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How My Professional Engineering License Saved My Career (After a Few Years as a Stay-at-home Mom)

By Conni Eckstein | Published February 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

Professional Engineer. It has a ring to it, doesn’t it? That “PE” after my name would look great. And sure, it would look good on my resume and it would surely impress people, but why go after a license that in all likelihood I’d probably never use?

About five years after graduating with my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, I decided to try for my professional engineering license. The chemical company I worked for didn’t require it, most commercial companies don’t, but it was something that seemed to be the right thing to do. A couple of co-workers and I headed to a local community college for a six-week review course held a couple of nights a week in the spring. The professional engineering test is given twice a year. I made plans to test in the fall. Read more...

Never Let the Answer “No” Stand In the Way of Getting What You Want

By Shandrika Combs | Published January 31, 2012 | 1 Comment

“Mother, can I…?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so, and I don’t want to hear any more about it.”

Déjà vu aside, what kind of child were you? Did you keep asking, did you go to someone else, did you throw a fit, or, did you drop it?

One of the first things I learned when I entered the workforce in HR is that denial is a form of weeding out who really wants something. In my first position, I was a benefits liaison for a major company, and part of my job was to be the person who kept asking “why” when health insurance companies would deny claims. The longer I did this, the more it became obvious to me that the automatic reaction from the health insurance company (at least the one that our company had), was to say “no.” Read more...

Forget Resolutions– How to Formulate a New Year’s Vision for the Future

By Tamara Leigh | Published January 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

What’s your vision for 2013?

No, that’s not a typo– I didn’t mean 2012. I mean 2013. Where or what will be true of your life in less than 12 months from now when the flip of the calendar goes from 2012 to 2013?

Barely into the New Year, 2012 resolutions are new and hopefully not yet broken. At the beginning of the year, we look ahead, make plans, but primarily our focus is on the footsteps in front of us.

Instead, I envision 2013. Clear in my head, it’s a picture of the end result of a work in process. Read more...

My Life Mentors and the Lessons They’ve Taught Me

By Sarah Clatterbuck | Published January 12, 2012 | 3 Comments

I think we’ve all learned the importance of mentors to help guide us through our schooling or career. But, this is about a different type of mentor – the life mentor.

My Mentors - Photo Credit: Mr. Sarah

My life mentors originally came to me as part of a faith-based group. However, over 15 years of regular meeting, we’ve bonded into something much deeper. The women in the group have become my life coaches. They are the ones who hold me accountable for the things I need to take care of in my in my internal life. They make sure I follow through with family and other important relationships, and help me see parts of my character that might use a little refining. And, I do the same for them. We represent a wide range of ages, family/marital status and professional backgrounds, so the perspectives are widely varied, adding to the richness of our relationship. Read more...

Majoring In Science Is Hard– That’s Why It’s Worth It For Those Who Succeed

By Conni Eckstein | Published January 4, 2012 | 2 Comments

The New York Times recently published an article, “Why Science Majors Change Their Mind,” attempting to understand why so many students drop out of a Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) major in college. Quoting from the article:

Studies have found that roughly 40 percent of students planning engineering and science majors end up switching to other subjects or failing to get any degree. That increases to as much as 60 percent when pre-medical students, who typically have the strongest SAT scores and high school science preparation, are included, according to new data from the University of California at Los Angeles. That is twice the combined attrition rate of all other majors. Read more...

Learning How to Be an Entrepreneur: What Are Your Strengths?

By Lauren Fraser | Published January 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

“What are your skills?”

“Well,” I said, “I’m a great listener.”

“That’s not a skill. What are your skills?”

“I’m a writer… or, um, I think I am a good writer.”

(silence)

Distraught, “I’m a planner… with direction of the end goal I am really good at coming up with and implementing a plan to achieve it.”

“So you’re a generalist? You don’t have specific skills. That’s okay, you can be a generalist.” Read more...

Feeling Overwhelmed With Too Much To Do? Start Emptying Your Plate

By Shandrika Combs | Published December 17, 2011 | 1 Comment

AAAAAAAAAA! SO much to do! I can’t finish all of this!

We’ve all been there. So much on your plate that it gets overwhelming and you don’t know what to do. Maybe you become paralyzed—frozen in place with too many thoughts and too many choices.

If there is too much on your plate, I suggest looking at it literally as a plate of too much food. We’ve all been there too. Portion sizes in America are HUGE, and there has to be at least one time where you thought “I can’t finish all of this!” Read more...

Confessions of a Workaholic: Turning Work Experience Into Expertise

By Jessica Chan | Published November 26, 2011 | 2 Comments

I’ve never only held one single job. Ever since college, I’ve always balanced freelance and side work while being fully employed in either a full-time job or school.

I have Craigslist to thank– I am a Craigslist addict. To me, Craigslist is not just a site, but a gateway to a world of opportunities, and I’ve probably applied to and been hired to over 30 jobs and gigs on Craigslist. Even though I did go to college, I would say that I learned more lessons and real life skills from Craigslist than I did at UC Berkeley. Read more...

A Mentor Who Believes In You Can Mean Everything

By Sheryl Cardiff, M.A., NASM, FCMT | Published November 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

My memories of my primary years in school can be summed up as stressful. I have a Fall birthday, so every year I was one of the youngest in my class. I had a couple other challenges. My mother suffered from a bi-polar disorder and my brother, who is ten years older, had a drug/alcohol addiction which escalated as he moved from middle school to his early twenties. My father was the pillar of the family, but it was a lot of chaos to manage. Read more...

Build Discipline: How to Get Back On the Horse Once You’ve Fallen Off

By Jessica Chan | Published November 11, 2011 | Leave a comment

I have to go to spin tomorrow morning, which begins at 6:15am. I have to be there by 5:50am, or else the class fills up. I know it’s good for me, and in the past, I’ve always felt great after I’ve done it. But right now, I really do not want to go.

Discipline is a difficult thing to truly master. Some people are naturally disciplined, which to me means that they can more easily make themselves do things they don’t want to do. I think I’m pretty good at being disciplined, but then I face tasks like spin class tomorrow morning, or my resolve to write regularly. It’s easy to be disciplined for a while, it’s hard to be disciplined all the time. Read more...