Welcome to IE2!

Course Description

Industry Experience is a form of experiential learning that will let you apply your academic knowledge in a professional context. You will work to build software that meets the needs of a professional organization by completing either:

• An approved internship
• A product studio or open-source project

During your industry experience, you will work on tasks that meet the needs of your sponsoring organization. Whether you undertake an internship, product studio or open-source collaboration, your industry experience must include significant, substantial computer science.

In addition to building your project, you will submit bi-weekly written reflections on your personal goals, challenges, and team feedback. At the end of the term, you must obtain written feedback from you organization supervisor. You will also submit a final report which describes the problem statement, approaches/methods used, deliverables, and skills you gained. Industry Experience culminates in a final presentation which is shared as a public blog post.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, you will:

• Craft an effective professional presence including resume, portfolio and online website
• Cultivate your professional network, and use your network to aid in job searching
• Apply academic knowledge and skills in new professional settings
• Demonstrate the ability to cope effectively with ambiguous and unfamiliar situations
• Develop interpersonal and professional skills to successfully transition to work
• Reflect on your personal skills, and identify opportunities for further development
• Demonstrate professional and ethical behaviour, and ability to maintain accountability for your commitments

Enduring Understandings

By the end of this course and your subsequent internships and career experiences at Kibo, we hope you will agree with four key claims.

• Career success is a journey, not a single destination
• Knowing yourself is the beginning of career wisdom
• Your professional network will power future opportunities
• Experience is the best teacher

Instructors

• Ope Bukola, ope@kibo.school
• David Walter, david@kibo.school

Live Classes

There are no live classes, and the majority of synchronous time in this course will be spent at work during your internship.

You are expected to attend two preparatory workshops which will be held during the following dates/times:

• Friday January 19, from 5pm - 7pm GMT
• Friday March 8, from 5pm - 7pm GMT

Office Hours

Optional office hours will be held weekly. Office hours times will be posted in the course help channel in Discord.

Core Reading List

• Personal Brand Workbook (2015). PricewhaterhouseCoopers
• Northeastern University (2020). Job Search Guide
• Bolton, G. and Delderfield, R. (2018). Reflective practice: writing and professional development (5th edition). London: SAGE.
• Rollag, K. (2015) Succeed in New Situations. Harvard Business Review

Supplemental Reading List

• Yancy, G. B., Clarkson, C. P., Baxa, J. D., & Clarkson, R. N., (2003). Examples of good and bad interpersonal skills at work. Eye on Psi Chi, 7
• Rollag, K. (2015) What to Do When You’re New. AMACOM

Topics and Timeline

Industry Experience 2 officially takes place during the July 2024 term, from July 8 - September 13 2024. However, you are expected to begin preparing now in order to secure internships. Below is a rough timeline of activities over the coming months.

Live Classes

You are expected to attend two workshops which will take place during the following dates/times:

• Friday January 19, from 5pm - 7pm GMT
• Friday March 8, from 5pm - 7pm GMT

Video recordings and resources will be posted after each workshop. If you have technical difficulties or are occasionally unable to attend, please be sure to watch the recording.

Assessment and Grading

This course requires you to work independently to achieve your goals. Your overall course grade will consist of:

• Assignments (including work reflections): 25%
• Supervisor evaluation: 25%
• Final Report & Presentation: 50%

Assessment List

Note: the last day of the July 2024 term and the official last day of this course is Friday September 13, 2024.

Late Policy

You are expected to submit your work by the deadline. Each assignment page will include instructions and a link to submit.

The table above specifies the assignments for which late submission is possible. Any work submitted late will incur penalties in accordance with Kibo's Late Work Policy.

Getting Help

If you have any trouble understanding the concepts or are stuck on a problem, reach out for help!

Below are the different ways to get help in this class.

Discord Channel

The first place to go is always the course's help channel on Discord. Share your question there so that your Instructor and your peers can help as soon as we can. Peers should jump in and help answer questions (see the Getting and Giving Help sections for some guidelines).

Message your Instructor via Email

If your question doesn't get resolved within 24 hours on Discord, you can reach out to your instructors directly. Email is the preferred method for reaching out, and should include both instructors.

Office Hours

There will be weekly office hours with your Instructor and your TA. Please make use of them!

Tips on Asking Good Questions

Asking effective questions is a crucial skill for any computer science student. Here are some guidelines to help structure questions effectively:

1. Be Specific:

   • Clearly state the problem or concept you're struggling with.
   • Avoid vague or broad questions. The more specific you are, the easier it is for others to help.

2. Provide Context:

   • Include relevant details about your environment, programming language, tools, and any error messages you're encountering.
   • Explain what you're trying to achieve and any steps you've already taken to solve the problem.

3. Show Your Work:

   • If your question involves code, provide a minimal, complete, verifiable, and reproducible example (a "MCVE") that demonstrates the issue.
   • Highlight the specific lines or sections where you believe the problem lies.

4. Highlight Error Messages:

   • If you're getting error messages, include them in your question. Understanding the error is often crucial to finding a solution.

5. Research First:

   • Demonstrate that you've made an effort to solve the problem on your own. Share what you've found in your research and explain why it didn't fully solve your issue.

6. Use Clear Language:

   • Clearly articulate your question. Avoid jargon or overly technical terms if you're unsure of their meaning.
   • Proofread your question to ensure it's grammatically correct and easy to understand.

7. Be Patient and Respectful:

   • Be patient while waiting for a response.
   • Show gratitude when someone helps you, and be open to feedback.

8. Ask for Understanding, Not Just Solutions:

   • Instead of just asking for the solution, try to understand the underlying concepts. This will help you learn and become more self-sufficient in problem-solving.

9. Provide Updates:

   • If you make progress or find a solution on your own, share it with those who are helping you. It not only shows gratitude but also helps others who might have a similar issue.

Remember, effective communication is key to getting the help you need both in school and professionally. Following these guidelines will not only help you in receiving quality assistance but will also contribute to a positive and collaborative community experience.

Screenshots

It’s often helpful to include a screenshot with your question. Here’s how:

• Windows: press the Windows key + Print Screen key
  • the screenshot will be saved to the Pictures > Screenshots folder
  • alternatively: press the Windows key + Shift + S to open the snipping tool
• Mac: press the Command key + Shift key + 4
  • it will save to your desktop, and show as a thumbnail

Academic Integrity

When you turn in any work that is graded, you are representing that the work is your own. Copying work from another student or from an online resource and submitting it is plagiarism. Using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT to help you understand concepts (i.e., as though it is your own personal tutor) is valuable. However, you should not submit work generated by these tools as though it is your own work. Remember, the activities we assign are your opportunity to prove to yourself (and to us) that you understand the concepts. Using these tools to generate answers to assignments may help you in the short-term, but not in the long-term.

As a reminder of Kibo's academic honesty and integrity policy: Any student found to be committing academic misconduct will be subject to disciplinary action including dismissal.

Disciplinary action may include:

• Failing the assignment
• Failing the course
• Dismissal from Kibo

For more information about what counts as plagiarism and tips for working with integrity, review the "What is Plagiarism?" Video and Slides.

The full Kibo policy on Academic Honesty and Integrity Policy is available here.

The Road Ahead

📺 Instructor Ope Bukola introduces the module (1:34)

Learning Outcomes

After completing this module, you will be able to:

• Understand Kibo’s career development framework and why career development is a lifelong cycle
• Reflect on your past career experiences, and their contributon to self knowledge
• Identify your strengths, weaknesses, and purpose
• Articulate your career goals, and an action plan to prepare for industry experience

Career Coach: Meet Victor

💡 Victor is a final year student studying computer science at the University of Lagos. It’s three months to graduation, and Victor is focused on landing a full-time software developer role. His search is not going as well as he hoped, so he makes an appointment with Fatima, a career counselor, to talk through his experience. Read the conversation below between Victor and Fatima.

Fatima: Hello Victor, it's great to see you. What brings you to the career office today?

Victor: Hello Fatima, thanks for meeting with me. To be honest with you, I’m very very frustrated right now. I've been applying to so many software developer jobs, over 200 actually, and I haven't gotten any interviews. I'm graduating in three months, and I'm starting to panic. My family has spent so much money on this degree. I don’t want to graduate and be back home sitting around doing nothing.

Fatima: It sounds like you’ve put a lot of effort into your job search. I can imagine how frustrating it must be not to get the results you want and how it might be causing you some stress. I’d like to better understand your job search process. Can you share more about how you approach your applications?

Victor: Well, I made a resume and cover letter last month. I had someone review it, and they said it was good. So a few days a week, I search on LinkedIn, Jobberman, and Tech Cabal, and I drop my resume and cover letter to all the software development roles. I don’t really understand why I’m not getting interviews. I followed the resume template your office provided. Are you sure it was a good template? Because I don’t see how it could be if students like me aren’t getting jobs.

Fatima: I understand that you may have concerns about the resume template. Before we discuss that, can you walk me through your decision-making process when it comes to applying for jobs? How do you decide which positions to target?

Victor: I basically apply to any software development job I come across, whether it's in healthcare, finance, or tech. I’m really trying to increase my chances of finding something. I can’t be too picky.

Fatima: I see. That's a broad approach. How do you decide which locations to apply to?

Victor: I've been applying everywhere. I figure I can move for the right opportunity.

Fatima: Being open to relocation is good, but you may want to focus on remote roles or locations where you can realistically move. Some employers may not be able to support relocation.

Victor: Well, if there aren’t jobs here and I want a job, what other option do I have? You guys told us to spend time applying, and so that’s what I’m doing. I’m just following instructions here. If the companies won’t give me a chance, maybe there’s something wrong with what the career service is advising or the companies process themselves. I’m really doing everything I can here.

Fatima: I understand you are trying. How do you go about matching your skills and experiences with a given job? Are you making your application align with what the employer is looking for?

Victor: Honestly, I haven't been doing that much. I just figure they'll see my experience and know I'm a good fit. My skills will speak for themself.

Fatima: I see. Tell me, for most of the applications, how have you felt about your qualifications? Do you believe you’ve been a good fit?

Victor: If I’m being honest, almost all the jobs want you to have 2 years or more of experience, even the junior developer ones. So I’ve just applied to everything that’s junior or mid-level. I haven’t had the experience, but I built some cool projects for my portfolio. So I’m shooting my shot. I can do great in an interview and show someone it’s worth taking a chance on me.

Coach Victor

❓ Why do you think Victor is not getting responses from companies? Is there anything in his approach that may be contributing to this?

The Rocky Road Ahead

The phrase "career ladder" is frequently used when discussing careers. You may envision your career as a series of steps up a ladder, with progressively more challenging and senior roles. But, reality rarely works out as planned, and many rewarding careers are non-linear.

📺 Watch the video below to understand why your career is not a ladder, and why there is no one correct path (6:57)

Test Your Understanding

Complete the quiz below to confirm you understand the key ideas from the video

In the next lesson, you'll reflect on your career wall so far and some key learnings from past experiences.

Getting Your First Job is Hard

📺 Watch this video where Victor reflects on the hardest part of the internship search (0:59)

As you may have experienced when applying for roles in the past, getting an entry-level job can be tough. Many entry-level jobs require experience and so early job seekers feel like they are caught in a bind: without being given an opportunity to start, how does one gain experience? Situations like this can leave job seekers feeling frustrated and at the mercy of an impossible system.

🤔 So, what’s an entry-level job seeker to do?

One approach to navigating modern career development is to think like an engineer. Whether they are designing new buildings, electrical circuits, or software systems, engineers focus on solving problems. They use their technical knowledge, collaboration skills, and creativity to find solutions to complex problems. Navigating a career is a complex problem, that calls for “career engineering.”

Extreme Ownership

Becoming an effective career engineer requires taking an analytical and proactive approach to career development. While academic institutions, mentors, or others may provide support, you and you alone are responsible for your success.

📢📢 Let’s say it again louder for the people in the back: You and you alone are responsible for your success!

Reflect: What is extreme ownership?

Owning Your Career Development

In the last lesson, we learned that careers are rarely linear, and that the "career ladder" is a poor analogy for thinking of your career. As the video emphasized, the most important thing is to get on your "career wall" and, as you gather experiences along the way, figure out the right path. Choosing a career is not a one-time decision. Having many jobs roles or functions is a normal part of career development.

Before defining what career development is, let’s start with what it is not. There are a lot of misconceptions about what it takes to craft a rewarding career. For starters, career development is not:

• Deciding what you want to do for the rest of your life
• Applying for or getting a job
• Creating a rigid timeline and/or defined job progression for your career

💡 Career development is a lifelong, intentional process of managing one’s work and learning experiences. It involves continuously exploring, experiencing, and evaluating professional opportunities.

The illustration above breaks the career development cycle into four parts. Before we delve into each part, note that the image is cyclical. As the definition states, career development is a lifelong process that involves continuous action. The career development cycle includes:

• Know yourself: developing self-awareness and honestly assessing your interests, skills and values
• Explore options: understanding the workforce, market realities, and your opportunities to contribute
• Get focused: selecting specific goals to drive your action
• Take action: gaining experience and reflecting on that experience so that you can deepen your self-awareness

Four Ideas to Guide Career Development

By the end of this your internships and career experiences at Kibo, we hope you will agree with four key claims.

1️⃣ Career success is a journey, not a single destination

Getting a job is a step towards building a career, not the ultimate goal. A successful career is an ongoing process marked by continuous adaptation.

2️⃣ Knowing yourself is the beginning of career wisdom

To achieve career wisdom, you must first know yourself. A fulfilling career is informed by a deep understanding of your values, interests, strengths, and weaknesses.

3️⃣ Your professional network will power future opportunities

Building and nurturing a strong professional network is crucial. Your network will be a source of opportunities, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. The connections you cultivate, starting with your peers, will significantly influence your professional growth and success.

4️⃣ Experience is the best teacher

In the early stages of your career, prioritize gaining diverse and relevant experiences. Actively seek opportunities that allow you to develop skills, explore different roles, and build a strong foundation for future career growth. As Hoffman notes, “In the world of work, you don’t know what the best plan is until you try.”

Reflect: Experience is the best teacher

Finding Your I: Strengths and Weaknesses

Taking responsibility for your career development starts with knowing yourself and having a realistic view of your abilities and potential. Self-awareness forms the foundation for informed decision-making and intentional career development. But what exactly is self-awareness?

💡 "Self-awareness" is the conscious understanding of oneself, including one's personality, emotions, values, strengths, weaknesses, and motivations.

Self-awareness is the foundation of personal and emotional intelligence. A self-aware individual can look at their own behavior, recognize patterns, understand how they impact others, and identify areas for personal goals. Being self-aware means engaging in continuous introspection in order to:

• Understand your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
• Have a realistic and accurate perception of yourself
• Remain in tune with your emotions and reactions

Case Study: Kwame and Ama

Kwame and Ama, two ambitious computer science students at Kibo School, are interns at a tech tech startup. Both have excelled in their studies, possessing impressive technical skills and outstanding grades. However, the difference between them lies in their levels of self-awareness.

During the first week, they are each assigned a coding task to complete.

After reading the issue, Kwame realizes he doesn't fully understand the task. He seeks clarification from one of his colleagues, who then offers to walk him through the codebase on a Zoom call. With a strong understanding of what's needed, Kwame is able to fix the issue, and submit a pull request by the end of the week. He receives feedback from his supervisor with suggestions on improving his code. Kwame quickly implements these suggestions, and his pull request is merged into the codebase.

Ama takes a different approach. Though she also struggles to understand the task, she's determined to show that she can work independently. She spends a few days reading documentation and googling. She eventually starts writing code, though she still has gaps in her understanding. After submitting pull request, Ama receives a calendar invitation to speak with her team lead. She points out that Amas completely misinterpreted the task, and will have to redo the code. Ama is visibly upset, and doesn't understand why her supervisor is not praising her tenacity and time she spent figuring this out.

Throughout the internship, Kwame recognizesareas for improvement and invests time in continuous learning. Each week, he meets with a different colleague to share his questions, and learn from them. Kwame's internship experience is marked by steady progression, and he is quickly recognized for his contributions.

Ama, however, is determined to show her technical prowess. She works on all her tasks on her own, without "bothering" others with her questions. Though she is sometimes successful, she often submits work that misses the mark, which leads to frustrations from both colleagues and supervisors. Ama struggles to ask for and adapt to feedback, often dismissing it as unnecessary. As a result, she faces setbacks in her early projects, and her colleagues find it difficult to work with her.

Why Self-Awareness Matters in Career Development

As a university student navigating the job search, self-awareness is critical. Understanding yourself will give you clarity in the job search process and enable you to:

• Target your job search: with a solid understanding of yourself, you can tailor your job search and hone in on opportunities that resonate with your skills and aspirations. Instead of submitting a generic application, you can make a strong case for why a particular job or company fits into your future vision. You can also look for companies whose culture aligns with your personality and work style
• Tailor your application: with a deep understanding of yourself, you can tailor your application materials (e.g., resumes, cover letter, and interview responses) to showcase how you can uniquely and meaningfully contribute to potential employers

We’ll focus the rest of the lesson on building self-awareness by finding your strengths and weaknesses.

Your “I”: Understanding Your Strengths

📺 Watch the video below for an introduction to Strengths Finders (6:39)

Do: Take the Strengths Finders Test

📝 Register on the VIA website and take the strengths finder test here Share your top 5 signature strengths in the padlet below.

How to Find Your Weaknesses

Understanding your strengths, what you offer, and what energizes you is critical to career development. In a similar manner, having a realistic view of your weaknesses will help you grow as a professional.

To identify your top 3-5 weaknesses, you can:

1. Learn: Review this list** of common weaknesses. As you skim the list, take note if any resonate with you.
2. Reflect: Take dedicated time for introspection. Reflect on your experiences, challenges, and areas where you feel less confident. Consider your performance in various situations and identify patterns of difficulty. Questions to ask yourself
   • What tasks do you leave until last on your to-do list?
   • What drains your energy?
   • When do you have to ask for help?
3. Get Feedback from Others: Ask someone you trust, e.g., a friend, family member or classmate, for constructive feedback. Others may provide valuable insights into areas where you can improve or where they've observed challenges in your performance. If you ask someone for their opinion, be open to constructive criticism.
4. Analyze past goals: Review personal, professional, and educational goals you’ve set in the past. Identify if there are particular areas (e.g., skills, habits, mindsets) where you consistently face challenges or fall short

Keep a list of your top strengths and weaknesses. You’ll revisit them in the assignment for this unit.

Revisit Your Why: Articulate Your Purpose

🚧 This lesson may look familiar as it includes exercises from the Kibo Challenge. If you can answer the 5 "Purposeful Questions," then you do not need to rewatch the videos. However, if you struggle to craft answers to the questions, watch the videos and complete the reflections to help you write stronger responses.

Purposeful Questions

In a document, answer the following 5 questions

1. Who are you?
2. What do you do?
3. Who do you do it for?
4. What do those people want and need?
5. How are they changed as a result?

📺 Watch the video to learn how to find your purpose (10:33)

The first step towards purpose: Finding your PEAK!

P is for Passion

📺 Watch the following talk by Noeline Karibo to learn more about uncovering your passions and turning them into a career. (11 mins)

Reflect

🤔 If you had all the time and money in the world, what would you spend your time doing? What makes you happy, or gives you the deepest sense of fulfilment?

E is for Energy

📺 Watch one of the following talks by Wanuri Kahiu about finding fun in what you do (5 mins) OR Ingrid Fetell Lee about how to find joy in life (14 mins)

Reflect

🤔 What do you love doing? What gives you joy? What feeds your soul?

A is for Aim

📺 Watch one of the following talks by ‘Gbenga Sesan on youth empowerment through skills training and support (10 mins) OR Christian Benimana on the next generation of African architects and designers. (12 mins)

Reflect

🤔 What local or global problems keep you up at night? Are there any that you would dedicate your life to solving?

K is for Know-How

📺 Watch one of the following talks by Joy Buolamwini on using her programming skills to fight algorithmic bias (8 mins) OR Bright Simons on the power and global relevance of African ideas (10 mins)

Reflect

🤔 What do you do really well? Is there something that people routinely seek your help for? What impact do you have when you use your know-how to help others?

The 5 Questions Revisited

❓ Now that you have had some time to think about your PEAK, take another shot at answering the 5 questions for finding purpose. Edit or update the answers you wrote at the beginning of the lesson.

1. Who are you?
2. What do you do?
3. Who do you do it for?
4. What do those people want and need?
5. How are they changed as a result?

Wrap Up

What We’ve Learned

This unit was an introduction to career development and knowing yourself. In the unit, we learned:

• Career development is a lifelong cycle which requires adaptability, experimentation, and building a strong network
• Careers are non-linear. Instead of a series of well-defined steps on a ladder, most career journeys will resemble climbing a rock wall and require agility
• You are the owner of your career. Successful career engineering requires taking an ownership mindset and focusing on one’s individual actions, even in the midst of challenging circumstances
• Career development starts with knowing yourself, and having a realistic sense of your strengths, weaknesses and purpose

Case Study Revisited: Advise Victor

Assignment 1: Personal SWOT

In this assignment, you will create a personal SWOT analysis and set goals for your next industry experience.

A Personal SWOT Analysis

📺 Watch the video to learn how to conduct a personal SWOT analysis (2:20)

📖 Read: Using a SWOT Analysis in Your Career Planning

Step 1: Create your personal SWOT analysis

You’ve already considered your strengths, weaknesses, and purpose. To finish your SWOT analysis, you will need to consider opportunities and threats, as described in the resources above.

To complete this assignment, make a copy of this template and add your SWOT analysis on page 1

Step 2: Action Plan

The final step of this assignment is creating some goals for your industry experience period. The goals you set should be related to your SWOT, and the things that matter to you.

As you complete the action items, ensure that your goals are SMART i.e.

• Specific: What do I want to learn?
• Measurable: How will I know you have achieved my goal?
• Attainable: How will I do it?
• Realistic: How will I do it given my current responsibilities, needs, etc.?
• Time-Bound: When is the deadline to achieve my goal?

As you complete the action items, ensure that your goals are SMART i.e.

• Specific: What do I want to learn?
• Measurable: How will I know you have achieved my goal?
• Attainable: How will I do it?
• Realistic: How will I do it given my current responsibilities, needs, etc.?
• Time-Bound: When is the deadline to achieve my goal?

Submission

1. Submit a link to your document on Gradescope. Ensure the document is set to enable anyone at Kibo to comment. See below for a demo of how to change sharing settings.
2. Download a PDF, and upload to Anchor.
   • To download a PDF from Google Docs, select File then Download then PDF

Introduction

📺 Watch the introduction to this module (3:12)

Learning Outcomes

After completing this module, you will be able to:

• Develop a career narrative to effectively frame your skills and experiences
• Craft a resume that stands out to employers
• Craft a LinkedIn profile to build your professional network and connect to opportunities
• Create a portfolio to share examples of your work
• Apply for internship opportunities and track your applications

Do You Have a Career Narrative?

Case Study: Chinwe and Chijioke

Chinwe and Chijioke, two first-year computer science students at Kibo School, are kicking off the challenging and often frustrating journey of securing their first internships. The two of them have a similar skill set and background, but differ in their approach to securing an internship. In particular, they disagree on the importance of communication skills when trying to land a role.

Chinwe, a brilliant coder, leans heavily on her technical prowess. She believes that her coding skills should speak for themselves, dismissing the importance of storytelling in the job application process.

Chijioke, on the other hand, is meticulous in his approach to securing a role. Early in the process, he realized the need for a strong career narrative and dedicated time to crafting one that he then weaved into his cover letter, resume, LinkedIn profile, and portfolio.

As the first university career fair approached, Chinwe and Chijioke's differing strategies became more evident:

• Chijioke confidently approached company representatives armed with a well-rehearsed elevator pitch that was supported by an eye-catching resume. He engaged recruiters with interesting stories about his passion for using technology to solve social problems and his prior experience leading teams to do so in his community. Recruiters were not only impressed by his technical skills but also by his ability to articulate his experiences, contributions, and motivations. They could already picture him as one of their employees and were quick to offer him the chance to interview.
• Chinwe, however, hesitated to approach recruiters because she didn’t know what to say to them. When she did approach them, she struggled to frame her skills, past experiences, and future aspirations coherently and clearly. While recruiters could identify hints of her technical skills, they found it challenging to understand the true depth of her skills and how she could fit into their teams. Given the limited interview spots, offering her a chance to move to the next stage of the application process felt like a big risk, so Chinwe didn’t receive any interview offers.

The next week, when Chinwe and Chijioke met to discuss their career fair experiences and outcomes, the gap in their approaches became very clear. Chijioke shared his positive interactions, noting how recruiters responded positively to his ability to convey not just what he could do but who he was as a potential team member. Chinwe, still skeptical, continued to question the need for storytelling in a field dominated by technical skills.

Discuss

❓ Are you on Team Chinwe or Team Chijioke? Who do you agree with and why? Post your answer and reasoning in the padlet below.

The ability to effectively communicate with potential employers is critical. This is true even in technical fields, where it may not seem like communication skills are as important as technical skills. Effective communication during the hiring process helps to:

1. Showcase that you have the strong communication skills required for the job. (Skill Demonstration)
2. Give context for the depth of your technical skills, including the different ways they have been developed and utilized, as well as the impact and value you have created through using your skills. (Skill Contextualization and Value Creation)
3. Showcase who you are as an individual and how your unique set of motivations, interests, and aspirations make you best suited for the role and company culture. (Culture Fit)
4. Create a memorable narrative to allow hiring managers and recruiters to remember you out of the hundreds or thousands of other applicants who may have similar technical skills. (Unique Value Proposition)

A powerful way to demonstrate effective communication during the hiring process is through the use of a career narrative. A career narrative is a short explanation of your career so far that describes some combination of who you are (values), what you can do (skills), what you have done before (experiences), and why you do all this (motivation and purpose).

You may think that as a university student looking for your first job, you don’t have “a career so far” to describe. This is the wrong mindset. Everything you have done during your studies (e.g., coursework, personal projects, volunteering, part-time work) and even your lived experiences (e.g., challenges overcome, experiences that have motivated your actions) are part of the career that you are building. By taking the time to figure out how to tie all these threads together into a strong and cohesive picture of yourself, and then presenting this picture to potential employers, you will make it easier for them to hire you.

What is a Career Narrative?

There are numerous templates you can use to create your career narrative. In this section, you can see one approach in the video below and another approach in the linked article.

📺 Watch the following video for an introduction to career narratives.

📖 Read the following article on how to craft a career story/narrative.

In the next section, we will learn more about storytelling and why it is important in the job search, and you will start to work on creating an effective narrative that creates a compelling, cohesive, and consistent picture of who you are and why people should hire you.

The Power of Storytelling

Into the Mind of Employers

Recall this lesson from your Communicating for Success course:

A job application is simply a communication between you and representatives of your target company (e.g., recruiters, HR managers, hiring managers), with the purpose of convincing them that you:

1. Possess all the technical and non-technical skills required to succeed in the role
2. Are a good fit for the culture of their company
3. Are their best (read: least risky) option out of all the other people that have applied for the same role.

This is a pretty tall order, so you will need to pull out all the communication tools in your toolkit to succeed. However, most people fail at the very first step of the communication process (i.e., the planning step) because they don’t have a clear understanding of the purpose of their communication, and they fail to analyze their audience. How can you make sure your “throw” is effective if you don’t know where you are supposed to be aiming?

So, with this in mind. Have you ever thought about what your potential employers are thinking when you post a job advertisement and review submissions? Have you taken a step to think about their context, their motivations, or their challenges?

1. Employers are risk-averse

   1. Recruitment is expensive, so employers are looking for people who are likely to succeed.
   2. Few employees are willing to take a bet on “potential”, they often want to see evidence of skills through previous demonstration of these skills.

2. Employers are overwhelmed

   1. Your application is only one of hundreds or thousands of applications that they have to review. If you don’t stand out from the crowd, you don’t stand a chance.
   2. Make it easy for them to see that you have demonstrated the skills required to succeed in the role. Do not ask them to connect the dots for you.
   3. Small mistakes (e.g., poor grammar, typos) can get you screened out before someone even takes a close look at your application.
   4. Go to where they are. Attend events and build your network so that you can meet people connected to these employers. This could mean attending conferences, participating in hackathons, attending meet-ups, etc. Employers don’t have time to seek you out, so you must work to put yourself within their sphere of awareness.

Now that you have a little insight into the mind of the employer, it’s time to think about what this means for the way you should approach your job search. Throughout the hiring process, you have numerous opportunities to connect with (risk-averse and overwhelmed) potential employers and demonstrate that you are the candidate they are looking for. These channels include:

• When you apply:
  • Your resume
  • Your cover letter
  • Your LinkedIn or web presence
  • Your portfolio or website
• When you interview:
  • Your interview skills
  • Your performance on any recruitment tasks

Some candidates see the above channels as tedious things that they have to complete in order to land a job. Sort of like pointless hoops they have to jump through. This is why a lot of people are now using tools like ChatGPT to help them craft generic resumes and cover letters.

However, this is the wrong mindset. Each of the above channels is a valuable interaction with the employer and a powerful opportunity for you to tell your unique story. Most employers have an idea of the skills, mindsets, and experiences they are looking for when they post a job. The job description often includes details of the required and recommended skills, and an understanding of the company’s work culture and values can give you hints about the desired mindsets. To have a shot at landing a job, every interaction a representative of the company has with you needs to demonstrate that you possess what they are looking for. You need to make it easy for employers to see that you are the right candidate, and stand out from the large pool of applicants. One of the most effective ways to do this is to use storytelling when crafting your resume, cover letter, etc.

Applying Storytelling in Your Job Search

📖 Read this Harvard Business Review article on the power of storytelling.

From the article, we learned 4 tips on how to use storytelling to help you land your next role:

Tip 1: Begin with your audience in mind.

Tip 2: Have a theme and promote it throughout your job hunt.

Tip 3: Give context to highlight your why.

Tip 4: End your stories with clearly stated resolutions.

The Perils of Using AI to Tell Your Story

We’ve all been there. You are scrolling through the careers page of your dream company, and you see a role that is a perfect fit for your current skills and interests. You quickly click apply, and then you see a field that says: Upload Cover Letter (required).

😡 Your excitement vanishes. You feel betrayed. You think to yourself, “Why are they making me submit a cover letter? I don’t have time for this. This is too tedious. I’m just not going to apply.” Or you think to yourself, “Why are they making me submit a cover letter? I don’t have time for this. Let me just use ChatGPT, and it will write the letter for me. This will be good enough, and I will still be able to apply without going through the pain of having to write this stupid cover letter that no one is going to read anyway.”

Before you act on either of these thoughts, I want to caution you. If an employer is requiring that you upload a cover letter or they have included screening questions that require you to submit written responses to specific prompts, there is a reason these have been included in the application. The employer wants to get some valuable data from your responses to evaluate if you are a potential good fit for the role.

• If you see this as a deterrent, then the role and company probably aren’t a good fit for you because the actual job will require way more effort than answering a few questions or writing a cover letter. There is almost no job in the tech industry that doesn’t include a large amount of written communication. So if you are unwilling to demonstrate this minimal effort in the application stage, you are likely not going to keep up with the writing demands of the job.
• If you see this as an opportunity to use a Generative AI tool to do this writing task for you, be very careful. These writing tasks are a chance to showcase your unique experience and skills. Used poorly, the output of tools like ChatGPT is generic and easily recognizable, especially to someone who is reviewing tens, hundreds, or thousands of applications for a single role.

Let’s explore what can happen when a job applicant uses ChatGPT to answer screening questions.

Case Study: Using ChatGPT When Applying for an Operations Data Analyst Role at Kibo School

In mid-2023, Kibo School began recruiting for a new member to join the Data & Operations team. The initial application asked for basic demographic information, links to the candidate's LinkedIn and resume, and answers to a number of screening questions. The following two screening questions were specifically designed to assess 1) if the candidate might be a good culture fit, 2) if they have the relevant prior experience, and 3) if their written communication skills met our expectations:

• Why are you interested in working at Kibo?
• Please share details about a recent data project you've worked on. What were the most difficult challenges, and how did you handle them?

Hundreds of applications were submitted each day, and a single hiring manager was tasked with reviewing them and identifying a shortlist of <10 candidates to move on to the interview stage.

Below, you will see some submissions that attempted to use ChatGPT (or another AI tool) to answer the questions for them. As you read through these examples, reflect on the mistakes that these candidates made and how their submissions were received by the hiring manager. Also, reflect on if you are able to tell that an AI tool was used to generate these responses.

Here are some real submissions to the first question: Why are you interested in working at Kibo?

Here are some real submissions to the second question: Please share details about a recent data project you've worked on. What were the most difficult challenges, and how did you handle them?

Also, here is a real submission to the question: What is your first name?

Discuss

❓ Reflect on the submissions given above and answer the following questions in the padlet below.

• What mistakes did these candidates make in their submissions?
• Just by reading the submissions, could you confidently determine that each of these submissions was made using an AI tool?
• How do you think the submissions were received by the hiring manager?

Dear ChatGPT-Wiz, Proceed With Caution!

After reading through the above examples, it’s tempting to think that these candidates are just not very skilled and they used ChatGPT poorly. You might think that you can get away with using ChatGPT because you are more skilled at using it. However, unless you have the correct mindset around AI use (see below for more on this), it will be very easy to know that you have used it, and you will be severely disadvantaged. In fact, AI isn’t actually the issue. It has just worsened a job application issue that has been around for a long time: the need to stand out in an ocean of applications.

Top companies receive thousands of applications for each job posting that they put up. Back in 2019, Google received over 125,000 applications for its internship program (source). Back in 2019, there was no ChatGPT to help applicants write resumes, cover letters, or other application materials. Yet, the need to stand out from the crowd, be seen, and (most importantly) be remembered was critical.

Today, the number of people applying for each job or internship role is probably much higher than it was back in 2019. And worse still, a large majority are using the same AI-powered arsenal to spray and pray their applications across multitudes of roles and big and small companies. The result is that all candidates look the same. If you also employ AI tools, you will just blend into the vast applicant ocean with the rest of the candidates.

Moreover, using AI to write your application materials sends a strong negative signal to employers that either your written communication skills are weak, or you don’t have enough initiative or care enough about the role to write your own application materials yourself. This will make you stand out for the wrong reason and will result in instant disqualification from the hiring process.

Recognizing when AI has been used to write job application materials is surprisingly obvious, especially to hiring managers who have been exposed to large numbers of these materials over their careers. Here are some tell-tale signs of AI use (in this case, we are focusing on cover letters). Full disclosure: this list was generated by ChatGPT 😉.

1. Generic or Overused Phrases: If the cover letter contains generic phrases or clichés commonly found in template-based writing, it could suggest the use of automated assistance.
2. Inconsistent Tone or Style: If there are abrupt shifts in tone or writing style throughout the cover letter, it might indicate the integration of different suggestions or paragraphs generated by an AI.
3. Unusual or Excessive Jargon: The use of complex or industry-specific jargon that doesn't align with the candidate's background or the job description may be a red flag.
4. Lack of Personalization: If the cover letter lacks personalization and doesn't address specific details about the company or job position, it might indicate a template-based approach, including AI-generated content.
5. Unrealistic or Hyperbolic Claims: The presence of overly ambitious or exaggerated claims that seem out of place for the candidate's experience may suggest the influence of AI-generated content.
6. Incoherent or Irrelevant Content: If the cover letter includes sections that are irrelevant to the job or industry, or if there's a lack of logical flow, it could indicate the incorporation of AI-generated text.

Even if you adapt the output of an AI tool so that your final document doesn’t suffer from the above tell-tale signs, remember that while you only see your submission, remember that a hiring manager or recruiter is viewing hundreds or thousands of submissions. Therefore, they can see patterns that emerge, indicating the wide use of AI tools by job applicants. Standing out is one of your key goals when applying for a job, and telling your story in a unique and authentic way is the greatest weapon you have to stand out. Don’t waste this opportunity to stand out and showcase yourself by relying on generic AI-written content. It will not help you land the job (or even an interview), and it will waste everyone’s time.

Powerful Introductions

Meet John

John, a 1st-year computer science undergrad from Nairobi, nervously settled into his study space for his first Zoom interview. His heart pounded as he checked the lighting, tested the audio, and adjusted the angle of his webcam. He wanted to make sure he looked and sounded his best for the interview. He joined the call and came face to face with his interviewer, Peter.

Peter greeted him with a friendly smile and gave him context about the structure of the interview before diving into the inevitable opener: "Tell me about yourself."

John felt a mixture of anxiety and excitement. It was the kind of question he'd rehearsed countless times in front of the mirror, but now, facing a real interview, the words seemed to slip away. Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward and began to speak.

"Well, I'm a first-year computer science student at Kibo School of Technology. I've always been fascinated by how technology can solve real-world problems. Growing up, I spent hours tinkering with computers, trying to understand how they worked. That curiosity led me to pursue computer science as my major."

As he spoke, John could feel the tension easing. He continued, "During high school, I participated in coding competitions and even developed a simple app that helped local businesses keep track of their inventory. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it taught me the value of practical solutions." The interviewer nodded, encouraging him to go on.

"On campus, I've been involved in a few coding projects with my peers, and I've also taken on a role in a student tech club. It's been a great learning experience, collaborating with others who share my passion for technology. I believe that this combination of hands-on projects and teamwork has honed my problem-solving skills."

John paused, briefly reflecting on his journey so far. He then concluded, "In essence, I'm a driven and curious individual, eager to contribute my skills and learn from the industry. I'm here to absorb as much as I can and make a meaningful impact."

The interviewer appreciated John's candid response. "That's great to hear," they said, genuinely impressed. "Tell me about a specific project or challenge you've faced and how you tackled it."

As the conversation flowed into more technical details, John felt a sense of confidence building. The nerves of the initial question had faded, replaced by the enthusiasm to share his experiences and knowledge. The interview became a genuine exchange, and by the end, John couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. The simple, honest approach to "tell me about yourself" had set the tone for a successful interview, showcasing both his passion for computer science and his ability to articulate it under pressure.

When searching for a job, there are numerous situations that will require you to introduce yourself to people. These range from very formal situations like Job Interviews to more informal contexts such as Career Fairs, Networking Events, or Informational Interviews with industry professionals. This question can come in a variety of formats, such as:

1. "Can you tell me a bit about yourself?"
   • This is the most straightforward and commonly used variation of the question. It invites you to provide a brief overview of your background.
2. "Walk me through your resume."
   • This request prompts you to discuss your professional journey chronologically, starting from your education to your current position.
3. "Share a little about your background and what brought you here."
   • This phrasing invites a more narrative and personal touch, encouraging you to discuss not only your professional journey but also the factors that led you to the present situation.

Or there might be no question at all, and instead, you are trying to capture the attention and interest of a potential professional contact unprompted. These unprompted introductions often take the form of Elevator Pitches, which you were introduced to in Lesson 1 of the Communicating for Success - Speaking course.

However the situation arises, it is important for you to use your introduction to spark interest in who you are. While John was able to do this successfully, most students struggle with this. Here is an example of the experience of one of John’s classmates, Sarah.

Meet Sarah

As Sarah sat down for her Zoom interview with Peter, she fidgeted with her hair, a clear sign of her nervousness. Peter began with the same question: "Tell me about yourself."

Sarah's mind raced, and for a moment, she drew a blank. The weight of the question pressed on her, and her initial attempt at an answer felt disjointed. "Uh, well, I'm Sarah. I'm a computer science student, and, um, I've always liked computers and stuff." Peter raised an eyebrow, awaiting a more substantial response.

Sarah's discomfort grew, and she stumbled through a brief overview of her academic background. "I graduated from high school last year and joined the computer science program at Kibo School because, you know, I thought it would be interesting."

The interviewer, sensing Sarah's struggle, tried to guide her with a follow-up question, "Can you share a bit about any projects or experiences that have shaped your interest in computer science?" Caught off guard, Sarah hesitated. "Um, well, not really. I mean, I've done some coding assignments for class, but nothing major. I guess I'm still figuring things out." The uncomfortable silence hung in the air as the interviewer waited for more substance. Sarah's anxiety intensified, and her attempt to articulate her journey in computer science felt forced and unconvincing.

Most people struggle to introduce themselves, especially in high-stakes situations like interviews. While a lot of things can go wrong when trying to introduce yourself, here are the top 10 errors that people make:

1. Lack of Focus: It's easy to veer off-topic and provide irrelevant details, especially when individuals are unsure about what aspects of their background to emphasize.
2. Overwhelming Nervousness: The pressure of the interview setting can make individuals nervous, leading to stumbling over words, forgetting key details, or providing vague responses.
3. Balancing Personal and Professional Information: Striking the right balance between sharing personal anecdotes and professional achievements can be challenging. Some people may struggle to decide how much personal information is appropriate in a professional setting.
4. Difficulty Prioritizing Information: Deciding which aspects of one's background, skills, or experiences to highlight can be a struggle. This is especially true when individuals have varied experiences and are unsure about what the interviewer is looking for.
5. Underestimating the Question: Some may underestimate the importance of the question and provide overly brief or generic answers, missing the opportunity to create a positive first impression.
6. Lack of Preparation: Not having a well-thought-out response can result in a rambling, disorganized answer. Adequate preparation is crucial to ensuring a concise and impactful reply.
7. Fear of Oversharing or Undersharing: Striking the right level of detail is crucial. People might fear sharing too much personal information or, conversely, not providing enough context to make their response compelling.
8. Difficulty Connecting Past Experiences to the Role: Linking past experiences to the requirements of the job can be challenging, especially if the person hasn't thoroughly researched the position beforehand.
9. Cultural Differences: In some cultures, there may be different expectations regarding how much personal information is appropriate to share in a professional context, leading to potential discomfort.
10. Not Tailoring the Response: Failing to tailor the response to the specific job or industry can make the answer seem generic and less compelling. Customizing the information to match the requirements of the position is crucial.

Structuring Your Introduction

📺 Watch the following video for some tips on how to approach self-introductions in interviews, specifically for first-year university students.

Here is a structure that you can use when crafting and practicing your introduction:

1. Start with a Concise Introduction: Begin with a brief introduction that includes your name and current professional status or role.
2. Express Your Interest and Motivation: Convey your genuine interest in the position or field. Share what motivates you and why you are excited about the opportunity.
3. Provide a Snapshot of Your Professional Background: Offer a concise overview of your professional background. Mention your education, relevant work experience, and any key milestones or achievements.
4. Highlight Key Skills and Strengths: Transition to highlighting your key skills and strengths. Focus on qualities that are directly relevant to the role you are applying for or the context of the introduction.
5. Connect Your Experiences to the Role: Articulate how your past experiences have prepared you for the current opportunity. Emphasize specific achievements or projects that demonstrate your capabilities.
6. Wrap Up with a Future-oriented Statement: Conclude by expressing your enthusiasm for the future and how you see your skills and experiences contributing to the success of the team or organization.

Your career narrative is a great starting point for creating your self-introduction or elevator pitch. It will help you determine your overall message, as well as the main themes that you want to touch on. Utilizing your career narrative as a starting point will also ensure that your self-introduction is consistent with the way you present yourself on your resume, LinkedIn, and other hiring artifacts.

Introduce yourself

❓ Imagine you are in the first round of interviews for a Software Engineering internship at the company of your dreams. Pick one of the questions below, and create a 60-90 second introduction video of you answering the question. Upload the video to YouTube (unlisted) then post the video below in the appropriate column. After posting your response, watch at least one classmates response and leave feedback

Assignment: application materials

In this assignment, you will update your resume, LinkedIn profile, and portfolio.

If you need a refresher on how to create these, revisit the lessons from Industry Experience 1 preparatory course:

• Crafting a winning resume
• Updating your LinkedIn Profile
• Creating a portfolio

Requirements

Your application materials must:

• Be up to date and include your latest skills and experiences, including your most recent industry experience
• Polished, and free of grammatical errors

Submitting

Once you finish updates, you should:

• Submit links to your materials in Gradescope (ensure anyone at Kibo can view them)
• Upload a PDF version of your resume, LinkedIn profile and portfolio in Anchor
  • For LinkedIn and portfolio, download a PDF of the first page only. The purpose of this is not for evaluation, but to maintain a regulatory record of your work.

Assignment: Career Conversation

In this assignment, you will schedule a 30-minute career conversation with Kibo's career development team. Conversations will take place during the month of March 2024 and must be scheduled by Friday Mar 8

Before you schedule

Before you can schedule the conversation, you must have:

• Finished Module 1 and submitted your Personal SWOT and Goals
• Finished the rest of this module, and submitted your application materials

Scheduling your career conversation

Click this link to schedule your conversation.

During the conversation

We will discuss your SWOT, goals, and your plans for your internship and life after Kibo. You will also be asked to give a powerful introduction, so come prepared to do that.

Submission

After the conversation, write a short (1-2 pages max) debrief (document describing your key learnings, action items, and any outstanding career questions that remain after the conversation. Then:

• Submit a link to your debrief in Gradescope (ensure anyone at Kibo can comment)
• Upload a PDF of the debrief in Anchor

Assignment: Apply for opportunities

For this assignment, you will apply to technical roles for your internship. You should start applying to relevant opportunities right away, and continue applying until you secure an internship.

Track your job applications

You are expected to track your applications. You can use any tracker you chose, though we recommend two below:

Applimate

Applimate is an application that was built by Kibo's Google Student Developer Club to make tracking your job applications more efficient. Read more about the app development process.

• To start using applimate, go to: https://applimate.vercel.app/

For more information about the app, you can reach out to Ayomide Onifade in Discord or via email.

Google Sheet

You may also use a Google Sheet tracker. Make a copy of the job application tracker.

• Add your name to the title
• Add the positions you want to apply to as you find them
• Update the status of the opportunities as you apply and hear back

Submit your tracker

• Submit a link to your job application tracker in Gradescope
• Upload a PDF of your tracker in Anchor

Qualifying opportunities

Internships and roles can have different names: "Junior Developer" or "Quality Assurance Intern" might be roles that qualify, even though they aren't called "software developer intern". "IT Intern" might qualify or not, depending on the organization and the particular duties of the role.

To qualify for academic credit, your job or internship must:

• Use the technical skills you've learned in your coursework
  • Software development, data science, product management, UI design
• Be 250 hours of work or more
  • The work may be spread out over any number of weeks (e.g., 25 hours for 10 weeks or 40 hours for 8 weeks)
  • Your industry experience may be longer than the required minimum of 250 hours
• Occur between June and September of 2024
  • Ideally, you should start after June 14 2024 (when the Apr-2024 term ends) and finish by September 13, 2024 (when the Sep-2024 term ends). If your internship will finish later, that is fine. But you must submit the evaluations and report for academic credit by September 13 in order to receive credit.
• Have a mentor or supervisor who will give you feedback and evaluation

If the qualifications above are met, then the role can qualify for your industry experience. If you aren't sure if a particular position qualifies, ask in Discord or email the course instructors.

Confirm your industry experience

Once you find an internship, you should:

• Submit this form for approval

Once you accept an approved industry experience opportunity, you do not need to continue applying to additional positions.

🤔 FAQs

• How many applications do you need to submit?
  • As many as it takes! You should continue applying for opportunities until you secure an approved industry experience
• Can I use my current job or internship as my industry experience?
  • Maybe. If your job or internship will occur from Jun - Sep 2024, and meets the requirements above, then you may be able to use it for credit. You should submit the form to get confirmation from course instructors.
• How do I find an opportunity?
  • Revisit Identifying Good Opportunities and Finding Opportunities from Industry Experience I.

Introduction to Networking

📺 Instructor Ope Bukola introduces the lesson (2:48)

Learning Outcomes

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

• Articulate why and how building a professional network contributes to long-term career success
• Implement strategies for building your professional network
• Engage industry professionals through referrals and cold outreach
• Conduct informational interviews, and effectively ask questions of professionals

Career Coach: Meet Nia

💡 Meet Nia. She’s a 3rd-year student at Moi University studying computer science. She is interested in joining a healthtech company, and wants to find a mentor in the industry. Nia decides to reach out to potential mentors, starting with the CEOs of 5 big healthtech startups in Kenya and Uganda. Below is an email to one of them.

Subject: Seeking Guidance and Mentorship to Transform Healthcare in Rural Kenya

Dear Ms. Karabangi,

I hope this message finds you in good health and high spirits. My name is Nia Mwangi, a final-year student at Moi University, pursuing a degree in Computer Science, with a passion for leveraging technology to address healthcare challenges in underserved communities. As I approach the threshold of my academic journey, I am reaching out to you with a deep-seated desire to learn, grow, and contribute to the transformative landscape of healthcare.

My interest in healthcare comes from my family. My mother is a dedicated nurse who has spent her career serving communities in need. I see how challenging her work is, and I believe there is a lot more that can be done to help healthcare providers like her.

Your company has stood out to me as a beacon of innovation and commitment to improving health outcomes. Your team's dedication to creating software solutions that bridge the gap between urban and rural healthcare resonates deeply with my aspirations. I believe that under the guidance of a seasoned mentor like you, I can contribute significantly to your mission while gaining invaluable insights and skills to shape my own journey.

My academic background in Computer Science, combined with hands-on experiences in community health outreach programs, has equipped me with a solid foundation. However, I am eager to delve deeper into the world of software development and its applications in healthcare. I am a fast learner, adaptable, and possess a keen understanding of the unique challenges faced by rural communities in Kenya.

What sets me apart is not just my technical skills, but the genuine passion that fuels my desire to make a lasting impact. Growing up in a household where healthcare challenges were a daily topic of discussion has given me a unique perspective—one that understands the complexities and nuances of providing healthcare in resource-constrained environments.

I am confident that I can channel this passion into innovative solutions that will positively affect the lives of those who need it most.

I would be honored to have the CEO of a notable company like you as my mentor. A mentorship under your guidance would not only be a tremendous privilege but a pivotal moment in my journey toward making a meaningful impact in healthcare.

Thank you for considering my request. I eagerly anticipate speaking with you, beginning this mentorship journey, and contributing to the positive change we can bring to healthcare.

Warm regards,

Nia Mwangi
nia.mwangi@example.com
+254 712 999999

Coach Nia

❓ Do you believe Nia is taking the right approach by sending an email to seek a professional mentor? Do you think her email above will receive a positive response? Why or why not?

Connections Matter

Networking is an important, yet often misunderstood, aspect of career development. In this lesson, we’ll discuss why and how to build a professional network for the long-term.

🤔 What do you imagine when you hear the word “networking?” How does the thought of networking make you feel?

Many people have a negative association with networking. Personally, my networking nightmare is being in a room full of strangers, awkwardly trying to figure out how to insert myself into a conversation. Or, after chatting with someone for a few minutes, figuring out just how to end the conversation while secretly wishing I were home watching YouTube. Networking can be a challenge! But it doesn’t have to be.

Even though many experience networking was uncomfortable or slimy, there is a way to network authentically and joyfully, even if you are an introvert! We need to reframe our understanding of networking. Networking is not about attending fancy events, chatting up strangers, or being the life of the party. Networking is about building genuine connections.

Reframing Networking

As the video explains, it is not about “doing networking” but instead becoming part of a network. Many of us find networking uncomfortable because we view it as a bit exploitative, like manipulating or being manipulated for another person’s purpose. But it doesn’t have to be this way!

As noted in the video, people are often happy to do small things to help others, especially when it benefits the larger network or community.

Why Connections Matter

People are willing to invest in creating stronger networks or communities. Rather than a transaction exchange of favors, networking is about building genuine connections. Connecting is at the heart of what makes us human.

Human beings have an innate desire for relationships and connections. Various studies in psychology and sociology have shown that connecting to others is vital for well-being and growth. One example is the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which began in the 1930s and is one of the longest-running studies of adult life. The study finds that, more than wealth or fame, the most important thing that keeps people happy throughout their lives is close relationships.

Discuss: Being Genuine

A genuine connection is one that derives from real interest in building a lasting relationship. A genuine connection is not:

• Transactional, and designed to only help you get what you want
• Shallow, and lacking in intellectual or emotional depth
• Fake, and showing an overly polished or overly-contrived facade

Instead, genuine connections require building relationships that extend beyond immediate needs. These connections contribute to a sense of belonging, shared purpose, and success.

Why Professional Networking Matters

Connections to other people matter for our well-being. But what role do professional networks play, and what makes genuine professional networks vital?

• Enhanced job opportunities: job market competition is fierce and referrals can be key to learning about or obtaining an interview for a job. According to CNBC, 70% of all jobs are not published publically on job sites. In my experience at Google, given the high number of job applications, one of the most critical ways to stand out was through a referral from an existing employee. This would often get your application flagged for a recruiter to review, and avoid the fate of 99% of application materials which are automatically rejected by an automated system
• Increased credibility: your network can be a strong signal of your credibility in an industry. If you are connected to experts or relevant professionals, you are more likely to be perceived as credible, especially if those professionals are willing to recommend or vouch for you
• Guidance and mentorship: a strong network can provide access to peers and experienced professionals who can give you advice, encouragement, and support.
• Development of human skills: learning to build and maintain relationships is a necessary skill for career success. Building your network is an opportunity to practice communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills that are sought after by employers and useful in the workplace.

Overall, just as genuine connection leads to emotional well-being, having strong professional connections contributes to job satisfaction.

Optional Resources

If you want to hear more about why your network matters beyond your career, Listen to Your Network is About Friendship (34min)

How to Network Naturally

In this lesson, we’ll discuss tactical tips for cultivating your network as a university student or early career professional.

As previously stated, the goal of making connections is not to “do networking,” but become part of a network. As you build your professional connections, you are not looking to create one network but rather become part of many diverse networks. But how do you choose who to connect with? The answer lies in understanding the power of both strong ties and weak ties.

Why strong and weak ties matter

Imagine your professional network as a sturdy bridge, connecting you to opportunities. To reach your destination, you need both the strong pillars of close connections and the flexible cables of more distant ties.

Strong ties are your close connections – colleagues you work with daily, classmates you study with, family members, or mentors with whom you’ve had a long relationship. With your strong ties, you have a long history, trust, and deep understanding.

Weak ties are your casual acquaintances — the classmate you met once during an event, someone you met a conference, or a friend of a friend. With your weak ties, you have some familiarity, but the connection might be less frequent or deep.

Strong ties are the emotional bedrock of your network; they offer much needed support, stability, and insider knowledge within your field. It’s vital to have strong ties with whom you can share openly and honestly.

But strong ties are not enough! Weak ties serve an important purpose too. Research by Mark Granovetter in 1973 and a recent 2022 study by MIT using LinkedIn data describe the “paradox of weak ties,” which is the idea that weak ties are better for finding new job opportunities. That’s because the people you are closest to are more likely to have networks that most resemble your own, and may not add much new information. Casual acquaintances are more likely to have greater reach to people and informational outside of your own networks. Building a diverse network takes time and effort, and requires tapping into both the strength of close connections and the bridge-building potential of weak ties.

Start Where You Are: Building Peer Networks

One misconception about building a network is that a strong network requires having a lot of “important” contacts or that connections with experienced professionals are the most valuable. This could not be further from the truth! Your peers are among the most important connections you will have. Many notable companies, from Google and Facebook to Snapchat, Paystack, and PiggyVest, were founded by people who met during university.

So, investing in cultivating strong peer relationships at school and work is paramount. According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, of all relationships in university, the ones with peers are likely to be the most significant. Peers provide more than long-term career support. They can be immediate partners in working through emotional periods, studying, and navigating university.

Better Together

🤲🏿 One of Kibo's core values is #BetterTogether. Being better together expands beyond your time at Kibo. As you develop your career, your university classmates and fellow alumni will be among your strongest advocates. That's why some of the most well-known universities in the world (Stanford, Harvard, etc.) are so powerful. As their alumni head into the world and make impact, they serve as advocates for their brand, encouraging employers and influencers to offer opportunities to those at or coming from their institution. Over time, this virtuous cycle makes their degrees and networks even more durable and valuable.

Reflect: Your Relationships at Kibo

❓ Consider your relationships at Kibo. How have you cultivated or expanded your peer network?

• Can you name a peer you admire? What are the qualities you respect?
• Do you have diverse friendships, i.e., with people from a different geography, gender, cohorts or different interests?
• Have you maintained relationships, e.g., if you worked well with someone in a prior term or project, have you checked in with them recently?
• How could you extend relationships beyond required classwork (e.g., form study groups, set up a class group WhatsApp, attend a networking event together)?

Go Online: Tips for Cultivating a Network on LinkedIn

One way to build your weak ties is via online networking sites, e.g., Github, LinkedIn, X (formerly known as Twitter), and more. Thoughtful engagement on these websites can help you build a diverse network that goes beyond those you know well.

Discuss: How to Reach Out

Go Outside: How to Succeed at Networking Events

We previously discussed how to build your network online. While building a network online is important, it is not sufficient! In an era where online connections come cheaply, in-person networking still offers many benefits including:

• Memorability: Putting "a face to the name" matters. We are more likely to remember people and experiences we have in-person. An in-person meeting can be a great primer to a relationship that continues online, or a way to strengthen a relationship that begins online.
• Attention: most posts online are missed or ignored. When you speak to someone in person, they can respond 'in real time' and you greatly increase your chances of being heard and understood.
• Chemistry: human relationships involve an intangible element. Sometimes people just click! While it's sometimes possible to have this spark online, it is much more likely in-person.

💡 In-person networking still matters in a digital age!

Networking events are some of the most fraught part of networking, and a big reason that many people hate networking. Whether you are introverted or extroverted, speaking with strangers can be a source of apprehension.

• Tips for Networking Events

Discuss: Thriving at Networking Events

Networking with Professionals

As previously discussed, peers are a critical part of one’s network, and networking is not about finding important people. Still, there are many good reasons to cultivate relationships with experienced professionals who may be a bit (or a lot) further ahead so that you can learn from their experiences.

Preparing to Connect with Professionals

Step 1: Define your goals and target individuals

Before you start looking for professionals to add to your network, you should define 1-3 concrete goals for adding professionals to your network. For example, the goal might be to find an internship or a job or to better understand the opportunities in a certain function or industry for someone with your background.

Having concrete goals will also help you target the right experts. While it may be tempting to reach out to the CEO of a company you’re interested in, you should match your target professionals to your goals. For example, it’s unlikely that a C-Suite leader is involved in hiring interns, so it may be better to try to find an early career professional who may be able to share more relevant information for landing an internship and may also be more accessible to you.

Step 2: Do your research

Once you have a list of professionals with whom you’d like to connect, research their backgrounds, interests, and work. In your research, aim to get a general understanding of the person’s career journey. If they’ve published professional content (e.g., blog posts), read or skim them so that you understand what they are interested in. Your research may also help uncover mutual interests and opportunities for you to add value to the professional.

⛔ Beware! A lot of people have public personal social profiles (e.g., Instagram). In general, if you are looking for a professional connection, refrain from following/friending people on personal social accounts.

Step 3: Make a connection

The best way to connect to someone is via a warm introduction, i.e., reaching out through a mutual connection. If that is not possible, you may also seek to make a digital connection. Many professionals publish publicly (e.g., LinkedIn, blogs, Twitter). Connecting with them online might be a great place to start, when done thoughtfully. For example, you might leave a thoughtful comment on something they’ve written or participate in a conversation they are having.

⛔ Beware! Many people post spammy or irrelevant comments to influential people. This almost always backfires and makes them less likely to want to connect with you. Don’t post a comment saying, “I’d like to have a chat with you” on a random Twitter thread or blog post. DO NOT be that person.

A cold outreach via LinkedIn or email might be worth a shot. But, the chances of a reply are low, and if you go this route, you need to be respectful and avoid spamming or messaging too frequently. When reaching out to someone cold, the maximum number of attempts should be 2: your initial outreach and a follow-up within 1-2 weeks if you don’t hear back.

Evaluating Cold Outreach

Below are three examples of real cold outreach that Ope received on LinkedIn.

Outreach 1

Outreach 2

Outreach 3

Evaluate

Peer Reviewed Research: Importance of Networking

❓ Read the research paper from the Journal of Vocational Behavior examining the usage patterns and benefits of LinkedIn for professional networking. The research paper can be found here.

After reading, reflect on the implications for managers and professionals contained in the article, and summarize the implications below.

Wrap Up

What We’ve Learned

This unit delved into why professional networks matter for success, and provided tips for cultivating your network. In the unit, we learned:

• Professional connections matter. Your professional network provides opportunities, credibility and support.
• Peers are an important part of one’s network, and it is crucial to build strong relationships with peers at university or early in your career.
• The best way to meet professionals is via your existing network. However, when that is not possible, cold outreach may be effective, but requires careful research and thoughtful engagement.
• Informational interviews provide a good opportunity to speak with and learn from professionals.

Career Coach Revisited: Advise Nia

Assignment: Attend a Professional Event

For this assignment, you will attend an in-person professional networking event (e.g., conference, meetup, etc.). Some examples of networking events that Kibo students have attended and shared in the past include Google Devfest Lagos 2023, Ogun Tech Community Hangout, Devfest Nairoibi, and more.

💡 Attending events with others you know can be more fun! Find an event, post in your local channel in Discord and see if you can find someone to join you.

Submission

Write a public recap of the event and what you learned. Your recap may use a sharing medium of your choice, for example a LinkedIn post, blog article, Instagram Post, etc.

• Submit a link to your post in Gradescope
• Download a PDF or image copy of your post, and upload to Anchor

Assignment: Informational Interview

For this assignment, you will conduct an informational interview with a technology professional.

Tips for scheduling your interview:

• Begin outreach immediately as it may take a few weeks to secure an interview. Follow the steps in the lesson to find someone to interview.
• Consider asking your mentor or instructors for introductions to specific people in their network. To enable your mentor and/or instructions to easily make introductions, use one of the suggested interview templates.

Submission

Write a one page summary of the interview. It should include who you interviewed (with links to their LinkedIn profile), when, the questions you asked, and what you learned.

• Submit a PDF of your interview summary in Gradescope
• Upload a PDF of your interview to Anchor

Mock Coaching Reflection

Reflect on your mock coaching experience.

Your reflection should include:

• Overview: When was your mock coaching session? Who attended?
• Summary: What was covered in the session?
• Learnings: What did you learn in the session? What do you still need to improve?

Work experience self-evaluations

As you complete your work experience, you will fill out periodic self-evaluations.

In these evaluations, you will reflect on what you are doing well, what you are doing poorly, what you are learning, what is blocking your progress, and where you plan to improve.

Your grade for the self-evaluations depends on your timely completion and honest reflection, not on how well you are doing in your work experience (that's covered by your supervisor evaluation).

Supervisor Evaluation

During the final week of your Industry Experience course, your Supervisor will be asked to complete the following evaluation form based on your performance. Please read through this form carefully, so that you understand how you are being evaluated. The evaluation will make up 25% of your final grade for this course.

Industry Experience Evaluation

Background

Thank you for supervising a student through their Industry Experience course. This experience, taken for academic credit, requires students to work collaboratively while making meaningful contributions to a software team. Students are expected to complete 30 hours of work per week (300 hours total). As part of their evaluation, we rely on your insights and feedback to assess their performance and readiness for future roles in the industry.

Part 1: Background Information

• Student's Name: ___________________________________________________
• Team/Project: ______________________________________________
• Supervisor's Name: _________________________________________________
• Date of Evaluation: ________________________________________________

Part 2: Student Evaluation

Please provide your feedback on the student’s performance, focusing on the aspects below. Rate their performance according to the scale provided and offer comments that could further elaborate on their rating. Please refer to the table below for level descriptions corresponding to each performance category.

Rating Scale

• New Grad Hire Level - Exceptional performance, meeting the level of a new graduate.
• Experienced Intern Level - Strong performance, matching expectations around for an experienced ore repeat intern.
• First-Time Intern Level - Basic performance, in line with what is expected from a first-time intern.
• Below Intern Level - Performance does not meet the basic expectations of an intern.

Performance Categories

Part 3: Overall Recommendation

• Recommend to hire for future internship/full-time position
• Do not recommend to hire for future internship/full-time position

Additional Comments / Feedback:

Level Descriptions

Submitting Your Work

1. No action is required on your part to complete the evaluation.
2. The week following the end of the term, you will be provided with a copy of your mentor's technical evaluation of you, which you must upload to Anchor using the link below.

Final Essay

In the final essay, you will describe the work that you did in the industry experience, and what you learned from it.

Your essay should include:

• a description of the organization and team you worked with
• an overview of the project or problem you worked on
• a description of your individual contribution to the project and the impact you had
• what technical skills you developed
• what professional skills you developed
• what you learned about working with a professional technology team

Workshop 1

Industry Experience workshops help you develop professional skills. Workshops focus on technical or soft skills, and are led by an industry expert.

In order to receive credit for the workshop, you must attend on Zoom and submit evidence of your participation, such as a screenshot or note reflecting on what you learned from the experience.

Workshop 2

Industry Experience workshops help you develop professional skills. Workshops focus on technical or soft skills, and are led by an industry expert.

In order to receive credit for the workshop, you must attend on Zoom and submit evidence of your participation, such as a screenshot or note reflecting on what you learned from the experience.