Guest Blog: Elishka Jackson, Washington-Mu Alumna

Here is our next installment in the guest blog series from one of our alumnae, Elishka Jackson, from the Washington-Mu chapter!


When I was asked to write a guest entry for the PSR blog, I thought about what to write. Should I talk about my experiences with Phi Sigma Rho? Or where Phi Rho will be in the future? Or a variety of other topics that went through my mind? Nothing struck a chord with me, so I mulled it over for a bit. Actually, to be precise, my brain has been churning for a few months.







However, inspiration finally struck me! As I was at work the other day, I realized that my four-year work anniversary is quickly sneaking up on me. And it dawned on me what to write about. I am in that point of my career where I’ve been around enough to understand the working world, but still new enough out of school to remember what it’s like at your first real engineering job. I thought some of my experiences and observations might help those of you that have just graduated and are entering the business world. These might not apply to every situation, but from talking to my fellow graduates I think they’re fairly common across engineering companies.






(Just some background on myself so you know where I’m coming from with all this: I graduated in 2006 from the University of Washington with a BS in Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering. Since then, I’ve worked at Raytheon in Tucson, Arizona as a systems engineer in the guidance, navigation and controls department. In my time here, I’ve been lucky enough to have worked on a whole variety of different projects, with an array of different people. Currently, I’m also a student as well, working on my MS in Astronautical Engineering through USC’s Distance Education Program. In between work and school, I keep pretty busy planning my wedding for next May and attempting to teach some doggie manners to a couple of goofy basset hounds.)






The “Real World” isn’t School: I know you’re thinking “well duh, Elishka,” but I think it’s important to remember that distinction. Besides the obvious getting-paid-to-do-work instead of paying-to-do-work thing, there are a whole mess of other differences you’ll need to adapt to. Behavior, attitudes and appearances that were acceptable for the classroom environment won’t cut it in the professional world. Again, you probably think I’m stating the obvious – I remember my professors and advisors telling us the same thing as we were graduation, but you would be surprised by what some people do. I recently attended a meeting with some very high individuals in our business unit of the company. A recent hire was sitting two seats down from me, and spent the entire meeting doing sudoku puzzles in her notebook. I wasn’t the only person in the room to notice, I saw several others frowning her way. Now, as an undergrad, I remember passing many spacecraft design classes with the New York Times crossword puzzle being passed around the back of the room – we’ve all been there. But it’s not really the best way to make a first impression, especially when you’re starting out. Don’t give someone the opportunity to make a snap judgment about you before you even have a chance to impress them with your job skills.






Keep a Positive Attitude: When I first started, I met several fellow new hires that seriously thought that someone was going to hand them a design project their first day, and just let them go. At least at larger companies (which is what I can speak to from my experience), this is far from the case. A lot of times, especially when you’re just starting out, you’ll be given tasks and projects that might seem mundane, or like “grunt work”. Well guess what, that’s pretty much what it is! Try to approach these duties with a positive attitude – look at them as an opportunity to show your supervisor your talents and skills. You won’t be low man (or woman) on the totem pole forever, but this is a period where you can at least show your management that you’re motivated to get the job done, even the unpleasant ones.






Be Flexible and Always Ready to Learn: You may, depending on your work situation, at some time be asked to work on something outside your experience base. Unless it’s something you really don’t feel comfortable working with (and don’t feel bad speaking up about your strengths and weakness, we all have them – I am horrible at anything related to structural engineering and have made that abundantly clear), look at this as a chance to improve your knowledge base. Just because you’ve left the college campus doesn’t mean you get to stop learning. There will always be new things to learn, and ways to improve oneself. Be open to them and it will show your dedication to the job.






Find Work-Life Balance: I’ve been known to say that “All work and no play makes Elishka crazy,” and it’s true (just ask my fiancé about that one). I know it’s difficult coming off of school, where it seems like life is sitting in classes, homework and exams, but remember that the professional world isn’t school (see, I’m tying that back to the first tip. Fancy, I know). Don’t work every hour of every day; otherwise, you’ll burn out. It’s true that every now and then you may work some extra hour here or there, or have to work a weekend or off day to meet a deadline, but don’t make a habit of it. Your company doesn’t want you to burn out either.






One word that kept popping up when I was writing this blog was “opportunity”. Always be on the lookout for opportunities, and ways to showcase your knowledge, skills, talents and abilities. Not to be cliché, but you own your career. You can look to others for guidance and direction, but in the end, you have to seize opportunities and be willing to take charge of your work situation so you end up where you want to be!