Microsoft Mentoring Day

This spring, DO-IT held its second Mentoring Day with Microsoft. Nine mentors from Microsoft and fifteen students from local high schools, community colleges, and the UW met for mentoring and networking over pizza. Each of the students had the opportunity to engage with mentors and ask for advice, such as how to best succeed in school, what should be considered when planning a career, and the importance of internships.

Mentors enjoyed meeting with the students and discussing career options. Students also enjoyed the event and reported learning many things, including:

• There is terrific support available for STEM studies and careers.
• It is good to know about the variety of job opportunities available.
• I learned ways to improve my resume.
• The degree you have is not as important as demonstrating that you have potential.
• I learned how important internships are while in school.
• Large companies like Microsoft look for people who have vision in that industry, including those who stay on top of industry news.
• I need to act on the thing I want to pursue and take classes and learn a lot about that thing. Because if you have knowledge, then you have power.