Q: (very long, but upshot is "How did you get to where you are now?")
Sue (leftmost)- onsite campus interview w/ Lockheed. "I stayed in space my whole career." (And a whole lot more!!!!)
Rear Admiral Gretchen: My entire career is serendipity. ROTC 4yr paid scholarship. In return, serve for 4 yr. Submarine warfare, intelligence. Navy offered to send to school for Masters. Instead, got a degreen in (space something). Then, about to be CEO of comm station. Mentor = Rear Admiral Hite(sp?) and she said, go take one of the combat systems jobs. "Sixteen years in the Navy, never been to sea. I don't even know which end of the ship I should salute when I go aboard... You've got to be kidding" (not exact quote)
Reported to my first ship as a commander, and it turned out to be the most wonderful job opp I ever had.
(Comment by Linda: every time she says "managed the weapons systems" or something similar, I goggle inside. Like, the face of "zomg")
Information Dominance Corps, information warfare officers. (zomg!!)
2 women assigned to USS Grace Hopper (spontaneous applause)
Kathleen Hutson: 3rd from left: I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. No boundaries, no ceilings. "It seemed like proposals were always due between Thanksgiving and New Years." Got a job with EPA. Worked. Met a lawyer from NSA, started working there! Got cleared. (clearance is needful.) had good mentors. NSA != what you see on tv.
Tamara Yu, 3rd from right: grad 6 yr ago in CS. Stumbled in genomics during masters degree. Worked on genome browsers. Went to MIT Lincoln Lab. Gotta ask questions, stay curious, go to seminars... "Develop both the soft skill sand the hard skills."
Lori Hecker, 2nd from right: oncampus interview "we can't tell you that" was the answer to everything. TI hired her in Dallas and Raytheon took over that. Where are these systems deployed? Always, unusual requirements. "I did something today that's probably going to save a life. Thank kind of job satisfaction, you can't get anywhere [else]."
"The mentoring is a huge aspect of success in this career."
Bonnie Kean. Rightmost, graduated 2008. Chem major, went to grad school in nanotech expecting to be a prof. Got to the end, realized donwanna be a prof. "I don't want to sit in a room with a hundred people who do the exact same thing as me and discuss it." Wanted to do something bigger.
Northrop-Grumman rotation program- different locations...
"If you want to talk complex systems, talk defense. They have to work 100% every single time."
They all seem to say- don't worry, and just take the good opportunities.
Moderator: parents == physics professors. Got masters in CS(?) and ended up in biz dev because of rewriting people's proposals. Won a couple of them. Mentor said "maybe you should do this for a living." resisted for a long time- wanted to be a scientist!
Open to questions from the floor:
Q: What impact has our career had on your family?
A: Lori- part-time for 10yr (since daughter born). -sometimes have to work more than the part-time week. Raytheon.
A: Bonnie- I move a lot. My husband telecommuted to Raytheon. Someone has to be in the supporting role...
A: Kathleen- husband == entrepreneur. Mutual flexibility.
A: Admiral Gretchen- I'm married ot a Navy Seal captain. No children. But you can! They just didn't.
A: Sue. Boss was curmudgeon. "Very unpleasant on a daily basis." Always approved them, and people usually came back early. Lockheed-Martin.
A: (moderator) Even when you think that children won't be needy... oh, my son is calling me. (He really was.) Group laughs.
Q: Mentoring... details?
A:
I was once reverse-mentoring a VP. It was awkward. I wouldn't recommend it.
Try to not be the mentoree of your immediate supervisor...
You don't need to choose the highest person on the totem pole! might not even be a good idea- big disconnect.
"Technical Women Network" (MIT?)
Lockheed: The tech fellows all have to have mentees. Online matching service for them, lol. Also, do peertopeer mentoring. You can really help each other out.
Blue: can be a many-to-one relationship, too.
Q: if you're overwhelmed by options, what do you do?
Admiral: Look inward. What really motivates you?
"trying to get a piece of gear fixed..."
Moderator: does your uni have a mentoring program where you can look up willing alums? (Linda comment: hahahah, not my university. Doe we have willing alumni?) She gets 5-6 phone calls/yr, + more formal mentoring program.
Make one. Then if it doesn't work, give proper notice do your best until the very end, and get something else. Now you'll know something new...
Q: (voice is almost gone!) How do you give back- advocate for others? Mentor for others?
A:
Well, the mandatory methroing programs relieve the guilt about not doing it. Easy avenue!
"enlisted in the organization" zomg.
I was at a conference... one was a reporter who followed some of the prominent women in the news. She told us about what she found important in their leadership styles. It was: providing opportunities for others to network. Connecting people with each other.
Set up your own environment to network and share.
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