Location: Open Door Shelter
Date: Monday, January 26, 2015; 6:45-8:30 pm
Chicago Cares had asked if I
could lead, but I was travelling over the weekend and so did not want to commit
– especially since some prep work is required.
It was snowing when
I arrived and that has almost been the norm for most of my visits here. But the
yellow lights on the streets give this place a surreal look in the snow –
especially the adjoining church - and that’s something to appreciate. Connie from Chicago Cares was leading the
project this evening and she greeted me at the door. Also present were two gentlemen, Mike and
Wayne who have both been here before. In
fact Wayne was getting trained as a leader for this project. Three other volunteers showed up and it was
their first time here. Connie introduced
the project – adding that I was a good leader – and as we discussed, many were
using the word “kids” to describe the
residents. I said that we should refer
to them as “youth”, especially since
we were simulating a professional environment.
We went upstairs and the youth were already around the
table. I went over and joined them while
the other volunteers, at first just stood around, but eventually came and joined
us. Connie said that we should introduce
ourselves and say one interesting fact about ourselves. For many their most interesting fact was
where they were from or that they liked animals. I said that I was on a quest to travel to all
50 states and that seemed to spark some interest. For the ice breaker Connie wanted everyone to
walk up to at least 3 people, introduce themselves, shake their hand and have a
basic greeting. The idea was to gauge
people’s handshakes. I went over and
introduced myself to 4 youth and was impressed with their handshakes. Plus they were pronouncing my name
correctly. Connie then debriefed with us
and everyone had a good handshake - firm but not a hard grip, good eye contact
etc. The youth had liked this activity
and when one guy came in late, they made him do this exercise. The new guy was good at this and for his
fun fact said that he writes poetry!
 |
| I had a "Rocket Man" with me! |
Connie asked who likes interviews and not many put their
hand up, but I did. I think you learn a
lot about someone from an interview. We
were going to spend 1 on 1 time with the youth, practicing interviewing
skills. First we would interview them
and then they would get to do the same.
Connie asked if I could pair with 2 since there were more youth than
volunteers, and I said sure. I had
Thomas – the poetry writer who had come late - and Darin. We had been given a script by Connie, but I
was going to do my own thing. I asked
them what their ideal job would be and Thomas said that he was interested in
Engineering while Darin said that after high school he was enlisting in the ‘Marine Corps’, but eventually wanted to
do sales, retail clothing to be precise.
I asked Thomas to start by giving his elevator speech. He told me how he and some teammates had
designed a rocket. They were in fact designing
to achieve a speed of faster than sound.
I followed up asking about their design process and the lessons
learnt. He used lot of words like ‘Newton’s Laws’ and talked about Von Braun as well. I asked how they measured speed and he got
into the formula of force. While it
wasn’t the most convincing technical argument, he was at least using
scientific principles.
I asked Thomas what the costs were for his rocket and he said that he remembers those numbers since they spent so much time on them. He said that it was $53 when they started and now
it was $79. I said that the objective is to
go down in costs and they were moving in the opposite direction. I asked what was the cheapest that he could
get it to and he said $10. I said that’s
lofty, but at the end cost is the most important thing in any business. We also discussed philosophy of design, how
iterative improvements are critical etc., and I found him to be an engaging
young man. He had earlier mentioned
something about encouraging kids to get into ‘STEM’ and I asked how he would do that. He said that he would use ‘Batman’ and ‘Iron Man’ reference; saying that they are nothing but engineers,
and that should get the kids excited.
What a brilliant example! I asked
him about “Accountability”, and he mentioned
how he had been the leader of the project and had made mistake in calculations. However,
he had realized that soon enough and corrected. I followed up with a question on “Integrity” and he talked about how the “power went to his head” but he had
eventually realized the importance of teamwork.
I turned my attention to Darin and I asked him to sell me
a raincoat if it was raining and when I have an umbrella. He was soft spoken and difficult to hear, but
he was very good in his solution where he said that umbrella doesn’t protect
you from the wind. I was impressed since
that was an exact answer that I would have expected. He then said how he had found a coworker
talking poorly with a customer and how he had spoken with them to get them to
apologize to the customer. Darin was
nice to talk to as well and we discussed the concept of “want vs need” when it comes to selling. Next, I told them to ask me “follow up questions” and they asked
about growth and I - playing the part of the employer - told Thomas how he could
join the ‘Design’ team, put work in
there and then rise up to work with ‘Business
Development’ to understanding what the market wants. Then it was their turn to interview me and
they asked about my history and questions like, “have you had a problem with a team”. I told them about my interactions with other
departments during my Ph.D. and also about leading an engineering team; plus
lessons learnt in both. They asked about
my passion for engineering - I was interviewing for a ‘Product Development’ position in a ‘Cell Phone’ division - and I said that while “technology” is similar to the ingredients in the burger, “engineering” is the burger assembly, and that’s what I liked
doing.
Connie asked us to wrap-up and gather for a discussion. She asked everyone to rate their experience on
a scale of “1-5” with “5” being “excellent”. One youth gave “3” and said that he couldn't take it
seriously since it wasn't real. Well,
you can’t please them all. One girl gave
it “4” saying that her interview
skills were already good and her interviewer agreed. I gave it a “5” and said that I had a great time with my 2 “candidates”. I was pleased
to see that they rated it “5” as
well. I said to the girl that it's not
just about the skills but also the fact that they are able to learn from our life experiences
and that's the most important thing about these sessions. Wayne
said that it’s important to tell a good story during your interview and I concurred.
It was time to leave but we had all filled out an evaluation
card and I wanted to discuss that with Thomas and Darin. Thomas had given himself “3's” and “4's”, which
was also the rating I had given him. I
said that I admired his passion and his personality. The only feedback was to be careful that he
did not speak on something - especially science - if he was not sure about
it. It was perfectly acceptable
to say “I don't know”. Darin had given himself “5’s” and I had given him “3’s”. I said that it was not a
criticism, but constructive feedback. He
had given great examples and he could be really good but he also needed more
confidence. I told him to “speak up”
and he nodded. We left after what had
been a great session. The youth even
asked when we were coming back and this isn’t always the case.
*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy
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