Looking back to the past semester, I finally realized how much I have been through and how much change has happened. As we get close to the end of the Fall 2023 semester, I would like to reflect on a coffee chat I had throughout my Technology & Management Seminar class and talk about some of my new thoughts and realizations over this period.

I attended a coffee chat with HR specialists from John Deere, and he provided many valuable insights on how the recruitment process goes from the employers’ perspective. One of the questions was “Which one do recruiters value more when hiring candidates for an internship, personal projects, or past internship experiences?” It has been a common myth among engineering students that personal projects help a lot when trying to get an internship. Another interesting fact I observed was that some students took an offer to an internship that they didn’t think they would enjoy because they were afraid that having no internship during summer would leave them “behind” in the competitive job market. Before I attended the coffee chat, I had a very similar mindset that missing an internship during the summer would leave me behind, and seeing my friends already getting offers gave me a bit of stress and anxiety. However, I came up with a different mindset after hearing his perspective on this question.

Here is his answer to this question: “You need to be aware of the picture you are painting for your resume. We want to see the “authentic” you and see you being passionate about what you do.” Skills, of course, are one of the most important qualifications for a position, but skills can be learned in several different ways. It has been a busy semester as I took a few time-consuming technical courses. For the first half of the semester, I was tangled in my classwork and did not have much time to think for the long run. So, like most other people, I was stressing over finding an internship, any internship. I already had my return offer from my previous internship, but it was not where my interest lies. I was afraid that if I were to reject my return offer, I would be at risk of not finding a position for the summer, leaving me “behind” all my peers. The words from the John Deere representative did open up many other opportunities for me. Even if I don’t find one position suitable for me this summer, I still have a lot of ideas that I want to try and projects I want to do. I want to 3D print an electric guitar and make a quad-leg robot starting by designing PCB boards myself, and there are so many other ideas that I want to try. Learning through hands-on work, I believe, is the best way to acquire skills for an engineering student. I also want to make video logs and reports of those projects to include on my personal website. All of my ideas above would represent me as someone who enjoys learning and is passionate about what I do.

We are limited by what we see and hear most of the time, so it is crucial to communicate with more people and get different perspectives on the same thing. I got a very similar answer from a panel of recruitment specialists from the Research Park when attending a similar event, showing this idea is shared among many recruiters. I really appreciate the networking opportunities that the Technology & Management Seminar gave me as I enjoy learning from others and hearing different opinions, and the coffee chat I went to helped me set a clear goal to work towards in the future.