IBM Pathfinder Mentoring Program with NC State University

© 2009 IBM Corporation
IBM Pathfinder Mentoring Program
with NC State University
2013-2014
Linda Brown, Global Talent Partner - Legal, Finance, RESO
December 18, 2013

Agenda
 Program Objectives
 Agenda for this year’s program
 Best Practices
 Results
2

© 2013 IBM Corporation3
Pathfinder Mentoring Program Objectives
 Provide students insight into professional life to better prepare themselves
while at school
 Professionals and students meet approximately once a month to discuss
career experiences and to explore areas of student interest
 One school year in duration, but the student and advisor pairs can continue
the relationship longer if desired
 IBM visits, lab tours, and NCSU events held to provide students additional
insight
 Solicit feedback from students for continued program improvement

Benefits to IBM
 Opportunity for employees to refine mentoring skills
 Giveback to the community
 Strengthen ties with IBM’s most highly recruited university
 Insight into possible co-op/intern candidates
 Understanding of current engineering curricula

Pathfinders Core Team
Warren Bailey
Soloman Barghouthi
Philip Godbolt
Laura Zalph
Kevin Schultz
Chris Dawson
Marcie Corral
Kathy Brown-Fitzpatrick
Tayon Dancy
Leah Stark
Linda Brown

Who the Pathfinder Mentoring Program is For ?
NCSU students and IBM professionals within the
disciplines of:
 Hardware Engineering
– Electrical, Mechanical, etc.
 Software Engineering
– Computer Science, Computer Engineering, etc.
 Technical Communications
– Technical Writers, Web designers, etc.
 Human Factors
 Graphic and New Media Design
– Graphic, Animation, New Media, etc.
 Industrial Design
 MBA
– w/degree/experience in any of the above

Website ( http://www.ibm.ncsu.edu/pathfinder )

Facebook
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2013–2014 Activities – First Semester
 Kick-off at NC State
August 26 – AISES/SHPE Fall Kick-off Meeting
August 28 – Technical Communications SIGDOC
August 29 – MBA/Services Management students
August 30 – WICS Fall Kick-off Meeting
September 4 - ASME Fall Kick-off Meeting
September 4 - SHPE Fall Kick-off Meeting
September 5 – IEEE/ACM/AITP Welcome Back Bash
September 12 –NSBE Fall Kick-off Meeting
September 12 – Engineering Village
September 18 – NC State College of Design (Industrial and Graphics)
 Meet Your Mentor at NC State/Networking Event (October 3, 4)
 One-on-one meetings between students and advisors
 IBM Green Solutions Center and SuperLab Tour (October 18)
 Early Career Panel Discussion (November 8)
 Resume Session (November 22)

2013-2014 Activities – Second Semester
 Job Shadow Month (January)
 Phaedra Boindiris, Global Serious Games Lead for
Center of Competency (January 17)
 Executive Career Panel Discussion (January 31)
 Mock Interview Session & Mock Phone Interview (February)
 Event (February or March)
 Event (March or April)

Best Practices
 1x1 Meetings
– One mentor took the initiative to schedule the meetings vs. wait for the student to set them up. The meetings got on
the calendar and fit in best with the mentor’s schedule.
 Group Mentoring
– The technical communications team held a panel discussion in which we had people from various areas explain what
they do and answer questions. Some of the representatives were writers, information architects, editors, marketing
writers, management, and web writing. The other session was an introduction to XML DITA. This is an open standard
that IBM developed and handed over to OASIS. It is used at IBM, and there are also open tools that you can use to
process and edit DITA. It is widely used in the technical communications field.
 Communication
– Design Team set up a "Design Learning" Facebook Group to help the IBMers and students communicate on reminders
about the meetings, posting resources, as well as communication.
 Mini Lab Tours
– Mechanical engineering mentors took several students on a tour of one of their labs to focus specifically on mechanical
engineering projects
 Experiential Learning
– Human Factors mentors took project of ordering a pizza and helped with design
– Human Factors mentors invited students to take part in a usability test and shared some design practices and methods
 Networking
– Student spoke to colleagues of mentor to understand different perspectives of the particular job
– Mentor was invited to speak at National Society of Black Engineers meeting on, “The Importance of Developing and
Communicating Your Personal Brand “
 Job Search
– Like coaching a ball player I focused on communication fundamentals so when he got up to bat he could swing at the
pitches with confidence. See for example, Company A was the first opportunity, he actually had 2 phone interviews. I
met with him before each interview. We spent several hours on the fundamentals of communicating. We did this work
before the IBM managers did the mock interviews. Once we got to the mock interviews, we fine tuned. The mock
interviews were a very important piece to his success. He ultimately got an internship with IBM India.
 Project Approaches
– Mechanical engineers brainstormed with student team on an assigned project, to stimulate their thinking on how to
bound the problem, use available technologies, and apply proven methods to meet their goal.

How can you get the most out of your mentoring relationship?
 Open and active communication
– Ask questions
– Seek advice
– Draw on the mentor’s knowledge and
experience
– Let your mentor know when your plans
change
– Notify program mgr if there are any issues
 Participation in the Group Events
– Ask questions at the event
– Have your mentor make the connections
with your area of study
– Open your mind to the broader application
of your degree
 Offer feedback to improve the program

How are we doing?

IBM Recognition – NCSU Poole College of Management 2013 Recruiter of
the Year

Statistics Year to Year
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
2004-
2005
2005-
2006
2006-
2007
2007-
2008
2008-
2009
2009-
2010
2010-
2011
2011-
2012
2012-
2013
2013-
2014
NumberofParticipants
Program Year
Participants per Year
Students
Mentors

2012 – 2013 Program Student Survey – 49% responded
Extremely
Satisfied
Satisfied
Somewhat
Satisfied
Not Satisfied
N/A
Mentor Match
Extremely
Satisfied
Satisfied
Somewhat
Satisfied
Not Satisfied
N/A
Knowledge
GainedExtremely
Satisfied
Satisfied
Somewhat
Satisfied
Not Satisfied
N/A
Face-to-Face
Contact
Extremely
Satisfied
Satisfied
Somewhat
Satisfied
Not Satisfied
N/A
Communication
with Mentor} 93.3%
} 76.8%
} 84.1%
} 81.9%

What did you enjoy most about the program? (29 comments)
 1x1 mentor meetings
 Meeting knowledgeable IBMers
 Job Shadow
 Mock Interview Session
 Learning about IBM
 Feeling like a part of IBM
 Industry understanding
 Meet other students in the same discipline
 Leadership Datacenter Tour

Feedback from Students
 In General
 Most mentor matches were good and communications were open
 “I would like to participate again next year.”
 The Mentor Relationship
 I had many questions answered about my major and career options as well as learned a lot about
IBM.
 What I liked most about the program was “My advisor, and the exposure to the professional world
that this program offered. I believe this program succeeded in exactly what it intended to
accomplish.”
 It was interesting listening to my two advisors talk and compare IBM stories as this brought up
plenty of topics I hadn't even considered.
 On IBM
 I learned how large technology corporations like IBM work which was very informative and
interesting. The dates and times for the IBM events were perfect for my schedule.
 The experience of getting to look around IBM's campus and see where people work. It was nice to
be able to talk to people in their domains and see what real people are working on.
 What I enjoyed most was getting to learn both the business and technical aspects of the IBM
company.

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