IBIT Mentoring Program
My name is David Eugene. I participated in Temple’s IBIT Mentoring Program. The name of the sponsoring organization for this activity is Temple University.
I attended two meetings with my assigned mentor on Zoom. My assigned mentor’s name was Sukumar Narayanan. He is currently the president of a consulting company called DecisivEdge, LLC. My first Zoom meeting with my mentor was on October 14, 2022 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM. My second Zoom meeting was on November 11th, 2022 from 1 PM to 2 PM.
What I learned
The mentoring program has helped me since I was able to get all my questions answered. For example, I was recommended by my mentor to join the Toastmasters International program when I asked him how to improve my public speaking skills. Another example of how this program helped me is that I learned about testing tools such as Tricentis, Tosca, and Selenium which I can try to get certifications in now since the testing field is a field I am interested in after I graduate. I was also able to find out if data analyst and business analyst are good fields to pursue after graduating. My mentor stated that such careers are good starting points. He stated that business analyst is a good career because it is where you would start being the liaison between the technology side and the business side of the company.
I also learned that almost every aspect of a business today is enabled by technology. This is why MIS majors are valuable to companies since they will “bridge” the gap between business and technology and will have an understanding of both sides. MIS majors can be the intermediary that bring both sides together. My mentor also said that as an MIS major, you can go more on the tech side or more on the business side after you graduate. He said you can always change which industry you will be working in the most.
My mentor also gave me advice on becoming a better public speaker. He stated that there are three things that are critical in being a good public speaker. The first thing is called “content authority”. This means to know about the subject you are talking about. The second point is your body language, delivery, etc. The third point in becoming a better public speaker is confidence. You can become more confident by practicing something over and over.
How the activity relates to coursework or my career goals
This mentoring program activity relates to my coursework since I am required to take business related classed and information technology related classes as an MIS major. My coursework will prepare me to enter the industry as someone who will have an understanding of the business side and technology side which was discussed in the meetings. This activity relates to my career goals since some of the fields discussed in the Zoom meetings are job fields that I am interested in pursuing after graduating college. Some of the fields is an IT testing role, business analyst, and data analyst. Also, one of my career goals is to become a better public speaker, especially in the real world working environment. I was recommended by my mentor to join the Toastmasters International program to improve my public speaking skills.