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Raechel Jones

Major: Civil Engineering ’19 Position: Dolphin Swim Tour Guide at ecoSEAker

Gabe Rodriguez

Raechel Jones, Civil Engineering ’19, now works as a Dolphin Swim Tour Guide at ecoSEAker in New Zealand, where she helps guests prepare and go on a tour through the Akaroa Harbour. “During the tour, I teach guests about the local wildlife, specifically the Hector’s Dolphin, and eventually if we receive positive attention from the guests,” Jones said, “I help them into the water to swim with the dolphins. After the trip, I help guests change out of their suits, and clean the gear.” 

When Jones first graduated, she spent the first few months working part-time in a disparate field, though she struggled to find interest in the position.  “After having no success in finding a career better oriented to what I want to do, I moved to New Zealand, where I currently work as a Dolphin Swim Tour Guide.” 

Jones had planned on finding an entry-level water resources engineering position. She had felt confident in her academic achievements and Senior Design performance, yet she struggled to find a job she would enjoy. “That combined with all of my professors telling me that the market was hot made me optimistic that I would find a job relatively quickly,” Jones said. “This changed because I struggled to even hear back from any companies, let alone get an interview. I decided instead of moping around while hunting for a job, I would go have an experience in New Zealand, while continuing to look for a job.” 

The advice Jones had to offer students was to take the risk of taking a gap year. “I have yet to find out how it will affect my future job prospects in engineering, but at the moment I have no regrets,” Jones said. “This experience has so far given me time to think more about what I want in the future, and has transformed my closeminded perspective.”

Talley Cain 

Major: Engineering Plus ’19 Position: MBA Grad Student at University of Massachusetts

Gabe Rodriguez

Talley Cain, Engineering Plus ’19, decided to pursue an MBA at the University of Massachusetts as a complement to her undergraduate engineering degree. During her senior year, Cain wasn’t sure what she had wanted to do after school. “I had no real plans, honestly. I applied to only two [graduate programs] in early December,” Cain said, “and got accepted in early April. I had no idea what my future looked like until April 12 when I accepted my admission.” 

This quick adjustment required Cain to travel across the country with her cat and quickly find a home in Massachusetts. She said she had to live in a hotel for a week during orientation while she found an apartment to move into, which ultimately taught her resilience. Now that she’s two semesters into her MBA, she has settled into the life of a graduate student. “A typical day is similar to my undergraduate days, going to class, doing homework, enjoying Massachusetts”, Cain said. “But the biggest difference is that I have a fellowship, so I work for a different college on campus as a business consultant.”

Cain hopes to use her two degrees to go into engineering management. She said that her engineering degree taught her problem-solving and collaboration, and her takeaway skills help translate into her ability to solve everyday business problems with people around the world. 

When asked what advice she could offer to undergraduate students, she said, “Allow yourself to explore options you never would previously consider and try something before you say no. I always said I hated the east coast, and now I live in Massachusetts. I have learned more about myself and what I want because I picked the path that scared me the most. It’s OK to be scared.”

Samuel Karman

Major: Chemical & Biological Engineering ’19 Position: Bioprocess Engineer at AveXis

Gabe Rodriguez

Samuel Karman, Chemical and Biological Engineering ’19, is now working in Illinois as a Bioprocess Engineer for the company AveXis, which develops gene therapies for patients with life-threatening neurological genetic diseases. There, he works to ensure the plant equipment abides by standard operating procedures.

Throughout his engineering degree, Karman considered several different career paths before finding the right fit for him. He’d considered going to medical school, pursuing a PhD, and finally decided upon becoming a Process Development Engineer (PDE), which is his current focus. He also took a gap year during his undergraduate career to work with the company Biogen’s Cell Culture Development Department. “My career is still at its start. I haven’t had the chance to fully explore the pharmaceutical field yet,” Karman said. His first position at AveXis was in the Upstream (Cell Culture) – Manufacturing Department, though he has since changed positions within the company.

Karman said one of the hardest adjustments he faced in the workforce was working within a multi-team environment. “This is something that is unique to worklife. In Senior Design, you experience working in a group, and that gives a glimpse of what the real world is like,” Karman said, “however the reality is much more complex. Out of college, [expect] to have to work with teams that may have different goals and priorities than your own. Oftentimes in school, we can simply pick up the slack of one of our team members, but at work it is highly valued if you can pitch your ideas and enthusiasm to other groups and influence them to be as committed and driven as you are in completing said project.”

Karman shared that the most influential lessons throughout his college career were from his lab and project classes during his senior year since they taught him to apply the technical knowledge from previous courses. More importantly, the classes taught him to work with sponsors and the people around him.

Another important consideration, according to Karman, was to learn from working in difficult teams and situations. “There will be a point where you get to work with some difficult team members in college, it’s imperative that you learn from these situations. If you can resolve these situations yourself, that is a story that you want to keep for interviews”, Karman said. “Companies would rather hire someone who can influence bright minds as opposed to a smart person who cannot manage problems on their own and who struggles to work with others.”

He also encouraged engineering students to explore different fields and positions they might be interested in. “Establish networks early so that you can shadow engineers from different backgrounds and learn about what they do, and see if this fits your interests,” Karman said.