HDUV3S
Working Aggies
Share Their
Wisdom
By Megan Orton
Career Search
W here are the jobs? How do 1 find them? How
can Texas A&M and the Aggie Network help
Many Aggies find themselves reaching a endless
series of dead ends in the weakening job market, only
to ponder a series of questions similar to these.
“Ninety-nine percent of Aggies find employment
through networldng or job search Web sites,” said Paul
Pausky, assistant director of placement at the Texas
A&M Career Center.
But what happens when you’ve exhausted all of
those possibilities?
Three students were willing to share their stories:
how they got the career of their dreams, how they uti
lized their A&M backgrounds, and what you can do to
follow in their footsteps.
The Industrial Distributor
Natalie Despaux, an industrial distribution graduate
of the Class of 2004, used the Career Center to land
her job as a procurement service adviser for Exxon
Mobil.
“The best advice 1 can give anyone is register through
the Career Center your freshman year,” she said.
The Career Center can then make available a list of
jobs that apply to the student and he or she can sign up
for interview times for the jobs that interest them, she
said. Based on your resume, career center advisers
decide whether you qualify for a particular interview,
and the process begins there.
“The key thing is that even if you are not selected
for an interview, you can still go to the company’s pres
entation the night before the interviews begin," she
explained. “There is a chance that if they have an extra
opening, they will let you interview if you express inter
est in the company and the position.”
Despaux set up her interview through the Career
Center, landed a three-month internship with Exxon
Mobil, and a job offer followed. She stressed the impor
tance her internship had in getting the job of her dreams.
“The internship and interviewing process allowed
me to learn a lot about myself, and what 1 like and I
don’t like,” she said.
Understanding this helped Despaux find the job that
best suited her needs and the needs of the company.
As a procurement service adviser, she handles different
agreements between contractors and other divisions of
Exxon-Mobil, mainly services and materials.
“I have the personality and the technical skills need
ed for the job, but I also have the determination to take
on its challenges,” she said. “Our work is different
every day.”
Despaux said the job has offered her the opportunity
to interface with many different clients, including inter
national companies. “As a global corporation, we have
different laws and regulations we have to abide by to
succeed,” she said.
Despaux was hired by an Aggie, and said that
although everyone in the workplace has been helpful,
anyone with an Aggie ring is always more than willing
to share experiences with her. Working with another
Aggie gives you that “connection,” she said.
The Entrepreneur
Steven Prince, a marketing graduate in the Class of
2003, met up with high school buddy Justin Rana six
months ago and decided to start a business.
“I spent four-and-a-half months looking for jobs, was
unsuccessful, and then decided to start my own busi
ness,” Prince said. “My friend had some talent and was
going in the right direction, so I applied my time and
interest to his efforts.”
And here they are.
The company, Miriam Media, is a small ad agency
located in Denton, Texas, and currently employs only
Prince and Rana themselves. They have been success
ful in working with Web sites, graphics, and ads for
businesses in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
“We pretty much pitch
to the businesses,"
Prince said. He said
Miriam does busi
ness with .some
companies that
have six metroplex
locations, but also
with some like the
mom-and-pop store
around the comer.
“It’s a pretty
spectrum.”
Prince
said he
has been
able to
apply a
lot that
he
learned in
college, but
he has
since been
shown a lot
toward set
ting up his
own business
He also did a
lot of individual
research and
learning to suc
cessfully help
launch Miriam
Media.
Prince hopes to
encourage other Aggies
to strive for success in
advertising field.
“I think advertising is a
weak area at A&M, and 1
hope one day I can buy my
own building and make the
ideas of advertising truly clear
to Aggies,” Prince said.
hired by Halliburton Energy Services almost seven motBhs
before graduation. A petroleum engineering graduate from
Katy, Rodgers had two internships with Halliburton while in
school.
“My department was really good about bringing the
interviews to us," Rodgers explained. “We didn't have
to go through the Career Center, and that afforded us a
little better opportunity." Rodgers said engineering stu
dents are simply told when and where the information
sessions are, either by professors during classes or by
company members during “lunch deals" in the petrole
um engineering building. Then a list was made avail
able to sign up for interviews.
“I tried to be outgoing, attentive and personable
when I was put in a business/interview environment,"
Rodgers said. “I also never stopped asking questions. I
felt like the bener I knew my job, then the better I
could present myself later." Rodgers said he felt that he
showed dedication to his work and tried to emphasize
those qualities when he interviewed. Once he
k accepted the internship, Rodgers said he attrib-
"i uted his success to hard work.
“I can’t stress enough how important
experience is," Rodgers
said. He said that in
1 the petroleum engi-
\ neering department
, at A&M, internships
weren't just encour-
| aged, but required.
“1 think that is a big
edge we have
,over other
schools."
The Engineer
“Intern, intern, intern,” said Sam
Rodgers, Class of 2002. Rodgers was
Rodgers
also said that
the Aggie connec
tion is alive and well
in the petroleum engi
neering field. “In the
oil field Aggies are well
thought of and all
around you," Rodgers
said. “When 1 meet
other Aggies in the indus
try, it is almost as if there is
W an immediate connection —
f an understanding. 1 look out
for him or her and vice versa."
Halliburton has offered
Rodgers exactly what he was seek
ing. He said once he got his offer,
he knew a career at Halliburton was
what he wanted to pursue, and he didn’t feel the
need to look elsewhere. The career path flexibility, the
daily challenges and the people he works with are all
advantages of working with Halliburton. “And of
course, the pay!" he joked. Opportunities included, for
him, “hopefully seeing the world” and “feeling a part of
something.”
What you ask can lan
your dream job
n.. , -r-jj dav.” Also, supervisors m:
By Jonathan Todd
Career Search
T he most nerve-racking part of job searching is meet
ing a potential employer for the first time during an
interview. It feels as though they are studying your
every move, watching for a flaw.
The feet is that the interview is a chance for both of
you to leam as much as possible about each other. Dr.
Leigh Turner, executive director of the University’s Career
Center, calls the interview a two-way street
“You need to know if you’ll be a regular fit with the
company," Turner says, “and asking good questions will
show that you are interested and well prepared.”
Your potential employer may ask questions to get to
know you, but you can and should ask questions to get to
know your potential employer as well. Demonstrating an
interest in the company you’re interviewing with can earn
you brownie points with recruiters, as well. Here’s how to
use the interview process to your advantage.
Step I: The Interview
Get a description of daily assignments you’ll be respon
sible for. Your interviewer will see that you want to know
more about the position and you will get a better feel of
what a typical day on the job is like. Ask what an employ
ee can do to excel in the position you are applying for;
Turner says. By asking this, the interviewer can let you
know what they expect of you.
Find out if the company provides leadership growth
through added responsibilities or promotion. Find a posi
tion where you have the opportunity to move up the cor
porate ladder Asking if there is a defined path for
advancement for new hires is a good way to ask this ques
tion, Turner says, and also ask if the company supports
graduate education.
Ask about the company’s work environment It’s good
to know if you’ll be working with a team or individually.
Just ask your interviewer to describe the team you’ll be
working with. “Recruiters are always looking for team
players," Turner says, “and it is becoming more uncom
mon for a person to work by themself in a cubicle all
day.” Also, supervisors may work closely with
their workers or use a hands-off approach.
Ask about the company’s organizational
culture. A company’s values are reflected
in how they treat their
employees and
cus
tomers,
Turner says. For
instance, ask if
you’ll have contact
with senior officers. This
is a polite way of getting a
for office politics.
Also, notice whether your interviewer
meets you personally in the waiting room
if an assistant or secretary escorts you to
where you’ll be interviewed.
You can safely predict if the office is
social or if people keep to themselves.
A simple way is asking if a there are
any social activities like community serv
ice events or office intramurals, Turner
says. Also, knowing a company’s culture will make your
transition into a new environment less awkward.
At the end of your interview, make sure you get a busi
ness card from everyone you’ve met This will expand
your network and give you correct spellings of names and
official titles for writing those vital letters of thanks,
acceptance or decline.
Step 2: The Office Visit
For the best preparation, ask for an itinerary. You will
need to know what to expect going into your visit.
Researching your job and potential employer will help
you ask relevant and meaningful questions about the com
pany, its mission, and day-to-day operations. This proactive
measure also impresses recruiters.
A helpful tip: Prepare well-researched questions
because recruiters tend to hear the same questions from
different recruits. “Do your homework and ask killer ques
tions, Turner says, “let them know that you are sincere.”
If it looks like you’re going to land the
job, it is appropriate to talk about the
community and cost of living in
the company’s area. Ask about
the housing market,
i Turner says, and ask if the
I company community is
easy to adjust
to. Not ^
only
is this impor
tant informa
tion to you, it
shows employers
: you are think
ing ahead.
In the unlikely event
j that your recruiter answered all of
I your questions without you having to
ask any, always keep a backup ques-
I tion in your hip pocket, Turner says.
I Ask your recruiters why they enjoy
working for the company you are visiting or why they
chose to work for the company. Again, it shows your
interest and people always like to share their experiences.
At the end of your visit, ask yourself: Is there anything
that I still want to know? Have all my questions been
answered? And don’t forget to ask for business cards.
Don’t leave your interview without knowing the
next step.
Ask who you will be interviewing with next,
Turner says.
Step 3: Salary Negotiation
Wait until the end of your office visit to discuss your
salary. By the end of the visit, you should have a clear pic
ture of what your job will be like.
Let your recruiter bring up the salary subject and never
be the first to mention it, Turner said. If you are unpre
pared to discuss it, go ahead and ask what the range is for
the position.
Questions
Continued from page 5
If forced, you should mention ranges
rather than a single number, Terrell said.
This prevents you from losing possible
income or not being offered the job.
“You don’t want to cost yourself any
money, but you don’t say a number
that’s too high,” Terrell said.
Go to interviews prepared. Review
salaries for the specific company and the
entire industry. The National
Association of Colleges and Employers
(NACE) is a good source of salary infor
mation. The Texas A&M Career Center
also publishes salary surveys. These
resources report salary averages of dif
ferent occupations, taking into consider
ation salary extremes and regional
differences.
Question 7
Do you work well
as part of a team?
Teamwork, diversity, empowerment —
these are popular buzzwords in hiring,
Terrell said. Employers are especially inter
ested in how you react in a diverse atmos
phere. Interviewers will want to know
how often you move outside your comfort
zone and how well you react to others.
You must evidence your ability. Citing
clubs to which you belonged and student
activities in which you participated shows
you worked with different people.
“You’re assigned to a work team of
people of different races, religious beliefs,
political beliefs and beliefs about how
things should be, and you have to work
with them as a team to produce a product,
make money and solve problems,” Terrell
said.
Question 8
What did you like
the most or the
least about your
previous job?
This question requires diplomacy. You
generally do not want to make negative
statements about your former or current
job or boss. It can demonstrate a negative
attitude or resentment.
Rather, “Haldane’s” suggests you
explain why you want the new job. For
example, you can tell the interviewer you
want more responsibilities. It does not
reflect negatively on your previous job, and
it shows initiative and desire on your part.
Question 9
Where do you see
yourself in 5 years?
You should expect to receive questions
about your career goals. It is important to
have goals and be able to articulate them.
Also, your goals should be realistic.
According to “Haldane’s,” “Employers
are looking for people who know what
they want to do and who are focused on
specific professional goals.”
You should state goals that are consis
tent with the objective of your resume.
Question 10
Do you have any
questions for me?
Asking detailed, informed questions
shows a prospective employer you have
done research. A company’s Web site is a
good source of information.
“Looking at a brochure on the compa
ny in the lobby while waiting for the inter
view is a good way to come up with some
questions,” Terrell said.