I have had an incredible experience working with the UMBC Career Fair. The staff members provide great insights about your application approach, fine tune your application documents like your resume and cover letter, help you prepare elevator pitch, and lastly help you ace the interview. I am glad that I got the right guidance and mentorship from the UMBC Career Center to find this role.

Name: Atharv Amit Abhyankar

Pronouns: He/Him

Semester of Internship: Summer 2023

Major: Engineering Management

Current Class Level: Master's Student

This semester I completed a(n)...: Internship

Internship, Co-op, or Research Site (Company/Organization Name): Maryland Technology Internship Program @UMBC Career Center

Location of the Organization (City, State): Catonsville, Maryland 

Title of position: MTIP Intern

I report directly to the Program Director for Workforce Development at UMBC's Career Center. My internship revolves around grasping the intricacies of managing the Maryland Technology Internship Program. I've been actively involved in recommending improvements to current workflows, employing data analytics to ensure accurate reporting between students and employers to the State of Maryland, and laying the groundwork for the Airtable Automation tool for future projects.

I found this position while exploring on-campus job opportunities on Handshake, discovering it in the final week of April. It immediately piqued my interest due to its alignment with my background and professional expertise, offering a valuable opportunity to refine my data analysis and process improvement skills. The job description provided a clear reference point for crafting my cover letter. I submitted my application on the same day I discovered the opening. Within a week, I received a response from the Program Director, leading to an interview and ultimately securing the position within another week.

Handshake

In my role as an MTIP intern, the most rewarding aspect has been gaining a comprehensive understanding of the entire process and witnessing the positive impact of the program on employers, students, UMBC, and the State of Maryland. The staff at UMBC Career Center, particularly my supervisor, have consistently provided unwavering support, guidance, and assistance throughout my internship and professional development. The exposure and values acquired have significantly contributed to my academic journey at UMBC and prepared me for future professional roles.

With the backing of my supervisor, I successfully formulated and presented to the UMBC Career Center team a functional framework outlining the migration of the entire MTIP workflow to Airtable. This proposed shift is expected to yield significant benefits, including time savings and the alleviation of laborious efforts associated with handling extensive data. In the current Fall term, I've made substantial progress in implementing this transition, leading to a more streamlined experience for everyone engaged in the MTIP process.

For those delving into on-campus, internship, or full-time opportunities, I strongly recommend maintaining an open, alert, and prepared mindset. Often, valuable resources like the Career Center's resume review, job postings on Handshake, and the MTIP website are overlooked. These channels, along with career fairs, can serve as unexpected gateways to potential opportunities.

My own experiences during the fall career fair at UMBC underscore the significance of staying receptive. As an international student seeking CPT/OPT accepting employers, the Career Center's career fair directory became an indispensable tool in creating a personalized list of prospective employers. This allowed me to systematically approach each employer on my list. Subsequently, I expanded my interactions to engage with other employers in my field, refining my elevator pitch and gaining insights into their organizations.

This proactive approach yielded tangible results as I secured two interview calls. One came from a prominent pharmaceutical company that actively welcomes international students, while the other, although typically not open to international candidates, made exceptions in my case.

Building upon the philosophy of 'Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water,' this mindset has been instrumental in fostering adaptability and a flexible approach to challenges. In the ever-evolving landscape of my internship, much like water taking the shape of its container, I've embraced a dynamic and open-minded perspective.

Through this internship, I've had the opportunity to expand my professional network significantly. The guidance provided by the Career Center staff has played a crucial role in overcoming my communications and confidence shortcomings. Their support has been transformative, enabling me to navigate not only the technical aspects of the internship but also the interpersonal and communication challenges that often accompany professional growth.

Name: Anurag Varshney

Pronouns: He/Him

Semester of Internship: Summer 2023 

Major: Engineering Management

Current Class Level: Master's Student

This semester I completed a(n)...: Internship

Internship, Co-op, or Research Site (Company/Organization Name): Baltimore Aircoil Company

Location of the Organization (City, State): Jessup, Maryland

Title of position: Product Engineering Intern

The way of working defines the future of the organization and with the pace of change in technology, this has become an imperative part of any organization. 

My role at BAC helped me deep dive into SharePoint document-sharing practices that can change the outlook of document-sharing practices across the organization. Collaborating with suppliers and protecting intellectual property is one of the major challenges organizations face. But, after a lot of user interviews and brainstorming, we focused on redefining the structure, refining the sharing practices, and preparing the work instructions. With 3 successful pilot sites and 3 additional sites, we ended the project with flying colors ahead of schedule. The name of the project, "Aurora," did justice to the dawn of a new way of working and collaboration amongst 14 engineering teams and 27 product teams.

Day to day activity: My usual day consisted of a lot of meetings to gather requirements and feedback from the users. Researching SharePoint best practices and prioritizing the needs and wants of the users following MoSCoW and other prioritization techniques comprised the rest of time.

I will break down the process of obtaining a position into 3 categories.

Resume Preparation: 

I started applying for summer internships in September 2022 one month after landing in the US but I started updating my resume in the first week here in the US. I got my resume reviewed by the UMBC Career Center, professionals in the industry, peers, and professors to get a good amount of feedback.

Lead Generation: 

Applied to 400+ roles and didn't hear back from any of the recruiters. No emails or interviews were bothering me a lot. I changed my strategy to mass applying to a focused approach by following a 5-step process:

1. Understanding the job requirements clearly (at least read it thrice)

2. Ensuring all the skills required are well catered in the resume 

3. Tailoring the resume accordingly

4. Networking: This is the key. I connected with recruiters, employees, and alumni to understand more about the role, and culture and asked to connect with relevant stakeholders.

5. Consistent Follow-up: This is the difference between average and excellent candidates. They keep on following unless they get some kind of answer.

Cracking Interviews: 

Keep your seat belt tightened because this is where the journey starts taking off. This is not something that could be learned in a single day or a week, this takes time. But two words that can make the difference are: environment and practice.

Stay connected with fellow colleagues who are applying for jobs and learn from each other. The tools, platforms, and opportunities keep on changing, but staying in the environment provides the motivation and guidance as and when required. 

Last but not least, keep practicing; tools like Big Interview provided by UMBC for free were the game changer in this whole journey.

UMBC Career Center, Career Fairs, Networking events (UMBC Connects, Info Sessions, Arts With a Purpose, etc.), Alumni Networking, Student Organizations/Scholar Groups, Faculty Connections, Handshake, LinkedIn or other social media

Cross-functional collaboration

Three teams started using the templates I created for them, and there were three additional teams looking forward to it. In product management, we discuss customer satisfaction, repeat customers, and conversion rates. I served three customers (internal teams) and there were four other teams asking for it. This shows the impact that was created in just three months of time. 

Research, practice, network. Just keep doing this and that's it. 

Consistency differentiates the average from the excellent. Just do it and keep doing it, believe in the process and fantastic results will be waiting for you.