I Smeared Makeup All Over My Face

So when I work shift work during non-isolation times, I find that there are a few direct results from 14+ hour days:

1. Less posts here 
2. My apartment looks like a tornado hit because I pretty much am only home long enough to do laundry and run the dishwasher (good thing I don't have a roommate to judge me!) 
3. Working off of like 4-6 hours of sleep makes me do some silly stuff 

On the topic of silly things I've done while working shift... One morning I tried this new liquid lipstick. I'd heard a lot about this brand, and I picked a shade from Amazon since stores aren't open when I'm out of work. I know, it seems weird for somebody who considers herself to be a serious engineer to be talking about makeup. But as much as I enjoy destroying stereotypes and don't feel makeup is a necessity, I also enjoy trying out different lipsticks when I'm feeling sassy.

Anyways, of course the first time I decided to try my new liquid lipstick was at 4 in the morning in my car right before I left for work (don't worry, I wasn't doing makeup and driving).

When I arrived at work and stopped by the restroom I realized that (a) this color was wayyyyy too dark for the spring like weather we are having and (b) the edges of my lips looked like a drunk girl at 2 am on a Friday night had done my makeup. So, I tried to wipe it off with paper towels in the bathroom and somehow just ended up spreading it ALL OVER my face. I was equally impressed with how pigmented the color was, and mortified that I was looking a lot like Miranda Sings right now.

So I tried to run to my desk to get some lip balm (pro tip, in case you didn't know, those super hydrating lip balms are great at getting lipstick off), and just when I got to my desk my boss came up and started asking me for critical project updates.  I couldn't figure out how to handle the situation so I just super rudely pretended to shuffle through papers and kept my back to him and my head down while I answered questions. Being kind of a jerk is better than turning around to reveal what looks like a child playing in her mother's makeup bag, right? Luckily he knows me well enough by this point that I don't think it was too offensive, but I wouldn't exactly recommend this move if you are at a new job. 

Anyways, the short of it is that I was able to sprint back to the bathroom and get the clown makeup off of my face. AND I had a great story at lunch that day. I decided that what could have been considered a terrible start to my morning was really just a few minutes in the span of my day. The good thing about having a busy day is that you don't have much time to be embarrassed about fashion disasters.  I've  also learned that maybe bold new makeup choices are not the right choice for 4 am... Looks like I'll be reaching for chapstick until life settles down again! 

Love,

Vanessa

PS. What makeup disasters have you had at work?  

Tips on Landing an Engineering Job From the Other Side of the Table

Things have changed for me over the past few years, and I've been lucky enough to have gone from the nervous prospective engineer trying to find a career pat to spending a lot more time on the hiring side of the interview table. I know many of you may be struggling to find positions after major organizational cuts, or graduating in a world of no career fairs - and I figured it's a good time to lift the curtain a little bit. So here is the big secret... interviewers really want to hire you (assuming you are a smart, motivated, team player). If we are interviewing, it is because we need somebody on our team. So why aren't you landing the interview or the job? And how can you turn that around?

1. Your resume is poorly written or organized. Your resume is a reflection of you, and the best work you can produce. If it is littered with spelling errors, has pasted job descriptions out of the job postings for your previous jobs, or the sentences don't make sense - it makes you seem careless at best, incompetent at worst. Have multiple people review your resume before you send it out, and make sure it is something on which you are proud to have your name.

2. You don't seem like you are interested in the job. This could mean you send a cover letter or a resume geared towards a different job, you are difficult to reach, or you aren't able to communicate why you want the job in the interview. I want to work with people who want to stick around, and are excited about what we do. State clearly at some point that you want the job, and why you want it. That means you should do your homework on the company and the position ahead of time, and have a good idea of what the job is. Bonus points if you follow up with the interviewers to thank them for the interview- about 10% of people seem to do this anymore, and it certainly displays interest.

3. You come off as unprofessional. For me this is strongly tied to "you don't seem like you are interested in the job". Unprofessional behavior can be a sign of lack of maturity or competence- and can range from lack of personal hygiene, to being late for the interview, to being rude to the admin staff before or after the interview. One time, there was a phone interviewee who sounded like they were going for  a walk through the park (wind, huffing and puffing up stairs), and then banging around pots and pans. Take the time to make sure find a quiet space for phone or video interviews, and make sure you research or ask about expectations for dress for the interview if you are unsure.

4.  You don't have enough experience. I know, I know. This is sounds like the great conundrum of me asking for you to already to have done the job before you get your first job. But, while direct work experience is certainly great - you can also build your chops as an engineer on your own time. Make sure you are an active participant in your senior design project or thesis, take the time to actually build and design things on your own, join a build team at school, program a PLC to make yourself grilled cheese, participate in the concrete boat challenge - be an engineer. Don't just list labs you were required to do for class. Show that you can and enjoy to apply what you have studied. Then, sell that experience to the panel through your resume and interview. Practice common interview questions with a friend or family member - and make sure that you can clearly communicate how awesome you really are.

5. The specific gap on the team isn't the right one for you right now. Newly hired engineers are almost always brought onto a team. This part is out of your control, and is just about timing. Sometimes we've lost our most experienced team member, and need somebody with direct experience to be able to jump onto the team, mentor others, and keep up with the workload. Sometimes we have a pretty well rounded team and can afford to take somebody with little to no applicable experience, to be mentored and build up longer term organizational experience. This all to say - just because you don't get a job doesn't necessarily mean you should never apply to the company again. Now, if you bombed the interview, and showed up 30 minutes late and hadn't showered in a week - you may want to wait until people forget that impression of you or the management turns over. But otherwise, you can apply to similar postings, and see if another one is a better fit for you.

Ultimately- keep trying, and keep putting your best foot forward! Good luck out there!

-Vanessa

We are back!

Why hello there, it's been quite some time since I've been able to update this blog.

When I first started this blog years ago, it was because jumping from college to a full time engineering workplace felt completely isolating. The world of engineering can sometimes unfortunately not designed for women - whether that be simple things like bathroom accessibility, to more complicated social constructs. And while this blog served as an echo chamber of kinds, it also helped me have a place to have a voice, and to hopefully reach somebody else who was struggling in need of a community.

I stopped writing because I built a community of fellow engineers and professionals in real life, switched jobs to one I find fulfilling and supportive of my career, and was working long hours establishing my career. And in many ways, I worried that a blog poking fun at silly things in work would impact my career -which didn't seem to be worth the tradeoff. In a weird turn of events, although I'm an "essential worker", the isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic has both provided a respite from my insane schedule and reminded me of the need for a strong community.

So, I've decided to make the best of some of this extra free time and update some posts about life as an engineer, manager, etc., tips for helping you achieve your own success, and some of the hilarious little stories in the mundane parts of life.

If you've got any questions about being a woman in a technical field, or issues you think we should address, please pop a comment down below!

-Vanessa