Finding a Job at the Grace Hopper Celebration North America

The Grace Hopper Celebration is a great place to find a job or internship. The conference features a three-hour Career Fair with over 70 recruiting organizations, as well as exhibit booths that are open all conference long and interview booths for job and internship positions. If you are looking for your next internship or job position, here are some tips to make the most of your conference experience.

1. Update Your Resume: Showcase yourself and your accomplishments on your resume. Make sure that is up to date and reflects all of your current experiences and skills. Check out our article with tips on preparing and optimizing your resume.

2. Upload Your Resume to the Resume Database: Sponsors are now beginning to access the Resume Database, so upload your resume now if it's not there already. Conference sponsors look through the Resume Database to find candidates to interview for job and internship positions while at GHC. Don't miss out; upload your resume today.

3. Visit Exhibit Booths and Bring Printed Copies of Your Resume to GHC: Talk to company representatives, find out about open positions, and learn about daily life at these organizations during the Career Fair on Wednesday, November 9, from 7 pm to 10 pm. Stop back at sponsor booths on Thursday and Friday to speak again with recruiters, ask questions, and make an impression. Be sure to bring printed copies of your resume, as well as business cards, with you to hand out to recruiters.

4. Refer to the Conference Job Book: The GHC Job Book is your guide to the organizations recruiting at the conference. The Job Book features company profiles and details about open positions, desired education level of candidates, and more. The Job Book will be published before the conference, so familiarize yourself with it before you arrive at GHC, pick out several organizations to target, and come prepared. We'll feature an article on the Job Book in the newsletter when it is published.

5. Network: With over 3,000 attendees expected at this year's GHC, you will have the opportunity to meet technical women and men from many organizations, in various types of positions, with different specializations. You never know who you might end up talking to or where that connection could lead. Be proactive about meeting other conference attendees. A connection you make at the conference could lead to your next friendship, professional collaboration, or job position. We'll be running an article about networking closer to the conference, so watch for more tips about mastering the skill.

For those of you who have found work at previous Grace Hopper conferences, what advice would you add?

Is your future in the individual contributor or manager track?

I had always thought that I would start out in a developer role then eventually take on a management role, but never thought of taking on management position right away. However looking back on my experience so far, it makes me wonder what track I've already "chosen".

My first "real job" during university was an Assistant Manager role. At the age of 19, I was managing a team of four, all of whom were twice the age as I was. I took on the position with little experience and confidence in my abilities, but I had a very supportive manager who believed in me and took the time to train me. By the end of the summer I had accomplished all the objectives assigned to me and coordinated the production of an annual package to be sent out to customers across the nation.

Last summer I was faced with the same question again as I was applying for a summer internship. One of the job applications listed two options: management or development. I decided to apply for the latter, but was surprised to find out that my interview would be for a management role instead. I flew down for my interviews and was offered the position a few weeks later. Since then I've had the experience to take on both roles and I believe the management role might actually be a better "fit" for my personality.

We are told that we have the freedom to manage our careers yet it seems (as with many things in life), "it just kinda happens and falls into place". Interestingly enough the panelists today had also mentioned that they did not plan or strive to be in a management position but they just found themselves in their role.

Are our career tracks determined by our natural characteristics and personality? Or is it determined by our skills that we build along our career?

How Students Can Get the Most Out of Grace Hopper 2009

If you are an undergraduate or graduate student in computing, the Grace Hopper Celebration is a great place to come for inspiration, learning, professional networking, and job opportunities. With a little preparation, you will gain the most from this experience.

Before the Conference

Some activities at Grace Hopper require preregistration. Don’t worry if you did not sign up for these when you registered. Just log back into the registration system and you can add them. Here are a few that students in particular should sign up for:

• If you’re looking for work:
1. upload your resume into the GHC Resume Database and
2. schedule an appointment in the Resume Clinic in the registration system.
   
• To make the most of your professional networking at Grace Hopper sign up now in the registration system for the CONNECT project:
  
  • Set networking goals, exchange contact information electronically, and receive daily reports on your networking progress.
    
  • After the conference, you'll receive a summary of all your CONNECTions' contact info – no business cards required!
    
• If you are a GHC Scholarship recipient (past or present) you’re invited to attend the GHC Scholarship Reunion Lunch on Friday. Other networking lunches include ResearcHers, Women of Color, and LGBT on Thursday and Latinas in Computing, ACM and Systers on Friday. Pre-register for all lunches in the registration system to ensure you get a seat.
• There are more ways to connect online with other conference participants before, during and after Grace Hopper:
  • Join our groups on LinkedIn or Facebook (a great place to look for a GHC roommate!).
    
  • Follow us on Twitter.
  • Share GHC photos, videos, notes and blog posts.
    
  For these and other opportunities to connect online, check out our GHC Online Communities.
• Last but not least: If this will be your first Grace Hopper Celebration, read Tips for Newbies by recent graduate Erin Donahue for more planning tips.
  

Great Sessions for Students

Before the conference, check out the program online and plan the sessions you want to attend. There is an overview on the Conference Program page. Look for the CRA-W Career Mentoring panels for undergraduate and graduate students, highlighted in brown, on Wednesday afternoon and the Student Track sessions, highlighted in red-orange, on Thursday and Friday. You will also find a brief description of each session in the more detailed Program Schedule.

Here are a few sessions that might be of particular interest to you as a student:

• The CRA-W Career Mentoring panels begin after lunch on Wednesday:
  • For undergraduates, start with CSE is for You: Innovation, Flexibility, and Exciting Opportunities followed by The Road to Graduate School and The Graduate School Experience.
  • For graduate students, start with Graduate School Survival Skills, then Networking and Professional Development and Publishing your Research.
• If this is your first Grace Hopper Celebration, or if it has been awhile since you’ve attended, don’t miss our For the Newcomer session from 5:30PM -7:00PM (before the Opening Reception).
• On Thursday and Friday you’ll choose from Student Track sessions – like Mastering the Art of the Technical Interview and The best way: research by undergraduates – and sessions from other tracks in Industry, Academia, Technology and more. Some of our Birds of a Feather sessions will be presented by and for students, e.g., Building A WISE Support Group From Scratch and Baby Loading, Please Wait: Pregnancy, Graduate School, & Computing.
• Between sessions stop and visit our GHC sponsors at their tables, especially if you are looking for a job. Even if you didn't get an interview from submitting your resume to the database, you might get one by stopping and talking to their recruiters. Don't miss this opportunity!
  

After the Conference

The magic words when you get back home are “follow up!” Share any remaining conference notes, photos, videos, etc. that you didn’t upload to the GHC communities during the conference. Go through the business cards you collected and contact information emailed to you from CONNECT, then send those connections Facebook friend requests, LinkedIn invitations, or emails. They’ll be grateful if you assume they met as many people as you did at the conference: Provide hints about how you two connected or subjects you discussed. And remember to watch the Anita Borg Institute e-newsletter for news about Grace Hopper 2010!

What additional suggestions do you have for students attending Grace Hopper?

Tips for Job-Hunting at Grace Hopper 2009

Our diversity-minded Grace Hopper Celebration sponsors know this conference is a great place to find talented technical women. They send recruiters and hiring managers, search our Resume Database, volunteer in the Resume Clinic, and interview job candidates during the conference. So whether you're about to graduate or have years of experience, GHC is a great place to look for (and find) a job.

In case you missed the recent article on Great Ways To Find A Job at Grace Hopper 2009 in the Anita Borg Institute's e-newsletter, here's a summary of tips given there plus a few additions to help job-seekers make the most of this opportunity.

Submit your resume online. Sponsors will begin accessing resumes from the GHC Resume Database on August 8th and will start setting up interviews with GHC attendees starting then. Submit your resume now so you don't miss this opportunity.

Register for the GHC Resume Clinic. In the Resume Clinic, experienced human resource and staffing professionals will go over your resume with you. Bring at least two copies of your resume for editing. Not only will your resume be reviewed, but the Resume Clinic is a great way to connect with recruiters from major tech companies and government labs. So be sure to sign up for a slot at the Resume Clinic when you register for GHC.

Use GHC's online community for professional networking. Take advantage of the CONNECT project to plan and organize your networking at the conference (sign up when you register). And join the Grace Hopper Celebration and Anita Borg Institute groups on LinkedIn to make professional connections before, during and after the conference.

Visit GHC sponsors in the exhibit area during the conference. You'll be able to talk one on one with GHC sponsors and also set up interviews with representatives from some of the most acclaimed tech companies and academic institutions in the world.

So don't delay: submit your resume to the database today, sign up for the Resume Clinic and CONNECT, and join our groups on LinkedIn.

And if you didn't receive that e-newsletter, subscribe now before you miss any more great tips on how to make the most of Grace Hopper 2009!