Work Experience

 

            Over the past few years, I have worked in a number of positions which have given me some experience and insight into the workforce I’ll be entering upon graduation. My first relevant job was as a bank teller for Charter Bank in Grimes, Iowa. I got that job when I was in high school and I worked there for roughly two years. I learned a lot about finance, professionalism, customer service, and other things which I have brought with me to other parts of my work life. I then worked at a quality assurance internship for Anitox Corp. in Lawrenceville, Georgia. I worked in a lab setting as well as on a computer to develop procedures and complete lab tasks. I see this as having been useful scientific experience. It also gave me a view of some of the work done by engineers in settings like that. After my internship was completed, I worked for a few months as a tutor for Des Moines Area Community College while I took classes there. The opportunity allowed me to deeply develop my fundamental math and science skills and communicate that knowledge to my pupils. After completing my time at community college, I moved on to Iowa State. As a student there, I have continued to work.

               I was fortunate enough to work at the Iowa Energy Center in Ankeny, Iowa as a research assistant. The Iowa Energy Center was an organization which studied energy efficiency in buildings, among other topics. It was there that I developed my interests in automation and controls, thus finding a direction to take my education and career in. I helped conduct the scientific experiments and day-to-day activities of the facility, which gave me a lot of hands-on experience with building automation systems and scientific equipment. I was held accountable for instrument calibration, setting up and decommissioning projects, and some facility maintenance. We had weekly meetings I would attend where I would give updates on my activities and receive new tasks. Unfortunately, the Energy Center was closed due to new legislation, but I took much of what I learned there and was able to apply it in my classes and other jobs.

              For some months after that I worked as a Data Research Analyst for Kingland Systems in Ames, Iowa. I greatly improved my research skills there as I gathered information on businesses and financial institutions and incorporated that data into the company’s database. I was evaluated based on my accuracy and efficiency at processing those records.  It was also a professional office setting and gave me some exposure to that work environment, which I feel will be useful in the future. For example, in this position (as well as in others), I sent and received a fair amount of professional email, which enhanced my communications skills.

               Most recently, I have worked as a seasonal employee for the city of Grimes, Iowa. I learned many hands-on and fieldwork skills which will be helpful to me in my career as an engineer. I became able to operate many kinds of machinery, troubleshoot equipment, and solve and prevent problems for large projects. As a part of a team of workers with diverse skillsets, I saw firsthand how a project can go from preliminary meetings and ideas to a finished project. In the course of my work there, I was able to positively impact on the community. At the time of this writing, I am anticipating starting an engineering internship for the city, where I can continue my work and further improve myself and the town.