The Symposium Experience

Date: 10/12/2023
Subject:  The Symposium Experience
Assessment:
Preparation -- We did many things to prepare for the symposium. Our ISM class has been doing many things to improve our interviewing and interviewee skills in preparation for this event and I believe that through these drills I have made strides toward improvement. Some of these drills included elevator pitches, running interviews with classmates, and running interviews with volunteer teachers. These elevator pitches are one miniate long to explain our field. The interviews were longer and simulated what it would be like to talk to a professional. These interviews where probably the most beneficial portion of the preparation because in the actual symposium, the mock interviews we had were very similar to the real thing, and the information we learned about the interviews through this practice was very applicable.

Execution -- I did quite well, I held conversations with the interviewers and asked questions as well as answered them. I made meaningful connections with the interviewers and got their contacts. I also was a very good listener and learned a lot throughout the interviews. We learned a lot during things like the panels and the alumni presentations, I made sure to ask questions on how to improve at the topics and hand and asked questions when I did not understand something within their presentation. Finally, I made sure to network with other ISM students to grow my LinkedIn contacts so that way I may grow my network and become better at environmental engineering.

Reflection -- I learned a lot about how to make my LinkedIn and website more engaging and interesting. Also, I added more to my resume and made it look more professional. In my interview, I learned that talking to prospective employers is not as challenging as I thought and that they are people with hobbies and interests. I also made some contacts with some alumni, they covered how to attack our final products and cold calls. In the cold calls, I learned how to write and script and how to make a good voicemail. We also learned how to make a contact list and to make sure to write notes on each person to make a better impression on them for later interviews and to not accidentally contact them twice.

Future -- I am now ready to go out and contact different professionals in my field and to try and find interviews and mentors. Hopefully, the networks that I develop with the ISM students will benefit me later. I found the LinkedIn profiles of each of the professional Panelists and some of the ISM students in my section to maybe later have more business acquaintances than I have now.

Recommendations -- To improve the symposium, we could have a speaker show up on time and have a way to contact him so that the students get the introduction speech that was planned. Not having an introduction speech made the symposium a little but confusing because the 250 students never really had a complete run-down one what exactly would be going on during the symposium. I new that there were interviews and alumni presentations but nothing past that amount of information. An introduction speech would have been very helpful.