this blog is snoozin' ...

... 'cuz the r|intern program ...

... is on hold for a spell.

ask me! ask me!

... as a person who got a b.s. chem eng (in 1986) doing environmental-related work, i wanna yip/yap about my work like this dude did. (and if you are going to be looking for a job, maybe consider asking these Qs, also!)

[and you also can see
my yip/yap for my non-job]

1. How long have you been at your job and what do you do there?
. hmmmm? nearly a dozen years. as an independent consultant and business owner, i work with energy projects doing air quality and environmental communications work. (and btw, i've had four previous jobs, so i could stroll down memory lane, but i'll stick to the program.)

i consult with companies that want to/that do "stuff" with power generation where stuff includes --- evaluate (from an environmental/air quality perspective) possible projects to finance, construct, operate, modify, purchase, sell, etc. --- prepare paperwork to get needed government approvals for projects --- form and manage project teams that work on projects --- and every once in a while, I get to write about technologies, projects and general environmental/energy topics. I'm sort of a lower-priced regulatory/legal type ... and a higher-priced paper-pusher ... both needed in the power industry, so it happens.
2. What's the best aspect of your job?
. working with a variety of people, of course! and secondly, owning my own business, so i get to choose my projects, clients, and vendors - and align choices with my overall interest in the environmental and energy field.

3. What's more important: salary or job satisfaction?
. too easy a question! job satisfaction!!! one can always get a salary - any ol' salary ... it may not be the salary you want (or think you deserve), but jobs are out there, and they inherently pay you. however, being satisfied with your job - that's a personal choice; choose to find a job that is satisfying. don't believe that someone can simply pay you to be satisfied with your job. understand that job satisfaction is what YOU make of it!

4. What's the best career advice you've ever received?
. recently, it was ... "don't just do the do - do the think! anyone can punch a calculator"

oh! and one other, back in 1982 - "make sure always to help someone else realize his/her potential." (from toni at cal) maybe that's a "life" advice, but i think it also applies to one's career.

from the lighter side - other advice ...
"having no work and incurring costs is bad." (gotta love bad grammar, at that) and
"nothing is impossible for the person that doesn't have to do it." (gotta love logic)

5. What's the best way a fresh-out-of-college employee can impress you during their first week on the job?
. by listening and asking questions. but i guess as importantly, i also should be listening and asking questions of him/her. know what i mean?

6. How did you learn to work with staff members outside of your department? [Reword - for context as a business owner - "How did you learn to work with other subcontractors?"]
. i haven't mastered this skill (IMO), but to date, i have a sincere interest in what others do, how i can help them, how they may be able to help me, and how we may be able to do things together. inherently, i have structured my business so that i practically have no choice but to work with others. said differently, my business affords me the opportunity to work with others outside of my field or area of expertise. how else will i continue to learn more about positively affecting the environment?!

7. What trait do you admire in co-workers? [Reword - for context as a business owner - "What trait do you admire in other consultants with which you work?"]
. first, i thought of answering this with 3 traits ... technical competence, consistency, and commitment ... all of which i do admire. but more over, i have to say ... authenticity and forthrightness. i guess that's 2 traits. simply put, when one's character, values, beliefs and candid approach shine through his/her work - moving forward environmental objectives - it's exhilirating and energizing.

8. How do you relieve job frustration?
. a few different ways ... i may - take a walk - talk about my feelings with someone - sit, deep breathe, center, focus - write about the frustration to understand how to overcome and manage my feelings of frustration ... and ultimately, i will confront the situation.

9. What one thing do you know now that you wish you could have known when you first started your job?
. i'll answer this from 2 perspectives - (a) as a career path and (b) as a business owner/consultant.

first of, as a career path - i do air quality regulatory/compliance work - it's not as much about being out & about with among the technologies, project sites, and the environmental attributes of a project - it's got a huge component of paperwork, documentation, deadlines, recordkeeping, legal stuff, accuracy (and precision, at times), negotiations, bureaucracy, and communications. turns out, i'm pretty good at this stuff.
secondly, as a business owner/consultant - i can be on projects where i get to be around the technologies, project sites, and environmental attributes of a project. got that issue addressed! ... and to more specifically answer the Q, there is enough work to go around. i still don't understand the ultra-competitiveness that exists among those in the environmental and energy consulting arena. there are times i just shake my head out of disbelief. talking about the ultra-competitiveness is an WHOLE OTHER SUBJECT, so i'll save that for later.

thanks for reading!

now go ask future employers ...
or just in informational interviews ...
these questions!!!

r|intern: ReLo respite

... with the relocation from SD to BA as the main hubub, r|intern is a bit dormant ... pending plans for the 2007 summer internship. unconscious mutterings are helpful for me to remember to post on r|intern...

... but for some folks who have asked more about r|intern --- what we'll do when up in the BA --- in short - we will have a 2007 r|intern position.

[pedis during the mini-r|break - we gotta get pedis !]

i'm tossing around updates to the position description, qualifications, application, and self-evaluation - all to improve the internship experience for us and for r|intern.

meanwhile, i'll be taking topics addressed on jengyee's blog, hello real world!, and posting some of my thoughts on topics she chats about.

hope to keep it fresh ...

an intern once offered up ...

his
little words o' wisdom.

[he's one of the guys in this pic]

and as for Mr. J --- nice write-up in Cal's Engineering News.

r|recap: still on hiatus so let's recap ...

... about r|intern ...

back story ... in short, r|intern resulted from a january '06 chit chat with a friend, jengyee, who has written a book, hello real world!, and she suggested a blog of our experience and internship program (or perhaps apprenternship?). so since then, here are some highlights ...

1. r|intern program elements ... the paper trail, self-evaluation (for real!), and if snoop dog yapped us up - f'shizzle
2. ritual outing ... 1/2-day work, lunch, and mani and/or pedi
   
3. ama and select posts ... about/from our winter '06 intern, ama ...
4. last decade's interns ... monikers for those who chose the road less traveled
5. jen's presentation ... sample r|intern mid-term presentation ...
6. associate intern/independent contractor ... summer intern goes indie
   
7. 9 tips (so far) from silver lining ... what an '05 intern offered up (and i sort of "dressed up") as tips for r|interns and others - #1-#7, #8, and #9

... and we are looking forward to a productive summer '07 internship program to offer up!

peace!

r|intern: previous presentation

as an example of an intern's mid-term presentation with us, hello real world's more page (thanks, jengyee for including) provides a downloadable "generic" version (e.g., specific clients not named) of her presentation (clicking this downloads a .pdf version of the presentation). just wanted to share. enjoy!

(btw, since our internship, she has had one summer internship with an investor-owned utility and another summer internship with a company that designs & manufactures medical equipment. she's one of the gals pictured in this previous post.)

value of interns

Inc.com had a quick article - How to Get the Most Out of Your Summer Intern - which reminds me of a previous r|intern February '06 post - blurb on - getting most out of interns. go interns!

r|intern-ish: intern becomes indie contractor

SL has become an independent contractor. tho' SL's now in D.C. for a summer internship that requires 4 days/wk, SL has offered to contract time to us ... we'll take it! a quick vicarious living moment ... e-mail content from SL ...

... I made the coffee. No one asked me to do so.
I was just the first to arrive who wanted coffee.
(Around here people roll in, not at 9am sharp).
Coffee for breakfast, mm.

Metro ride: Gross today...back against wall...facing directly at couple facing each other...the dude's knuckle on bag grazed me...could feel gal breathing...finally turned head directly to right to breathe on metro doors instead of couple...looking at another dude's arm....he shaves his arms...

-Silver Lining

SL's project support? our client's press release from their website. and just in case y'don't know the SF landmark building ... see the pointy building?

[source: NASA's Earth Observatory San Fransicsco Skyline]

r|interns - some monikers

keeping in line with my tendency to use of monikers, last decade interns have monikers. enjoy!

r|interns ago - last decade

i've been asked how many interns we've had. labing-lima. quinze. quindici. fifteen. quince.
a few things before i list those whom i can remember...

• volunteer - some have volunteered time
  
• honorarium - still a volunteer, but some have received a form of gratitude, which is not necessarily compensation commensurate with services (e.g., laptop carrier, wireless card, meals, reference materials, etc.)
  
• independent contractor - some have served as independent contractors, often if they have some level of work experience

the following are first name only, some characteristrics i recall, and a random memorable event (RME).

1. jason (dan's son) [1995, 2001] ... interned with us twice; first volunteered for experience and then as an independent contractor. first time was during summer while finishing up environmental engineering degree. second time was after a couple years of work. very hard worker. creative. good self-starter. RME: 1st time - blue blazer (symbol of adulthood, tho' a little "wham-looking" type of blazer) when we had a meeting with my 1st client (City of Chula Vista). 2nd time - deb's party in aliso viejo.
   


2. cris [1996, 2000] ... interned with us twice; first volunteered for experience and then as an independent contractor. had a geology degree. met him when he was as hired as a summer student worker at my last "corporate america" job (with the electric/gas utility). he was coming out of high school and was very self-motivated ... by the tide. he'd do at least an 8-hour work day - and flex time around the tide. to surf. yeah. to surf. RME: 1st time - benigan's & "his" driver's license. 2nd time - dinner & drinks at old town mex.
   


3. susan [1996, 2000] ... interned with us twice; first volunteered for experience and then as an independent contractor. totally bright. self-motivated. entertainingly sweet. was seeking a degree in environmental-related field. quite organized and RME: 1st time - working on an air quality permit (1st one) and totally kicking butt! (it was awesome.) 2nd time - speed-calling for a project that resulted in meeting a very aggressive deadline.
   


4. maria [1997] ... volunteered. recommended by a work colleague who was teaching an air quality extension course at UCSD. brief stint. helped on emission calculations, permitting and regulatory review. extremely fast-learner. attended a client meeting with me. spoke (and still does) italian (1st language), german, french and english. had tendency to say numbers in german. RME: 11:00 PM (yeah - night!) phone call to discuss a table of emissions and regulatory interpretation


5. agnes [1997] ... volunteered. her background in geography (GIS interest). developed maps as part of my presentation material to my first distributed generation (DG) related client that was in the process of commercializing a new gas turbine. client very happy! RME: at dinner, having a philosophical conversation about life.


6. ryan [1998] ... honorarium. SDSU internship program. part of international business class. our 1st time (only time) with this program. (had other prospects in subsequent years but no fits from the candidates that applied) stipend (tax-deductible) to the school. knew MS Access. made a database for fledgling san diego greenmap effort. RME: an odd habit - though not disturbing and remaining unnamed - that hopefully has not carried into his professional life.


7. christina 1 [1998] ... volunteered. communications major. girlfriend of the son of a friend of mine. (follow that?) helped with a newsletter that i wrote for a local association. RME: attending an association meeting while men twice her age gawked. (to give you an idea - she had a stint as a newscaster in florida - read as "easy on the eyes")
   


8. greg [1999] ... honorarium. my friend's co-worker asked my friend if she knew of summer job opportunities for her friend's son. that's how greg came to us. environmental engineer student. worked a brief stint - air emissions calculations + regulatory interpretation. bright. self-motivated. attended client meeting. RME: attending a client meeting and being reminded i was short, because he was tall (as was everyone in the room).


9. laurel [1999] ... independent contractor. environmental science major. had a previous summer job with a corporate environmental department. did mega-work with us. jammed through many-many activities. high energy. committed. attended client meeting often. RME: one of hundreds of gals who attended/participated in a local radio event-stint ... where some guy was looking for a date ... gals were lined up to impress him and get the date. she did this before work - cute leather jacket, fitting top, home-baked cookies, a little 'gift', and a sweet opening line. (we heard her on the radio) she didn't get the date, but we had some extra cookies!
   

o.k. - interns of this decade in another post.

HRW! tidbit #2: search yourself ...

a quick post ... google, yahoo, dogpile, whatever you use to search ...

there is stuff on the internet that either you have developed/contributed (e.g., myspace, friendster, facebook, etc.) or that is written/compiled about you ... so, in short, consider this when starting your job search and interviewing.

r|intern: apprenternship!?

just a thought for today (and tomorrow)

thinking of giving our internship the nickname

apprenternship = apprenticeship + internship

(sounds better than boot camp internship or enviro-slave)

SL Tip #9: planning & doing tasks

Estimate TIME to complete tasks. Be REALISTIC and then ADD 20%.
ASK to extend deadlines or remove things from your plate.
- Silver Lining

if you are considering an internship with us, you will be exposed to the basic elements of project management. a mnemonic (that is sort of an abbreviation/acronym) that is often used in project management is SMART ...

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable (or appropriate, or action-oriented)
  
• Relevant (or realistic, or results-oriented)
  
• Time-related
  

and this relates to SL tip #8 - prioritizing. be prepared. be enthusiastic. be smart.

post r|intern: it finds you ...

all about networking ...

maggie, shirl, todd, bill

just memorializing that SL had lunch with bill.

quite the networking opportunity! ... uh ... or free-lunch for SL. peace.

R|Intern: Ama memories

just several posts on Ama's 12-week internship ...

• internship foundation - our approach
• intern syllabus
  
• making it through week 2
  
• ama's view
• making it through week 3
• ama's midterm presentation
• ama's midterm self-evaluation & feedback
  
• getting coffee
• making it to week 8
• making it through week 9
• ama's tip
  
• networking at the bistro
• ama in the A.M.
• ama's final presentation

thanks for all those supporting us and ama!

R|Intern: 12 weeks, already!?

ama has completed her internship.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

what was her last day like?
work + lunch + feedback on her self-evaluation.
and by her choice, she worked up until the last minute.

next steps?

• for her - continues the permanent job search
• for us - contemplates the next intern search

until then ... anyone interested, check us out!
it's not for everyone, but it's for someone(s).

R|INTERN Amabelle: Interviewing Experience

(amabelle posting!)

While interning at R|CAT, I landed interviews with 2 companies: one, in the military defense industry and the other, in the public utility industry. Balancing the internship while going through the interviewing process was challenging, but doable. Shirley and Todd were supportive through the process and also prepped me for the interviews.

Some questions that were asked of me during the actual interview:

1. What do you know about our program?
2. Where do you see yourself in 3 years?
3. Tell me about your experience as a (occupation) with (former company). [experiences listed on my resume]

The interview results were good: one, led to a job offer, and the other, led to a 2nd interview. Karine, a contractor to R|CAT, also helped me prep for the 2nd interview.

(commentary by r|boss: ama is not dudette. ama is waiting to hear outcome from the 2nd interview folks.)

four + one + one

just adding ANOTHER trait to the five traits... a sixth trait would be:

• initiative
  

R|Intern: Ama's final presentation

to the left, the view for most of us.

ama's view, to the right.





today, amabelle gave her final presentation for the internship. (congrats!) the guidelines were very similar to the midterm presentation.

the audience members ... keeping in mind - SL tip #4.
todd,

andy, and myself.

the format consisted of - ama presented; self addressed style and content elements; and todd addressed style, content and technical elements.

the guest audience member - in this case, andy - can address any or all elements. (andy addressed style, content and technical elements.) feedback is provided, and question/answers are discussed.

after the presentation, we went to lunch, and a good time was had by all.

we drank (err... drunk?, had drank?, had drunk?) water. yeah. water.

r|interview - what not to say ...?

[warning: ATTEMPT at humor! this is closely based on an actual e-mail exchange between 2 friends. laughter is NOT guaranteed.]

SCENE: Telephone interview by Corporate America with Dudette

• Tele-interviewer: Where do you see yourself in two to three years, after graduating from college? (whether B.S., M.S., etc.)
• Dudette: arghy...grrbrchr...ertrx...ackklmth...uglutmeqy
• Tele-interviewer: Huh?

LESSON LEARNED: Be prepared. There are several resources (books, friends, web) that can give you a list of those sample questions. I did a quick search with key words typical college graduate interview questions ... and there were some good links. check it out.

It's easy to figure out what NOT to say.

SCENE: e-Mail from Dudette to Chica. Chica reading e-Mail.

E-MAIL from Dudette: Oh, had a phone interview this morning. For CORPORATION ABC's EH&S. They were totally into the "compliance" thing, R-CAT was highly relevant. The question I botched up -- where do you see yourself in two-thee yrs/ post-college -- UHHH.........

(EH&S ... environmental health & safety)

E-MAIL response from Chica: Possible answers to Q ---

1. working for R|CAT if I don’t get a job from you peoples;
2. knocked up;
3. breastfeeding; and/or
   
4. what do you mean "...two to three years, post college?" I do not expect to graduate on time. See response 2 and 3.

PLEASE Be prepared (for the interview).