Tesla Technician to Project Manager

Learn how to climb the corporate ladder, re-vamp your resume, and tackle imposter syndrome from Eric, a first generation college student. He started out at community college, transferred to a 4-year university, then got promoted to a manager at Tesla after working as a technician in only 1.5 years!

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are solely my guest's and my own. They do not express the views or opinions of our employers.

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Transcript

00:00.90
sharonpak5
So hi everyone. Welcome back to another episode of tech exploited I'm sharing pack and today I have the pleasure of introducing one of my good friends Eric Casianos who is currently a successful. Um. Technical project manager on Tesla's new product. Introduction team. He is a first generation college student with an associates degree in physical science and a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from cal state full and while we were in college together. He managed she learn some pretty impressive roles. At Ford and NASA so without further ado Eric thank you so much for agreeing to be on the show today. Um, we've been friends for a couple years now and somehow I didn't know that yet social security and something like completely not engineering related up. But.

00:50.85
Eric
Right.

00:54.49
sharonpak5
Last night. So yeah, that's great that was like crazy to me. So could you like talk a little bit more about that and why I decided to pivot from um more of like a sciences background right into engineering.

01:08.21
Eric
Definitely Yes, um I can start off with I went to a community college first. My idea was um, it's not about prestigious about saving money because in the end you know you have to pay everything back.

01:13.96
sharonpak5
Ah.

01:20.46
Eric
So I started off. Yeah so I started off there and I began taking general education courses I was like you know, let let me feel a little bit. What I actually want to do don't want to do biology. Don't want to do history I Actually love history. You know I played So ah.

01:20.73
sharonpak5
Definitely.

01:31.30
sharonpak5
Yes.

01:35.35
Eric
Like or do I Um, do I want to do chemistry so site again, kind of like taking different courses meeting a variety of different people. So I realized that I leaned more towards physics and more towards Cad design and I was like okay look so it looks like I'm leaning more towards mechanical engineering.

01:39.55
sharonpak5
So.

01:53.59
Eric
So like you know what? I'm going to start doing that so I did take 4 years at a community college for that reason. But at the same time I was also a part-time automotive technician at Ford so my idea is I'd like to I like being efficient where I can. So if I'm taking a little bit longer in education I can at least get experience hands on. Ah, from there.

02:14.90
sharonpak5
Yeah, definitely and I think that that's like huge right? because when you're in high school and then when you have to like go to college after high school or if you decide to go to college after high school um a lot of times I feel like people don't know what they want to do right? That's why like people like they switch majors and whatnot.

02:25.47
Eric
With this.

02:30.90
sharonpak5
And so for you I think that like taking that extra time to like actually figure out what you like and like what you want to go study. Um, that is really big. Um, and that's why you know now I can say that you really like your job in engineering because you took that time initially upfront.

02:43.95
Eric
I.

02:48.20
sharonpak5
To go explore other areas and so um, you're talking a little bit about how you were a technician at Ford was that while you were at calsate full 10 or it was so um.

02:48.45
Eric
Now exactly.

03:02.16
Eric
So no, it was ah during my community. My stay at community college as well as ah at fullerton so I I was doing it for a while about close to 5 years

03:07.74
sharonpak5
Um Gotcha Oh Wow and is that kind of what propelled you into like mechanical engineering too was your technician role.

03:17.69
Eric
Yes, definitely So I began getting hands-on on engine repairs as well as transmission repairs and I began seeing that I like really you know working with my hands as well and you know being able to understand you know how to repair an engine vehicles cars you know different.

03:25.70
sharonpak5
Ah.

03:37.30
Eric
Brands and companies. Ah you begin to Len a little bit of the insides on you know parts a lot of companies share the same parts and stuff like that and I begin to you know, give me ideas on. Okay, so you know why do these? Why do people use the same parts. How are they designed and then my mind just kept going on and on and I was like okay you know what I want to kind of lean more towards ah. You know the automotive industry possible. That's where I want to go with you know the degree that I want to pursue which was mechanical engineering.

04:00.12
sharonpak5
Um, gotcha and so from Ford you kind of got an opportunity to do a project with NASA right? and so what made you want to like pivot from like the automotive industry. Obviously you work in the automotive industry now. Um, but while you're in college. What made you want to go like explore that realm of things.

04:20.28
Eric
Definitely So I knew that ever since I was little I know I and I'm stepping away step back I'll actually I Actually really love space I had like a mini solar system. Um on like my ceiling and I was like Wow you know I mate what if you know I only know automotive you know.

04:23.41
sharonpak5
And.

04:34.77
Eric
Like the the industry since I was a technician but what if you know what? if something like a larger skill project. You know, based industry interests me like space. So I took ah it was kind of like ah an academy that you have to apply to which is called NASA L'SPACE academy.

04:34.94
sharonpak5
Ah.

04:43.80
sharonpak5
Ah.

04:50.76
Eric
And ah, you know I got accepted and it kind of gave me exposure to kind of like those aerospace long-term projects on kind of ah you know for example, maybe you want to land kind of like a rover on the moon or like ah you know, maybe land something in like 1 of ah Jupiter's moons

04:56.48
sharonpak5
Earth.

05:07.20
sharonpak5
Earth.

05:09.30
Eric
And just kind of like that those are just a few examples but that's kind of like I thought it was very interesting to kind of dive into that and see you know how it was like and then maybe you know if it's something I would like doing So I think it was good to kind of like you know, try that jump in there.

05:19.56
sharonpak5
Yeah gotcha and so you said that you were a part of the l space ah program with NASA so what is that like how did you even hear about it. How did you get into that program did you have to apply like.

05:33.61
Eric
And yeah, so I was also a part of like another org called the the society of Hispanic professional engineers and there usually there's a lot of people that give exposure to different orgs or different you know programs or different opportunities like internships or you know other job opportunities. So I heard it from there. My org.

05:39.40
sharonpak5
And his.

05:49.93
sharonpak5
Is this.

05:53.61
Eric
Ah, they were saying that kind of a couple of reps were were you know came to a meeting and they introduced us to the academy and kind of told us what it was about and who who would like to apply so that's kind of how I gain the exposure and. Yeah, that's pretty much it I they gave kind of like their their pitch speech and I was like whoa. You know what? I Actually really like this you know, let's try it out. Won't Hurt. You know.

06:15.28
sharonpak5
Gotcha and so it's that majority for like upper classmen lower classmen is it like all across the board. Um, are there What we're like the eligibility requirements for you to apply.

06:23.96
Eric
Yeah, definitely So it's like national in the Us as as far as I know and as long as you're in a in any college you can join once you graduate you can no longer take the course so they do keep track of what University you go to.

06:29.79
sharonpak5
Ah.

06:39.27
sharonpak5
If.

06:41.31
Eric
And ah, kind of a couple of the requirements are um, they don't look at Gpa They mostly look at they want to know about your character if that makes sense so they kind of make you write a small couple essays on kind of ah what you believe in an education. What your background is what you are pursuing.

06:47.96
sharonpak5
The.

06:54.28
sharonpak5
And.

06:58.92
Eric
And that sort of thing so then from there they kind of evaluate you just kind of based off your characteristics and you know that's that's kind of how they how they do it.

07:07.92
sharonpak5
That's awesome and so then what did you do while you're in that program.

07:13.83
Eric
So I did kind of like a a large based ah project kind of it was kind of like a mission mission style I can I can go in a little bit into depth so it was had to do with kind of ah being able to discover water ice on the moon.

07:18.60
sharonpak5
Ah.

07:21.25
sharonpak5
Okay.

07:27.56
sharonpak5
Okay.

07:29.52
Eric
And then being able to gain its characteristics on kind of like ah what kind of deposits it contained and ah it would kind of evaluate if ah, there was kind of like life on the moon at some point or not so you had to not only be able to how how would you physically be able to go.

07:35.78
sharonpak5
Um.

07:40.12
sharonpak5
And.

07:48.29
Eric
And ah be able to pick some of those specimens and how would you bring it back so they give you kind of like a budget. They gave you kind of ah you know it be kind of like a payload style. So there's already you know motherboard you know in orbit of of the moon. So um.

07:49.10
sharonpak5
Are.

07:56.20
sharonpak5
Yeah.

08:02.84
Eric
They kind of give you all those kind of like constraints scenarios and then you kind of how to figure out within within a budget How you're going to do it and how realistic is your mission. So it's kind of like a very large project based kind of like development.

08:12.29
sharonpak5
Um, that's awesome. That's super cool like and so then after getting that experience at both Ford which is like a huge automotive company right? and NASA. Which is like another huge like company. It's like iconic in space right? Like how did you pick like what you wanted to do ultimately between the 2 afterwards.

08:34.40
Eric
Yeah, definitely so I began seeing that for NASA and other aerospace companies. The projects were really long as I said so I began to notice that I kind of want to see results right away you know I kind of I really like the idea I love you know the concept of it but I want to see results immediately.

08:41.31
sharonpak5
Introduce.

08:53.11
Eric
So then I knew that an automotive industry. You know every year they're coming out with a new vehicle you Knowre they're rebranding refreshing it every every couple of years they come out with a complete refresh of a vehicle and I was like you know what I actually want to focus more on that do more you know do more than you know more projects you know in a shorter amount of time.

08:53.64
sharonpak5
Ah.

08:55.79
sharonpak5
Yeah.

09:01.74
sharonpak5
Yeah.

09:12.59
Eric
I Kind of I guess you can say like in higher pace higher Pace environment I Know it's very generic to say but that's kind of something I want to pivot more towards.

09:17.50
sharonpak5
Um, yeah, yeah, definitely one hundred I mean like I can attest to that too right? because I work in the aerospace industry and like you said when we start a brand new project. It takes like 101525 years

09:30.68
Eric
Really exactly.

09:33.11
sharonpak5
Like you're like pushing out a new type of like car every single year making updates all the time. So yeah, it definitely makes a lot of sense and so now you have a really successful career at Tesla as a technical project manager right? and I think.

09:39.27
Eric
So.

09:49.17
sharonpak5
Ah, Tesla obviously is like another iconic company in terms of like the electrical like vehicle industry like everyone knows what the Tesla is I like to um joke around that Tesla is like the Apple of electric cars right? I mean.

10:01.88
Eric
So yeah, you can say that very yeah, we're very innovative.

10:07.24
sharonpak5
Yeah I mean you might disagree because you have an Android but.

10:13.40
Eric
That is true. Ah you got me why you exposing the here.

10:13.11
sharonpak5
But they're like Apple right? It's like Apple is like ah.

10:21.78
sharonpak5
Ah, we could talk about why you decide to choose you know the sub part inferior phone just kidding. Ah, but yeah, like Tesla is like an iconica like choco like vehicle company and um, you started off at Tesla as a technician as well.

10:24.49
Eric
Oh good.

10:39.18
sharonpak5
Right out of school and then you quickly moved up as a Tpm so ah, kit you talk a little bit about how it is to work at Tesla like what the culture is like and maybe go into a little bit about your journey and how you progress so quickly within like the year and a half you've been there.

10:39.52
Eric
Yes, yes.

10:55.58
Eric
So yes, definitely I can start off with I did join Tesla as a engineering technician for the same team new product introduction. So I'd support more of the.

11:03.34
sharonpak5
Are.

11:09.20
Eric
Kind of like the engineering I mean you can say more hands-on and more technical as in collecting data physically interchanging parts trying new parts. Um I guess you can say I'm like the frontline and from there I Guess you can say the culture is very collaborative I haven't seen.

11:22.29
sharonpak5
M.

11:25.56
Eric
You know, very passionate people working in a place at the same Time. So even myself when I like to get things done immediately. There's someone who does it quicker and I'm actually very impressed I'm like Wow and it's not even that it's Competitive. It's that it's just that everyone's trying to get you know something done I Guess you can say like ah you know. You know pursue the mission to kind of be as most efficient as possible. Um, so being surrounded by those people I guess you can say you become better. Not just you know yourself, but ah technical-wise being able to coordinate with different teams and kind of get those projects laid out. So um.

11:46.38
sharonpak5
Are ah.

12:02.54
Eric
I guess it really sets you up for success starting off there. Um, and I think that's what I can say so ah I did promote as a Tpm I think it's I'd say a year and a half later I know it's pretty quick but I think mantesla you're you're able to get a lot of ah networking.

12:13.31
sharonpak5
And.

12:21.44
Eric
Um, there's just a lot of people that you work with different teams and um I think the way I like to approach it is um, you're kind of like a walking resume. It's not just about how effective you are at getting things done. You know I'm not I'm not trying to confuse with oh you're so robotic versus you know oh you're you know you're actually able to communicate with people.

12:22.60
sharonpak5
Um.

12:40.42
Eric
Think I'd like to differentiate that. So um, you know it's not only about how technical you are how how great you are you know, creating things you have to be good at talking with people coming into an agreement kind of ah coordinating effectively documenting you know properly. Ah, there's many different ways to.

12:40.99
sharonpak5
Um, isn't.

13:00.20
Eric
Pursue this so I'll say would've meet a lot of people I actually began giving my own ideas documenting a little more for the projects kind of ah coordinating a little differently kind of standing up taking the taking the first step forward and ah people noticed. And you know I I was able to get the but opportunity to promote. So.

13:21.35
sharonpak5
That's awesome I mean like usually Tpm roles. It takes people. It's like a mid career type of role right for a lot of people in different companies where it takes them about like five to ten years to get into that role. So for you to have. Progressed so quickly at Tesla right? which is a huge company to a Tpm role. It's like super impressive. Um, yeah, and so as a Tpm I honestly don't know what tpms really do and so.

13:38.50
Eric
Now. Thank you.

13:48.66
Eric
And.

13:49.28
sharonpak5
Know that like every project has one. We have a Tpm for my role on my company but like I don't really know what the ins and outs of a Tpm or technical project manager is and so maybe you could talk a little bit more about like that what that is compared to a more like individual contributor type of like technician or engineering role. Um, versus kind of in more of a management ish position right? over like a project.

14:15.17
Eric
I Yeah definitely I'd say that as a technical project matter manager I think you kind of ah, bring in a variety of different teams together to collaborate to get kind of like projects done if that makes sense. So let's say I want not like I want like a new part.

14:26.53
sharonpak5
Yeah, yeah.

14:32.46
Eric
The design team has a new part that they want to update. They'd say it's saved cost then it it looks better for the Customer. So then they'd have to go through a new product introduction which is us and we coordinate projects and we gained that we we follow up with the following stakeholders like it could be process engineering quality engineering. Buyers and we kind of collaborate to see if we can validate this product for customers. That's kind of what we do. We bring? Ah we bring in everyone together to kind of get the projects done I manage a lot of the projects hence the name you know project manager. But no yeah, that's pretty much.

14:59.74
sharonpak5
Ah.

15:10.90
Eric
What we do here in this position.

15:11.32
sharonpak5
Ah gotcha So you're kind of like connecting all the different teams and departments with each other and making sure that they're all getting the right amount of information that they need essentially in your role.

15:19.45
Eric
And yes, definitely I Like to say that I'm kind of like a walking node I just kind of like I just transfer information kind of set things up bring people in together and you know we execute. So.

15:31.56
sharonpak5
Gotcha that's awesome and so um, is it pretty common for people to move up that quickly. Um at Tessa or do you think that you're kind of an exception and how quickly you're able to move up in your role.

15:46.13
Eric
And I mean I think I can say through my own perspective. Um, you know, just looking within my group. There were a few people just like me who who had a bachelor's and then a few even had a master's degree and they start off as an engineering technician.

15:54.33
sharonpak5
Are.

16:00.62
Eric
Um, I think we all kind of thought similarly where we had also automotive background and we were able to apply it and that's how we got into it into Tesla as a technician and then from there we were able to promote and um, how difficult it is I think um I was just surrounded with a lot of people who were very um overachievers. Ah.

16:03.25
sharonpak5
The health. I have.

16:20.90
Eric
Not in a bad way but very very high achieving people so myself I guess I kind of ah was able to kind of like immediately learn off them kind of how effectively they they do things at work. How efficient they are.

16:21.96
sharonpak5
Is that.

16:35.44
Eric
So I picked up quickly and they were able to kind of mentor me like oh Eric this is how you do it? Oh you can just do this instead. Why don't you try this and kind of gave me kind of like a good outline on how to be effective very quickly and and it was able to pick up a lot. So.

16:42.43
sharonpak5
Ah.

16:52.63
Eric
You know? Thank you to them if they were watching this. So.

16:55.13
sharonpak5
Gotcha. So do you feel like you like sought out that mentorship where it just like came naturally to you or.

17:01.94
Eric
That That's a good That's a good question. So for me I think um, it really had to do with reaching out to people it I wasn't just there waiting for the opportunity to come right? I think for most things in life. It doesn't happen that way you know and if it does I'm great. You know that's that's even nice but I really had to.

17:07.40
sharonpak5
10

17:12.45
sharonpak5
Yeah.

17:18.98
Eric
Go out there get out of my comfort ah comfort. You know, comfort level and then you actually meet people I was like oh hello my name's Eric I work in this team. How are you and it wouldn't just come. You know I wouldn't go up to a random person or maybe sometimes you know I'm like that sometimes but um, it really since new product introduction works with a variety of different teams.

17:28.22
sharonpak5
Um.

17:35.93
sharonpak5
The earth.

17:37.92
Eric
You know I you actually meet a lot of different people. So um, you know when we're doing a project I'll be like oh how are you like you know what are you doing your your role so I was able to kind of ah meet a lot of people you know working with them being being Helpful. You know also helped me and but. In terms of seeking for opportunity I was there meeting the you know the managers or kind of like ah you know anyone to kind of get like a feel for the role in case I wanted to maybe pivot towards you know, maybe quality engineering or process. So from there I was able to kind of also distinguish what I really wanted to go for.

18:05.79
sharonpak5
And.

18:13.82
Eric
That space.

18:14.30
sharonpak5
Gotcha Now. Do you have any tips for meeting new people at work because I know that that could be really scary and intimidating for some people right? where it's like day like that person I they seem kind of cool or like I kind of want to talk to them I kind of want to network with them. But they're also kind of scary. You know like I don't really know. To go and like approach that person. So Do you have any tips for how you go about like approaching these different people introducing yourself, etc.

18:31.76
Eric
Is.

18:39.34
Eric
Yeah, so I think I know it is scary, especially if you're ah fairly going in and you're fairly new to the company. But I mean I think it's just something that you have to kind of like.

18:44.68
sharonpak5
Yeah, yeah.

18:49.76
Eric
Overcome you know, just try saying hi to a few people at first and seeing how how you know it'll turn out usually it'll turn out really nice. You know everyone likes being talked to you right? you say hi they'll be like oh hello you know or.

18:59.53
sharonpak5
Yeah.

19:01.18
Eric
Or you know unfortunately some people are you know they're like oh hello and they're kind of busy like okay, no worries you know maybe I'll work with them in the future or something but I think a good part of is always having a positive attitude and yeah and kind of going from there being nice in general or willing to help people as well I noticed that most of my time.

19:09.58
sharonpak5
Okay.

19:19.35
Eric
Actually meeting people was when I would actually collaborate with them in projects. So from there, you just kind of learn. You know who they are as well and how they work just kind of based off kind of like the workload that we're given so from there. That's how you kind of build relationships. Maybe next time if you have a question.

19:22.85
sharonpak5
Oop.

19:35.95
Eric
You know, relating to maybe quality and then you know they're a quality engineer you can be like oh hey you know by the way I have I have this question. What do you think about it in general and then you know they'll be happy to help you and then you know you can go from there be like oh thank you and then maybe try doing them a favor in the future as well. You know people like you know.

19:53.63
sharonpak5
Um, not.

19:55.51
Eric
You know, giving what they get as well I guess you can kind of go like that being able to offer and then you can hopefully receive right? But the goal isn't to always receive but you should be willing to kind of give always if you can if possible. So.

19:57.50
sharonpak5
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

20:09.32
sharonpak5
Gotcha and are there any like topics other than work related stuff like on your projects that you like to like talk about initially when you meet other people from your company or whatnot um or is it just mostly work that you guys talk about.

20:25.43
Eric
Well I guess you can say it's mostly work related. You can say well I guess when we're on the floor. It could be work related. But.

20:35.25
sharonpak5
Are ah.

20:36.46
Eric
If it if it has to do with anything you know outside of work. Then yes, it's you know it's always nice to meet people I think something that really helps is being able to go to it could be like work events really try going to those I think that's really helpful. Maybe they'll they'll have like a cookout or we're going to meet up at a you know, bowling alley.

20:48.32
sharonpak5
Um, earth.

20:55.99
Eric
You know you should really make the effort to go because you know you don't really know a person if they're always at work. It's good to you know it's always good to meet people outside work as well right? you you want to meet who you work with you know at least to a certain extent. Um I think that enriches kind of like the the collaboration in the work field as well.

20:56.51
sharonpak5
Ah.

21:00.32
sharonpak5
And.

21:07.71
sharonpak5
Yeah.

21:15.76
Eric
Um, it's not just about. Oh oh, they're the quality engineer you know, give me results. Do your end right? You want to meet the person and then by meeting them. You know you're willing to help them more right? You're know sharing. You're my friend right? So you know I'm going to want to help you more right? I'm going to want to you know I'm more willing to do you a favor right? and hopefully you can do the same for me.

21:20.11
sharonpak5
Yeah.

21:26.11
sharonpak5
Yeah. Like be on my podcast like yeah, yeah, yeah.

21:34.65
Eric
Yeah, exactly like then you're fadka. So it's it's always so it's always good to have those relationships at work and the way you do that is you know also going to those work events.

21:43.74
sharonpak5
I think that's a really good one because even like at my company we have like business resource groups or Brg's and so I don't know if you guys have those 2 at Tesla but I feel like that was like really helpful in getting me like connected where other people with like a similar background and interest as me like at work. Um, and so do you guys have something like that at Tesla as well. Um culture wise or are you part of anything like that.

22:12.15
Eric
Um, we do have a few well a variety of different orgs I mean I can say that I'm kind of I'm in the club ah Latinos for Tesla and that's where I can ah you know meet more people like myself. It could be first generation or people who actually.

22:16.39
sharonpak5
Ah.

22:25.98
sharonpak5
Um, is this.

22:28.90
Eric
You know are from different companies that come and work for Tesla or different countries I mean that come and work for Tesla. So from there we can relay and ah you know we have a different kind of like workshops that kind of help people develop maybe in their career or kind of a.

22:29.86
sharonpak5
This.

22:45.40
Eric
Yeah, basically just in their in their career or maybe outside life and kind of ah you know, kind of improve Overall your professional your professional career. So I think that's one of the orgs that I'm in currently that is really helpful and insightful. So.

23:00.30
sharonpak5
Gotcha and have you found any mentors from like that roar. They mostly just like peer and friends and whatnot in terms of the relationships that you've developed.

23:09.36
Eric
No yeah, that's a good one I think ah, there's more room for growth for me in terms of being able to work specifically or or be part more or more involved in that org. But I'd say that more of my mentorship comes from my own team. Um.

23:22.96
sharonpak5
Um, Earth earth.

23:23.50
Eric
I Do have my my supervisor and my manager and I'm really grateful to have them because they're always willing to help me. They're help they give me insight on how to approach things How to how to tackle problems and kind of how to develop professionally as Well. So I think most of my mentorship comes from my own Team. So.

23:43.90
sharonpak5
Gotcha and so while you've been at Tesla and getting mentored by your managers and um your peers um, have there been any opportunities for like continuing to grow in your career outside of your org like. Higher education and whatnot is that something you've ever thought about is that something that Tesla supports um, could you talk a little bit more about that.

24:09.56
Eric
I Don't think I can talk about that in this podcast. Ah yeah, no worries.

24:10.18
sharonpak5
Okay, you're fine. You're good. Okay, so instead of going from there. Let's see so what do you think he did in college. That helped you land a role at Tesla right away and helped you be so successful in your role.

24:34.70
Eric
What did I do in college I Think what really did help me was spend a little bit more times in kind of working in. You know those labs you know Physics Labs Chemistry Labs Kinematics lab All those things.

24:46.37
sharonpak5
If.

24:53.60
Eric
Um, I think that really helped develop me in terms of kind of how I you know not just collect data but being able to kind of ah explain it and ah document it and then write about it. So that's kind of a lot of what I do now. Um I think it helps me develop kind of a.

25:04.66
sharonpak5
This.

25:13.34
Eric
That helped me all those labs they may seem pointless sometimes I know like writing all these documents and stuff like that. But really, they do have a benefit to being able to kind of express yourself and and kind of have the data to kind of back it if that if I make sense I hope I make sense.

25:15.95
sharonpak5
Are.

25:26.80
sharonpak5
Um, yeah, that does make sense. So do you still write a lot of reports like technical reports in your current role. Would you see that writing's important.

25:35.68
Eric
Um, not yeah so not not long reports I don't really write long reports specifically but something that I have to be good at is maybe I don't know a lot about you know project a or project B but I still have to collect the data and I have to understand it and I have to be able to. Write it and then not only write it but have to be able to explain it to other people so that they're able to help if that makes sense so you have to be fluent then in that aspect. So I think that taking all those labs in school and putting more effort into them really did help me kind of grow in that aspect another thing that did help me grow in college where.

25:57.31
sharonpak5
Um, yeah.

26:05.56
sharonpak5
Um.

26:12.25
Eric
Ah, volunteering for different projects. Um I did start up a project as in in my senior year it had to do with ah volumeleytric 3 d printing. Maybe we can dive into that another time but it's kind of like a new method of 3 d printing and I self-sarted that with my mentor which was my professor at the time.

26:15.25
sharonpak5
Ah.

26:31.63
Eric
Found my own people and I kind of gave everyone their role on how to do it and I think mainly that was the project that helped me develop and realized that I wanted to do more kind of like project based ah work in the work field. So I think that really does help me and then also doing NASA L'SPACE. You know, doing those long-term missions kind of ah, kind of getting those fundamentals and how to set up a project and how to coordinate really did help me and I think it helps it can help anyone really if they're trying to pursue you know any other types of engineering. You know you have to collaborate with. People to get results of course so it's always good to kind of be fluent in that aspect. So.

27:09.62
sharonpak5
Um, yeah, so I think that you just mentioned a couple of really good points right now. So um, you talked about how you started this project right? and you kind of headed up this project. Um, on your own and then you kind of acc recruited a team and then you were like managing this team and that sounds really similar to what you're doing right now in your current role as a Tpm and so um I think that that was do you think that that kind of like helped you.

27:32.50
Eric
So exactly.

27:41.93
sharonpak5
Um, prepare for this role. It's like taking up those leadership opportunities I know that you're really involved in ship 2 while you're in school. Um from all those different opportunities that you've had in school whether there's a technical aspect the leadership aspect etc. Do you think like which were the most important if you could only pick like 3 um, what do you think were like the most important experiences you had in college to help you in your career afterwards.

28:07.40
Eric
Yeah, that's a really good one I think number one would be my senior design project that one really did help me develop I think and and I'm glad that it's a requirement for all students and ah I think that one.

28:14.63
sharonpak5
Um.

28:17.88
sharonpak5
Yeah.

28:22.68
Eric
The senior design project really can determine who you become in the future. Not just because you you pick an industry and you go with it. You know there's kind of you know, different industry kind of based projects. You can pursue as a senior but I think what helps you is how much effort are you willing to put in your own project that you're in the team of.

28:38.57
sharonpak5
Earth.

28:42.30
Eric
Um, that really can determine. You know how I don't want to say how successful but you know how how far maybe you can are willing to go you know for yourself, you know, um, there's a few people that like you know, like to be a little bit more flee Flip free floaters in the project and which is fine but um, you know what are you gaining in that aspect.

28:55.42
sharonpak5
Yeah.

29:01.79
Eric
Are you gaining? Are you gaining at least more communication skills. Are you good at you know, getting people to do your work I mean you know now we're speaking morals here but um, you know, but I'm just saying like it's like how much effort are you willing to put and how much are you willing to gain for yourself is what I'm trying to say so.

29:07.75
sharonpak5
Yeah, yeah.

29:16.15
sharonpak5
And.

29:20.11
Eric
I Think that's a really good aspect I think another one is willing to volunteer and willing to kind of ah I'm always kind of like looking for new opportunities for growth and you know ship was another major development that you know that helped me and not only did I join the org I was I was.

29:34.56
sharonpak5
Everything.

29:39.25
Eric
You know, exposed to a lot more opportunities like internships I did have an internship and I got it from ship so that was really nice and I wanted to go step forward I became president of ship on my final year and that really did help me not only. You know grow my communication skills my presentation skills as well. You know, went through the ceiling back then I was afraid to speak in front of people and kind of be able to coordinate all these events as well and then be there for every event it meant I had to.

29:58.17
sharonpak5
The earth.

30:11.38
Eric
You know, be consistent with what I did I couldn't just hey guys I'm gonna go away for two weeks you know you have to be on your on your so so right right? Yeah so I gained a lot of you know, good experience and.

30:19.43
sharonpak5
Um, I go to Mexico for two weeks goodbye yeah

30:31.60
Eric
You know, good growth. You know I grew a lot from that I think my other ones were um I guess you could say how can I say being able to I guess this can apply to your whole academic career. Ah you know going pursuing the goal you know.

30:48.22
sharonpak5
Um.

30:51.34
Eric
Maybe the ultimate goal is to you know, get your degree. So I think everyone without maybe realizing it. You are really doing like a 4 year plan you know, taking all these courses having an end goal which is your degree you have to have a lot of discipline and then be consistent right throughout your whole career I think that's something very valuable that.

30:52.20
sharonpak5
Who.

31:06.66
sharonpak5
Um.

31:10.94
Eric
You know that can't take away from our us college students and that you should be prideful I mean I know that it's kind of easy to forget? Oh we're going through the process. It's a system. Yes, but you're putting all these effort that I don't think you're really seeing or that you kind of tend to kind of not see it since we're doing it every day if that makes sense. So.

31:26.38
sharonpak5
Yeah, yeah.

31:28.91
Eric
Think backling through that process really helps you develop in that aspect and.

31:32.90
sharonpak5
So Let's dive back a ah tiny bit so you mentioned um that you're supposed to go to college for 4 years I didn't go to college for 4 years. You also did to go to college for 4 years, But I think they we're both at pretty stable places now right at pretty like good reputable companies and we were pretty solid in our careers. So um, how important do you think that it was to go to college for like the 4 years and ah obviously we didn't go for 4 years but like do you think that going back in time. Like if you could have done collagen 4 years would you have done it in 4 years or do you think that the additional years that you spent in college allowed you to do a little bit more like soul searching and what not to like figure out what you really wanted to do or like what were the benefits or drawbacks of that.

32:16.47
Eric
So no, yeah, that's a really good question and yes it did take me about 7 years to get my bachelor's um so I think it did help me do a little bit more soulearching as you can put it ah in terms of kind of getting my career going. You know I think I like to put it as you know. Not everyone is on the same timeline. You know there's people who who go to you know universities they maybe take a time off because they don't know and then maybe for some people they know what they want to do and that's that's amazing. You know, keep going you know and then they'll they'll know what they want to do and then they'll finish in 4 years or some who finish earlier. You know that's.

32:33.38
sharonpak5
I have.

32:51.52
Eric
That's even more impressive since you know what you like doing but I don't think you should base yourself off kind of like ah an exact timeline if you can do it in 4 years great but don't be afraid to take more time when you if you actually take more time it can help you get more actual hands-on experience.

33:03.46
sharonpak5
Ah.

33:06.38
sharonpak5
And.

33:09.15
Eric
Ah, something I'd like to note is a few of my interns in in tesla they actually take way more than 4 years because they want to. They'll take like maybe a semester off to you know inter at Tesla or they they would hop on to other companies as well. So by the time they get their bachelors they already have about 2 years of experience under their belt and they can get hired. You know, very very easily and the transition is kind of seamless. So um, I'd like to just kind of point that out.

33:40.13
sharonpak5
Interesting and so let's talk about that a little bit so I know that you've helped with the hiring processes at Tesla in the past and so when you're looking at resumes and screening resumes. Do you even care about how long it took someone to get their bachelor's degree. Or do you just look at their experience more like what matters more to you or what are the things that you look at the most when you're screening candidates What matters the most to you.

34:05.92
Eric
And yeah, definitely So I mean based off what degree you have It helps me kind of distinguish where you are um and sorry sorry sorry I had of okay, um, no it kind of um.

34:12.61
sharonpak5
And.

34:19.49
sharonpak5
Um, you're good.

34:23.42
Eric
Sorry give me a second that was one.

34:31.16
Eric
I I'm like dying over here hold on give me a se.

34:31.27
sharonpak5
You started off? Yeah yeah, you good here I'll posit.

34:40.40
Eric
Okay, so I think um, a few ways that I kind of notice immediately is I look at how the resume is structured I think that's really good and I know and I know shan you've helped me in the past and structuring my my resume. So um, that's something I notice immediately.

34:44.44
sharonpak5
And.

34:53.17
sharonpak5
Yeah.

34:57.25
Eric
How is it laid out and um, what exactly are they showcasing on the resume are they showing kind of and I and I like this topic do they just show what they do in the role and ah kind of like bullet by bullet am I reading a job description or um, do you want to show them your highlights.

35:00.99
sharonpak5
And.

35:09.66
sharonpak5
Ah.

35:13.19
sharonpak5
And.

35:15.14
Eric
Like oh what did you physically do like did you save the company money. Ah do you successfully collaborate with your peers did you maybe step up and do something interesting. That's something that I that I I like noticing in resumes and um I I see very often where people don't really know how to.

35:31.37
sharonpak5
Um, and.

35:35.30
Eric
Structure Their essay are kind of ah put on there but I think by taking a step forward and showing your highlights is you know, kind of like the way to go and if we're talking about Um, what degree you have I don't think for me personally I don't think it matters what University you go to I know sorry Ivy league but um. I think to me it mostly matters about kind of the experience that you have um I know you may say oh but how am I going to get experience. You know if I'm out of a 4 year and I hear that all the time. But I mean you can put in the effort. Maybe you know maybe start up your own project. That's a really good one. Ah.

35:58.20
sharonpak5
But.

36:10.39
sharonpak5
And.

36:13.96
Eric
Reach out ah to other people in the industry. Um, you know there's many different things that you can do you can reach out to your professors hey professor you know there're a project that you you're thinking on starting up, you know I know a lot of professors that had their own little site projects that um. You know if you ask them or they're maybe they're working on it. They're trying to get a team going. You can just go ahead and ask them and then maybe you know find out that they're they have a project. They're starting up and ah, you know you can go from there I know a lot of the times when you're when you're Applying. It gets tough for experience but ah.

36:47.54
sharonpak5
1 is but.

36:51.87
Eric
There's different ways to approach it I don't want to go into it into depth. But ah you you know we're all people you can reach out to them personally hey you know through email or maybe contact them and then you know, kind of build a relationship there. There's a lot of things that you can do again, you know people take. Certain time office. Well it's from school to do long-term internships as Well. I think the opportunities are endless if you can't find any experience maybe try joining an org that'll really help you. But yeah, that's what I can say. Yeah.

37:21.28
sharonpak5
Yeah, definitely I mean like ship help you a ton right in terms of getting you more connected helping you get internships and on top of that like leadership experience because you're president of the organization. So think those are all really big and huge and that you were able to do while you're in school and where you were able to also take initiative right. And it showed and helped you a lot in your career. Even after you got out of school. Um, but going back to like how you screen resumes and whatnot when you're looking for those actionable bullets right? things that people did on their resumes. Um, how long does it take you to like just. Go through resume real quick when you look at it for the first time when you're flipping. Do resumes how many like minutes seconds do usually spend while you're going through that.

38:09.41
Eric
Um, it may take me a few minutes immediately to see um, do they look exceptional based off their highlights that they're showing me um or are they just kind of putting on their their kind of like their their job role. So that's immediately what I noticed I'm like oh these guys are.

38:15.17
sharonpak5
But.

38:25.93
Eric
You know above and Beyond I'm going to put them here on the side. Um, what they're telling me what they've done and you know stepped up on. It's very interesting I actually want to learn more and the ones that look very kind of like the structured is weird I can't really read it or it's just kind of like a job restriction I'll I'll kind of maybe put it aside and I'll prioritize the ones who.

38:26.51
sharonpak5
You know.

38:32.92
sharonpak5
And.

38:44.39
Eric
Actually showcase their highlights and then I'll spend a little bit more time on there. That's just kind of how I approach it.

38:52.75
sharonpak5
Gotcha that's awesome and it's very interesting because when I talk to my friends who are recruiters right? So they don't have the technical background what they'll do is they'll go through like hundreds and thousands of resumes and they'll give them like 3 seconds at a time right? so. The recruiter already screened like pre-screen before they give view those resumes right? So it's interesting to hear that you actually spend um more than a couple of seconds reviewing people's resumes when you're and you're actually like going more in depth. Um through the resume and so when you're going more in depth through their resume. Do you care about like the summary section that people have on there. Ah, do you like nah doesn't matter not going to read it then I would just read the resume bullets. Okay.

39:28.51
Eric
Yeah I don't really like the summary just because you know usually the the summary start off with oh my goal is to be. You know, very successful or collaborative and. You know I I tend to hear a lot of the same things. What I'm trying to say you know it's great to be collaborator. What I just said it's It's Great. You know, but I just tend to hear a lot of kind of like the repeating same kind of ah style on on how you want to develop and what you want to do so I feel like I can kind of see that through kind of your highlights.

39:45.30
sharonpak5
And.

40:00.78
sharonpak5
Okay.

40:02.49
Eric
And kind of the experience that you have I can I can kind of see it through there instead.

40:08.32
sharonpak5
Gotcha So you're like it's don't don't waste the room just write more bullets like get rid of the summary section. How yeah.

40:15.91
Eric
Yeah, maybe write like an extra ah a bullet or 2 if you only have two bullets maybe add an extra 1 but really focus on kind of the highlights that you've done at work I know that we talked about maybe including a few numbers maybe including kind of ah how you stepped up.

40:29.90
sharonpak5
Um.

40:33.20
Eric
You know how you stuck out on the project or how did you create the impact in those projects I think it's good to add.

40:39.20
sharonpak5
Gotcha how about cover letters. Do you read those ever if you get them or do you just completely not care about those 2

40:49.24
Eric
Yeah I don't think I've received the cover letter for Tesla. So um I don't know if we I don't know if we still do those I mean maybe I'm I'm not a recruiter but I physically haven't read you know cover letters i.

40:51.48
sharonpak5
Interesting. Okay, gotcha. Okay so no point in writing that if you'll never even see it ok gotcha and so. Let's see now that you have been in the industry for a couple of years um do you have any thing that you would have done differently if you're to go back into school.

41:28.10
Eric
And I think a really good one is keep your grades up. Um I'd say that one's a really good one because I noticed that when I was doing. You know my undergrad. My Gpa wasn't the greatest. So.

41:33.75
sharonpak5
Um, and.

41:44.42
Eric
It was a little bit more difficult for me to land an internship for that same reason of course companies they actually want to invest in these interns and ah usually the interns are you know could be higher up in the class as well.

41:49.29
sharonpak5
Um, earth.

41:58.33
Eric
And the companies are willing to put in resources to train these interns so that they can become full-time employees. So I think a really good thing to kind of stick out is to keep your grades up. It's definitely a good one.

42:14.94
sharonpak5
Yeah, definitely and I think that I mean from us both right? like I didn't have a super stellar gpa when I graduated from college either. Um, the only reason why my gpa got above a three point zero barely was because I had a job offer before I graduated. And they told me you I have a 3.0 gpa for you to have this job offer and we're gonna check when you graduate and I had like a 2.95 and so I like busted my butt right for the last like year of college because I was like if I don't raise my gpa my offer is going to get resented and so as the overachiever. Am I graduated with a 3.01 gpa um.

42:57.35
Eric
I I remember you told me to the beginning of the year like I need ah I need to get that 3.0 and I was like oh man, you can do it and I remember you were like calculating like the courses that you had to take to like get that and you know that's really great that you got it. You know I remember that that was wild.

43:05.41
sharonpak5
Um, yeah.

43:14.11
sharonpak5
It's like crazy right? and so ah for us both right I don't know a gpa you graduated with I'm assuming we weren't like magna cum laude summa cum laude. We weren't like any of that type of deal right? So would you say that if we had been like better students right. Been better students. Do you think that we would have been like more successful in our careers after college or do you think that all of our leadership experience flash like our initiative and these different orgs and projects and whatnot were more important than having like a higher academic Gpa and doing better in our classes. All important, but like yeah.

43:56.30
Eric
No, that's a really good question and I actually do like to think about that sometimes because I'm like you know how did I get here like I forget like so sometimes something just hits me in the head and um, excuse me now give me second.

44:01.58
sharonpak5
Um.

44:17.52
Eric
Um, let me see I think I like to start off with having a high Gpa does increase your chances of becoming more successful but it does not guarantee that you'll become successful.

44:32.62
sharonpak5
Um I like that. Ah.

44:35.38
Eric
Like I think I like to put as that because you know there's so many variables that you know could could could take place I mean you could be you know a very studious you know individual you know, get that 4.0. But maybe you don't know how to talk to people or collaborate. Or effectively you know transfer what you know and your knowledge and be able to kind of showcase to other people I think that's a very important trait to have um, but um I think it really depends I mean um I think.

45:02.50
sharonpak5
Ah.

45:13.20
Eric
Having the high Gpa and then going to a very prestigious University really does increase your chances I Guess it's all based off chances. But um, you know it's not guaranteed and um I think Also for you know, maybe more you know regular students. You know like us. We know we didn't go to. You know you can say the the most prestigious University we didn't get like the 4.0 but something that I noticed from us is that you know we're good at networking we like ah collaborating with people.

45:43.89
sharonpak5
Ah.

45:46.25
Eric
You know we're we're in tech exploited. You know you know these are the kind of things that you know we we kind of like doing more I guess you can say more we we have a little bit more people's skills in this aspect and then that can really help you as well. So I think it just really depends on.

45:54.26
sharonpak5
Ah.

46:03.65
sharonpak5
Yeah, and I think that having people skills is something that you can develop to right? It's something that um if it doesn't come naturally to you. It's something that you could work out of your comfort zone and try and be better at. And it's obviously helped you be super duper successful in your career at Tesla um, and helped you get to where you are today by collaborating with all these different teams and departments and individuals. So yeah, um, thank you so much Eric and I guess we could just close off with if you have. Any advice that you'd like to give future college students that are listening to this podcast. What piece of advice would you want to give them um and take away with.

46:48.46
Eric
And that's a really good one I think I think a good one is stay positive and I don't want to make anyone self-conscious but you're a walking resume I'd say that don't don't focus on. Oh you know you know. Ah, people you know people don't really know how I am a certain way but you know they they can just see it on my resume. Everyone you know can see what you're doing how you coordinate how you communicate with people how you carry yourself. You know you kind of show the Character. You are always have that positive attitude if you can. And ah, you know, be there to collaborate with other people. Um, it's always good to meet more people you know I think that's one of the most important things is networking and you know being a people person think that will get you really far and meeting all those connections.

47:29.64
sharonpak5
Um, earth.

47:43.91
sharonpak5
Awesome! Thank you so much Eric I appreciate you. Thank you for sharing all of your tips and tricks and um your story on how you got here. And yeah I am.

47:55.54
Eric
I Oh no, yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, it's ah, really cool I'm I'm glad I was able to kind of give a little bit more insight and hopefully help ah you know help out anyone who may have had any questions or you know like to learn a little bit more about.

48:13.12
Eric
Kind of how to be successful or you know, kind of pursue something that they want to I mean I know that it's difficult sometimes to you know as an undergrad being like oh man I don't know if I'm going to work at Apple I don't have a you know a 3.0 or something you know, but you kind of have to you know believe it, you know and. How can I say imposster syndrome is real and you may not even know that you have it but I haven't even I I still have it today you know and you know look at me I work at Tesla. But I think it's always good to yeah a ti year. But I think it's ah.

48:44.30
sharonpak5
As a Tpm i.

48:52.43
Eric
Something that you should always be working on or at least be aware of it that you have it and kind of overcome and then you know think that'll ah come a long way. That's a.

49:02.53
sharonpak5
Definitely just on a side tangent does the imposter syndrome ever go away.

49:08.27
Eric
I I don't think it ever will yeah I feel like you can be a you can every time you'll go up. You'll always have you'll always set yourself you know expectations and then you'll always want to do more.

49:22.53
sharonpak5
And.

49:26.14
Eric
I mean I feel like you can be Ceo of a company and then still be like how can I be better or I'm not good enough. You know I'm maybe I'm not as as best as other ceos. You know you'll you'll always have that that sort of doubt. So I think it's always good to kind of always be consistently working on that.

49:40.30
sharonpak5
Okay, gotcha. Well thank you so much Eric I really had fun and I appreciate you and yeah with that we'll wrap things up must stop the recording.