Overview

• About the alums.
• Choosing hosts.
• Admin.
• About the course (revisited).
• A strategy for hosting alums.
• Other course details.
• Resume review.

Admin

• I don't seem to have received paragraphs on Dr. Wittie from all of you.
  Please send them ASAP.
• Please encourage your friends to come to these talks, even if they don't register.
• For folks who visit in person, I may try to set up dinners. Hosts will be expected to try to get a list of interested students.
• Sorry for disorganization. A large and unexpected administrative task hit two weeks before classes started, took me about 40 hours, and I'm still not caught up.
• I'm working to get my notes on Lea Wittie's visit into an EBoard. (I need to check them over and have her approve them.)
• Tomorrow's CS Table: Turing on AI
• Next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.: Art and Technology talk in JRC 101.
• Next Thursday's CS Extra (tentative): Matt Atherton '95.

About the course (revisited)

Goals

• Goal one: Give CS students a view of what is available to computer science students
• Goal two: Give focused advice on things like resumes and the job hunt
• Goal three: Network

Format

• Weekly alumni visits
  • Some in person (+ chances to talk outside of class)
  • Many via Skype
• Hosted by students (in and outside of the class)

Work

• Show up
• Host when you volunteered (or were volunteered)
• Send a followup after hosting
• Write a reflective paragraph
• Ask good questions

Optional (but good)

• If the alum says something interesting or does something that you're interested in, send a followup email to the alum, whether or not you hosted

About the alums

Ian Lunderskov '08 [Sept 12]

• Chicagoland, Ruby stuff
• Consulting
• Varied path
• In person
• Hosts: Khoa and Kuestin

Sam Tape '09 [Sept. 19]

• Online solutions for emergency health care, Minn./St. Paul
• The "SAT for Health Care Professionals"
• In person
• [Walker students here]
• Hosts: Chike and Erik

Jordan Shkolnick '11 (uncomfirmed) [Sept. 26]

• Microsoft, Testing
• Hosts: Martin and Chike

Tony Stubblebine '00 [Oct. 10]

• Long and varied career
• Currently at Lift
• Hosts: Martin and Khoa

Eryn O'Neill '07 [Oct. 17]

• Outspoken, wants Grinnell CS to think more broadly about jobs
• In person
• Hosts: Dilan and Chike
• [Walker students here]

Jim Finnessey '04 [Oct. 31]

• Mid-level manager
• Hosts: Martin and Kuestin

Shitanshu Aggarwal '11 [Nov. 7]

• Amazon
• Hosts: Erik and Jennelle

Atul Gupta '88 [Nov. 14]

• Trustee
• Runs big consulting company in Des Moines
• Very outspoken about why Grinnell students come to work with the wrong attitude
• In person
• [Walker students here]
• Hosts: Jennelle and Erik

Heather Whisenhunt '08 [Nov. 21]

• At HP. Well-established tech company.
• Sideways mobility
• Hosts: Shaun and Kuestin

Erik Hanson '98 (unconfirmed) [Dec. 5]

• In person
• [Walker students here]
• Hosts: Spencer and Shawn

Maybe one more [Dec. 12]

• Hosts: Jordan and Shaun
• [Walker students here]

A strategy for hosting alums

• Send early email (ideally two weeks in advance)
• Identify/obtain/negotiate
  • Short biography (usually about current job)
  • Topic for the alum to discuss/focus on. For example, 2 of the 3
    • 20 or so "Here's my life story"
  • 20 or so focused "Here's something important I know that you should know, too"
  • 20 or so focused "Here's what we do when hiring"/"Here's what we look for in resumes"/"Here's how I formed a network"
  • Other activities/readings
• Be ready to provide additional information
  • What kinds of things the class has heard about
  • What kinds of things the class wants to hear about
  • ...

Help for the hosts: What do you want out of this course (from the alums)?

• Obvious, but not likely: A job or internship

• Not so obvious, but possible: A mentor

• A good sense of how to start a career path, particularly since we don't know much when we're starting out.

• Learn from their mistakes.
  • (I want to know how you screwed up so that I don't screw up in the same way.)
  • ("We know many people hit stumbling blocks and learn from them, so please share yours if you are comfortable doing so.")
• What skills are useful in your industry?
• What kinds of things should I be doing outside of class?
• Mentorship-style advice. When you mentor people, what kind of advice do you give? What have you learned from your mentors?
• What's it like working at your company?

Other course details

• Please encourage more students to show up (and maybe to register). Make it worth my (uncompensated) time.

Resume review

• Things we debated (which have been phrased as questions for alums)
  • What are your thoughts on GPA? What if it's high?
  • When someone says that they are "proficient" in a programming language, what do you expect?
  • What links, if any, do you follow?