Game of Thrones). The latter half of the day consists of me listening to podcasts and finishing whatever goal I set for myself in the morning.

Yesware Office(Photo courtesy of Yesware)

What advice do you have for students who are interested in working for a start-up?

Advice for those seeking start-up jobs: be flexible, and highly adaptable! Take pride in your work, but don’t get too attached to it- changes can be made, projects can be dropped, and work can be scrapped. Be a self-starter, take the initiative on connections and projects you think would help your team or their processes.

What did you learn from your first co-op that you will take with you to your second? 

I learned that I had to apply to 40+ positions before I found one I truly resonated with. Don’t be afraid to turn companies down just because they’re the first to offer you a job.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, Sophia! Be on the lookout for our next co-op feature. If you would like to share your search process, co-op experience (positive or not-as-expected), or have any questions about the co-op process, please email us at coopsandcareers@wit.edu.

As always, to make an appointment with your Co-op + Career Advisor call the front desk at 617.989.4101 or stop by the CO-OPS + CAREERS Office during Summer 2019 Drop-In Hours: Wednesday and Thursday 2:00pm – 4:00pm while classes are in session.