Interview Tips from a Boeing Manager

Have you ever wondered how much GPA or the college you attend matters? How to stand out in your internship? Or what managers look for when interviewing candidates? Look no further! In this week's episode of Tech Exploited, Eric thoroughly answers all your burning questions and more.

Eric has over 35 years of experience at Boeing and worked on the iconic NASA space shuttle missions. He is the manager of Boeing's chemistry lab in Huntington Beach, CA and is the program coordinator for the high school internship program. He has mentored over 1,000 students! The tips he shares provide valuable insights to excel in technical interviews and will motivate you to push through the trials of an engineering degree.

Without Eric's dedication to mentoring, coaching, and supporting high school students in STEM, I would not be where I am today. His internship program was my first introduction to the Aerospace industry, and ultimately helped me land a career in building rocket engines. You guys are in for a treat!

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

00:01.46
sharonpak5
What's up guys. Ah welcome to another episode of tech exploited today I have a really special guest who I actually attribute a lot of my engineering career to he has been with boeing for the last thirty seven years as a manager of the Southern California Chemical Technology lab he is the program manager of Huntington Beach's ah, high school internship program and he also is a lead mentor for a first robotics high school team and the special guest is Eric eicinger. Who just recently also ah crossed the 1000 Mentee Mark this year so Eric welcome to the show I'm so excited to have you here today and all the work you've done has not only impacted my life and helped me become an engineer after being a part of the program in high school. But I know you've impacted literally now over a thousand lives.

00:56.50
sharonpak5
Of high schoolers that are interested in engineering.

00:57.73
Eric Eichinger
Hi Sharon and thank you for that kind introduction wonderful to be here and great talking with you.

01:03.59
sharonpak5
Yeah, I'm so excited I'm like Eric you are a person that I've been looking up to ever since I was literally in high school and I have been out of high school for quite a time now and so let's talk about you a little bit and you've been with boeing for a really long time. How did you end up at Boeing and what has made you want to stay at the company for this long.

01:27.23
Eric Eichinger
Well like you I started as an intern and back then you could pay for your college education by working part time with a decent job and that was my near-term goal to work and pay my bills so that when I graduated I could get a good job but it turned out.

01:38.78
sharonpak5
Um.

01:47.10
Eric Eichinger
I Had a good job once I graduated and I've been able to stay for as you said a long time.

01:54.82
sharonpak5
Ah, so you started off at Boeing as an intern and were you also in like the chemistry lab type of deal or were you in a different type of role when you're an intern.

02:02.20
Eric Eichinger
I worked in a tiny little chemistry lab in a large manufacturing building and I was the only person in the building with a college degree.

02:09.24
sharonpak5
Wow, That's crazy and is that was that kind of like normal back then or.

02:16.30
Eric Eichinger
No, we had a regular lab probably like what you're imagining that all the other chemists worked in and originally I was hired for that lab but a week before I was supposed to start the person working in the Dungeon Lab quit and so I got sent off to that lab.

02:31.98
sharonpak5
Gotcha Gotcha gotcha and so then is that kind of how your own chemistry lab kind of started and that's how you kind of became the manager of the chemistry lab over time or how did that end up happening.

02:41.69
Eric Eichinger
That took a long time I'll try and keep it short so being in a dungeon lab and the only person with a college degree in the area forces you to be independent and so I learned that I could rely on myself I learned how to solve my own problems and.

02:50.33
sharonpak5
The her.

02:55.70
sharonpak5
Love me.

02:58.64
Eric Eichinger
I learned how to be able to do meaningful work for customers I got good enough at it that I could move into a project management role and manage other people and ultimately that led to my people management position which I have today. How is that for summarizing 37 years in

03:00.95
sharonpak5
I have.

03:07.30
sharonpak5
For her.

03:12.93
sharonpak5
Got me.

03:17.84
Eric Eichinger
3 sentences.

03:19.16
sharonpak5
And I mean you've done some really really cool stuff right? While you've been at Boeing for those 37 years you've worked on everything from ah characterizing um seats on airplanes because I know the last time I went there, you're showing me like oh like we're trying to figure out why there's discoloration happening. To working on like the shuttle programs. What Nasa write. So I like you got to do work on like a ton of different stuff. Um during your career there and I know that a lot of college students now they don't quite know what they can do with their chemical engineering degree. Once they graduate but that you have a lot of chemical engineering um students that are now working in your lab and they have chemical engineering degrees and so what would you kind of describe to someone with a chemical engineering degree. What their job might look like once they graduate.

03:59.55
Eric Eichinger
It is angry.

04:05.74
Eric Eichinger
Sure that's a really good question Sharon because if you had asked me before I applied I wouldn't have thought somebody with a chemistry background could work at a place like Boeing. But if you think about it a lot of what we operate is engineered parts systems.

04:14.45
sharonpak5
For her.

04:25.40
Eric Eichinger
Things like that and when they break and you need to do testing of a chemical nature like think fluid systems or Coatings or things like that then you need an engineer to be able to understand how to say remove that system and then.

04:31.28
sharonpak5
Have.

04:43.20
Eric Eichinger
Test it in the lab in a meaningful way so that the data can talk to what people are seeing in the field. So that's one way bringing hardware into the laboratory and being able to do meaningful testing requires engineering skills as well as chemical skills to understand the compatibility of the fluids and.

04:47.73
sharonpak5
And.

05:01.00
Eric Eichinger
Of course, whether you're going to create any hazards put anybody in danger. There's also a second situation where chemical engineers come in very handy and that is when you work in a place like Boeing you're often asked to do a wide variety of tests and sometimes you don't have exactly what you need to do the test.

05:02.85
sharonpak5
I have.

05:19.22
Eric Eichinger
But an engineer is often excellent at coming up with something that is close enough and they can then communicate with another engineer to say I can't do exactly what you're looking for but I can do this other thing that should give you the same information and 2 engineers can talk about the meaningfulness of that information.

05:23.33
sharonpak5
The.

05:32.51
sharonpak5
And.

05:38.28
Eric Eichinger
And design a test that would allow data to be produced that maybe otherwise couldn't.

05:43.88
sharonpak5
Gotcha okay, and so would you say that those are the 2 like more common roles of a chemical engineer that you see at Boeing.

05:50.21
Eric Eichinger
Those are the 2 roles in which you utilize both the chemistry and engineering there are lots and lots of other roles too in which you would use more the pure chemistry or you would also use skills that maybe have nothing to do with chemistry or engineering.

05:55.60
sharonpak5
The.

06:01.35
sharonpak5
The here.

06:10.20
Eric Eichinger
Um, such as communication skills teamwork skills things like that. But those 2 examples are ones where you're using both at the same time and we're having a chemical engineer really is useful otherwise you would need a chemist and a mechanical engineer to collaborate probably to get the same skill set.

06:10.39
sharonpak5
And.

06:26.99
sharonpak5
Yeah, definitely and those are hard right to come by when you have someone That's like very knowledgeable in boats. So that makes a lot of sense and so having had a lot of interns. Um, that have worked underneath you a lot of students that you've mentored.

06:31.58
Eric Eichinger
Um.

06:42.10
sharonpak5
Along with ah hiring full time employees in your lab when you're recruiting, um, these different students I knowt that you don't necessarily recruit um the interns for your high school program. But when you're recruiting students for your lab. What types of. Um, skills and qualities. You usually look for um that they could get from school on what things you think that they should be kind of pursuing while they're in school to get a position at Boeing at a place like your lab.

07:12.55
Eric Eichinger
So let me answer that question sort of in general first because every manager looks for something slightly different when I do my interviews with other managers. We often disagree on.

07:15.35
sharonpak5
Okay. And home.

07:26.67
Eric Eichinger
What skill sets make an applicant most qualified. So I already know if I were to give you my own personal ones which I'll give you in a minute they will differ from other manager skills. So just in general. Ah what a candidate wants to do to prepare themselves well is respond to.

07:36.91
sharonpak5
Questioner.

07:45.91
Eric Eichinger
The requisition and look for keywords and understand what it is that the employer is looking for and make sure those keywords are prominently mentioned or addressed at least in the resume and that will hopefully give you an opportunity to interview. And for the interview to properly prepare you will want to know a lot about the company and have a clear understanding in your mind. Why you want to work for that company. Ah, for example, if I wanted to join your family Sharon as your long-lost brother.

08:03.74
sharonpak5
Ah, her and her.

08:13.37
sharonpak5
Ah.

08:19.36
Eric Eichinger
You're going to want me to be very invested in your family. What your family does and if I have no clue it Your family does if I don't know anybody in your family then I'm not going to be a good fit most likely same thing for a company you want to really understand the company culture what they do and you'll want to make a strong case why you should be a member of that.

08:28.18
sharonpak5
And her.

08:38.47
Eric Eichinger
And then second of all, of course you need to have skills that are relevant to the requisition or if you don't you'll want to be able to emphasize why you will have those skills and why the other skills that you have will be just as important. That's a harder path to go on.

08:38.58
sharonpak5
Pushard.

08:55.81
Eric Eichinger
But I've hired people who have told me they want to work in my lab for example but have never done lab work before but because they hated being at a desk they knew that lab work was going to be their passion. So in that case, you can go that direction now. Personally what do I look for. Ah.

09:06.47
sharonpak5
Is this.

09:15.74
Eric Eichinger
Will say the normal stuff because I think if I go through all of that it will bore your listeners. But what I would add is I'm really interested in humility and the people that I really like to bring back are the ones that don't tell me what an awesome job. They do.

09:27.84
sharonpak5
Ah, listen.

09:34.90
Eric Eichinger
But they help everybody else around them do a better job and those people are good people also and they're quick to come tell me whether somebody has helped them and when I'm constantly being told of somebody who is helping them who is not telling me what they're doing then I understand that they're a true team player.

09:36.62
sharonpak5
Love me. The.

09:51.19
sharonpak5
Ah, her.

09:53.49
Eric Eichinger
They're not in it just for self promotion and they're in it to try and help the organization grow stronger and if I can find people like that those are gold and those are the people that I would strive to hang on to does that answer your question.

09:53.72
sharonpak5
Her her.

10:03.96
sharonpak5
Yeah, yeah, it does and so when you're looking at a candidate because I think that there's like two sides when you're interviewing. There's like the personal side of like someone That's really humble because you don't want to hire someone onto your family if you will for using that Analogy. Who's very prideful and doesn't have like a heart to learn because they're like a know it all type of deal right? You want someone? That's very like malleable and that's like willing to learn from others and easy to work with but you also kind of want some ah I would assume like base competency skills right? And so if you're to weigh those out like what would you say. Is the split between the 2.

10:42.56
Eric Eichinger
Well let me answer that two ways. First of all the direct answer to your question is I would rather err on the side of character strengths over skill strengths I can teach people to be good in my lab I can teach people to.

10:52.81
sharonpak5
If.

10:59.66
Eric Eichinger
Understand specifications and people can grow and learn in their knowledge I can't teach people to be a team player if they aren't already willing to do that now. With that said, you ask in an interview setting or a resume setting. How I do that and that's almost impossible.

11:07.54
sharonpak5
Ah, her the true for her.

11:12.85
sharonpak5
My hair.

11:16.70
Eric Eichinger
Ah, you've done this before yourself and so I think you probably understand the conundrum if you are a humble person who doesn't promote yourself. You're going to do poorly in the interview most likely and so I do argue that if you are.

11:17.19
sharonpak5
And then.

11:27.36
sharonpak5
Go ahead.

11:33.10
Eric Eichinger
Humble person that you have to say things about yourself that are true that put you in a good light and I know that's hard for some people to do I would argue that if it's hard for you to do that. You might actually be the best candidate so you have to figure out a way to do that that you're comfortable with. Get that across and Sharon you bring that up. That's just a very very difficult thing for people to do one of the things is for you as an interviewer. It's very important that you get your candidate to relax and get them to speak comfortably.

11:57.29
sharonpak5
For sure.

12:08.99
Eric Eichinger
A lot of folks in this category are very good 1 on 1 or with their friends but in large groups or with unfamiliar people become nervous and don't represent themselves as well as maybe they would in front of people. They're more comfortable with.

12:13.97
sharonpak5
Um.

12:23.51
Eric Eichinger
So as an interviewer, it's our responsibility to try and get people relaxed to get them comfortable sharing about themselves and to listen well and try and bring out that content because if we don't do that. We're going to end up hiring the charmer who everybody likes and.

12:23.81
sharonpak5
Ah.

12:42.60
Eric Eichinger
May or may not have those skills and may or may not be a team player.

12:46.40
sharonpak5
Yeah, yeah, yeah I think that's awesome advice and do you have any advice for those students who want to try and build up those skills where that's not their natural strong suit where they kind of shy or more timid but they're a great worker. They have great character. They ah. Have the knowledge engineering background. How would you kind of encourage them to be able to promote themselves more? yeah.

13:05.75
Eric Eichinger
That's a great question. What I would suggest is think about yourself honestly and identify what your strong characteristics are and let's say one of your strong characteristics is you are a good team player. That's not something you really want to say in an interview because it's almost a throwaway comment. Everybody would know enough to say they're a team player. So What you want to do is think of a story in which you served as a team player and that team did amazingly well.

13:25.20
sharonpak5
Yeah, yeah.

13:39.10
Eric Eichinger
And be prepared to describe your specific contributions to what made that team successful and just tell the story honestly as it occurred in your life so that the listener will understand what contributions you made and you're not bragging. And if you run it by a friend or somebody who knows you? Well maybe a coworker and they make it. You know they understand what you're saying I think that's the best way you can prepare and ah again I I really emphasize this because especially girls have a challenge often guys will put themselves out there. And offer up things that they may or may not be solid on as if they were solid and they're not buying. They're just showing a confidence that maybe girls sometimes feel like they have to have done it 10 times successfully before they're going to mention that they're able to do that.

14:17.93
sharonpak5
Yeah, yeah.

14:27.83
sharonpak5
It has.

14:30.36
Eric Eichinger
And that's one difference that unfortunately gives an edge to guys because sometimes the girls are unwilling to go there and of course there's differences. It's just the overlap is such that more guys are willing to do that than girls and so I would suggest for. Any girls listening that they really work maybe with a guy friend of theirs to really bring out what it is that they've done to contribute so that they come out sounding very strong and confident in the interview. Um, if you're a good Candidate. You should be proud of these things I know it sounds braggy and some people are uncomfortable with doing that. Um.

14:57.25
sharonpak5
Go ahead.

15:02.87
sharonpak5
Is this.

15:05.88
Eric Eichinger
But again, if it's if you're worried about bragging and you're trying to be humble. You probably are a good candidate. You just need to be able to say it in a way that you have some confidence and you can communicate what you did? well.

15:16.31
sharonpak5
For sure and so would you say that for people who are scared of sounding like braggy. For example that they should just go and rehearse with like a friend and be like hey these are the things that I'm doing or should they rehearse with strangers or. Have you found any success preparing any of your thousand mentees now but on those different interview skills. So I know that you also have a lot of very successful female engineers in your lab. Um, and so how did you kind of bring that out of them if you will.

15:36.69
Eric Eichinger
Hit.

15:44.80
Eric Eichinger
So I guess a really good person to find would be a professional that supports you or is an advocate for you, Especially maybe one That's more senior because you're right Sharon A lot of folks.

15:55.83
sharonpak5
Um, the the.

16:02.67
Eric Eichinger
Don't understand maybe what a good story looks like they may they may think I'm just doing my job or I'm just doing normal things. Um often if you're good at something Sharon You think everybody's good at it. So that's normal to you and you almost need somebody else to step back and say look I know lots of people.

16:04.53
sharonpak5
Nothing.

16:15.44
sharonpak5
So true.

16:22.45
Eric Eichinger
You're better at whatever X is than anybody else I know and that will help give you the confidence that you can bring up that story and understand that you will be impressing somebody listen instead of maybe just saying something that you know isn't as impressive.

16:27.70
sharonpak5
Um, destin.

16:37.50
sharonpak5
Young ya.

16:39.32
Eric Eichinger
So I guess to answer your question specifically somebody who is an advocate who's professional and then my second choice would be somebody who's close to you who really cares about you.

16:47.62
sharonpak5
Yeah, yeah, yeah for sure and do you have any advice for finding and seeking out those mentors because I feel like when I was in high school I was just like scared of everyone right I actually learned a ton from my first internship at Boeing because I think. Told you right when I was interning at Boe I didn't know what mock was I didn't know I didn't even know what boeing was um, our professor or now he's a professor back then he is our high school teacher. Mr. Habbard just came up to me as like do you want to? what are you doing this summer and I'm like nothing is like. Do you want to internet boeing.

17:08.92
Eric Eichinger
Is is.

17:20.78
sharonpak5
And I'm like what is Boeing and then I didn't realize how big of a deal that was until I went to college. Um, but at the time when I was at boeing I I told my friends I remember I like Alex Cho and my other friends. Um, who were interning with me I felt like I was given like a knife and like thrown into a jungle because I didn't know anything and they're like.

17:32.55
Eric Eichinger
Um.

17:41.20
sharonpak5
Fend off and you'll survive and I'm like I don't know like what all these fancy engineering terms are I don't even know I don't even know if there are planes that went this fast before coming here I Thought the only planes that existed were like the commercial planes I didn't realize that our military planes went like way faster.

17:47.57
Eric Eichinger
Here.

17:54.39
Eric Eichinger
A.

17:58.41
sharonpak5
Commercial planes I Just thought they're just loaded up with weapons you know and so then when people were mentioning stuff like mock and it's like what something could go that fast and like what is mock and I was just so scared to ask questions. Um but is through.

18:02.23
Eric Eichinger
And. A.

18:15.74
sharonpak5
Like you where I was like oh it kind of like built up my confidence but I got lucky because I was a part of this like program right that I got randomly dropped off where they're like do you want to internet Boeing and I was like sure. Um, but how would you encourage high school students um to find those mentors and those older more senior adults.

18:23.80
Eric Eichinger
I.

18:35.58
sharonpak5
Um, to kind of like guide them through those different phases because I know that finding peers is pretty easy but finding mentors might be a little more challenging.

18:42.18
Eric Eichinger
So A lot of more experienced coworkers struggle to find people who really want to listen to them tell stories and talk about their experiences and not all of them. We'll fit into this category but with a little practice and talking to a variety of people. It's likely you'll find somebody who will be happy to regale you with stories of sort of some of the questions you're asking me but maybe on a more technical level. And if you find somebody interested in that you can start asking them their advice and once they understand that you value their opinion. You'll often maybe get as much of that and more as you would ever hope for.

19:22.53
sharonpak5
Um, 7

19:28.78
sharonpak5
So basically just go and practice talking to strangers until 1 of them lands right.

19:36.76
Eric Eichinger
Right? That's an excellent way. Also it's likely you'll have a manager your manager would be a great person to have as your advocate a lot of managers now are virtual or too busy to really get to know all of their people. So there's no guarantee that will work.

19:46.56
sharonpak5
Ah, her.

19:53.80
Eric Eichinger
But a manager is in a great position to advance your career or find other opportunity for you. So never forget about that possibility I Just understand that that may not always be an option for some people.

20:04.60
sharonpak5
For sure and I mean going back to like managers and like coworkers. Um I feel like that's really applicable for a lot of students first or first couple of internships in college. Um, as someone that manages an intern program. What would you advise for students to do in their internships to be successful and to stand out.

20:23.76
Eric Eichinger
Well to be successful. Okay, you're you're asking 2 questions actually to stand out suggest you want to bring attention to yourself so you can have career advancement and so let me handle that one. That's the obvious one I would say.

20:28.33
sharonpak5
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

20:35.39
sharonpak5
Sure.

20:41.34
Eric Eichinger
Ah, look up the 10 things you can do with 0 talent and memorize that list and make sure you yeah oh it's great I mean just to give you some examples I'm not going to go through all 10 of them. But it's like listen carefully be on time be coachable smile.

20:46.81
sharonpak5
Um, that's a thing I didn't even know that's a thing.

20:58.92
Eric Eichinger
You know things like that you don't need talent to do those things and yet most people don't do all 10 of those things make sure you're doing those 10 things and you're already 90% of the way there to standing out because most people don't do those things. Um, the only other thing I might add is work hard I don't know if that's on the list or not.

21:04.21
sharonpak5
Huh.

21:16.75
Eric Eichinger
But being willing to work hard and do those things is pretty much enough I don't expect people to walk in and have all of the skills Now you ask something before to be successful for your internship.

21:23.53
sharonpak5
The.

21:29.81
Eric Eichinger
That may in fact, be standing out but more importantly, an internship is an opportunity to learn about yourself and don't just assume that what you're doing in your current internship is what all interns do if you're sitting at a desk. Do you like it. Do you like the quantity of time you're spending at your desk.

21:34.95
sharonpak5
Person.

21:41.80
sharonpak5
Her.

21:48.83
Eric Eichinger
Do you like your co-workers. Do you like being indoors. Ah do you like the perks that the company offers Do you like the environment or don't you and pay careful attention to those nuances because that's going to have a lot to do with how much you enjoy your career.

21:52.21
sharonpak5
Ah, her the her.

21:58.45
sharonpak5
Ah.

22:05.74
Eric Eichinger
If those things tend to be true for you or not um, often people will leave their job because they dislike their manager faster than if they dislike what they're being paid and so just be intentional about what you're experiencing and.

22:06.74
sharonpak5
Nothing gonna.

22:18.57
sharonpak5
Um, and.

22:23.77
Eric Eichinger
To make it a successful internship has a lot to do with Self-discovery as well as being discovered by your manager and the rest of the company.

22:31.75
sharonpak5
Yeah, for sure and I mean having so many interns right? in all these years which interns to you were the most memorable which ones do you feel like you remember the best um is it based on what they did was it because they're smiling I'm greeting you all the time.

22:47.93
Eric Eichinger
Well I have written in a lot of letters of recommendation I would rather the hire the intern that helps me clean up after the poster session than the one that wins the poster session. So yeah, you can kind of tell where I'm coming from on this but I also would add Sharon Problem solvers

22:48.87
sharonpak5
Yeah.

23:02.74
sharonpak5
And.

23:05.12
Eric Eichinger
Interns that can independently take on a difficult problem and solve them not on their own necessarily but by finding their own solutions by talking to people by finding their own resources. Some people are just amazing at that and who wouldn't want to hire somebody like that and so.

23:20.73
sharonpak5
For sure.

23:23.23
Eric Eichinger
I would combine those 2 answers to give you hopefully a little bit of a snapshot on who has really stood out over the many interns that I've had the privilege of working with.

23:31.16
sharonpak5
So Eric if you you guys can't tell Eric loves thoughtful people. So if you're helping him clean up and you have good character. He'll love you.

23:43.26
Eric Eichinger
It's just harder to find people like that than it is to find people with good gpas and so you've got is that if somebody is willing to do those types of things. Plus they're smart.

23:46.23
sharonpak5
And then.

23:56.34
sharonpak5
Um, first time.

23:56.49
Eric Eichinger
That's again, somebody really worth hanging on to and if you are that person never be ashamed to clean up or to offer to help do some mundane job that might be perceived by others is beneath you because sometimes if you don't do that your manager will have to do that.

24:12.20
sharonpak5
That's so good and so that being said when you're evaluating candidates for your lab Specifically how much does Gpa really matter to you.

24:23.65
Eric Eichinger
It's a good question. So a high Gpa at a difficult school demonstrates that you've put in a lot of work and you've achieved something. There's no denying that However, a high Gpa is not required to do well in my lab.

24:30.68
sharonpak5
The her the her.

24:38.14
sharonpak5
For this.

24:40.72
Eric Eichinger
I believe my company is pretty much going to filter out anybody below a 3.0 and so I'll take a look at anybody over a 3.0 um I do look at Gpa and I also look at the school in which you went to um, but that is just one of many reference points.

24:58.65
sharonpak5
Okay, and so what are some of the other reference points that you kind of like to lean on ah some of the big ones.

25:06.33
Eric Eichinger
Right? Well I'm going to predicate this by saying ah first of all I'm not boeing h r I don't speak for BoeingHR and I'm sure if BoeingHR were here they would tell you something different and so.

25:10.21
sharonpak5
Yeah.

25:20.67
Eric Eichinger
I don't believe necessarily in the traditional resume and 1 hour interview process as a great way to find the right candidate. So even for me to answer your question if you were then to turn around and ask me so if you found all that what competence level do you have that that person would turn out to be an all-star.

25:31.16
sharonpak5
Ah.

25:40.42
Eric Eichinger
I'd probably say 10% and so right and and and that's why I have the privilege of running this internship program I get to see in eight weeks what a person is really like and that's not always what you would make as a first impression.

25:42.95
sharonpak5
That's pretty low. Why yeah.

25:58.73
Eric Eichinger
So in the first impression to answer your question I'm going to be looking to see if they have the inventory of skills or experience that suggests they can do the job I'm going to be looking for hobbies interests or things that people have shown when they have free time. How do they direct that free time.

26:08.97
sharonpak5
Ah.

26:17.66
Eric Eichinger
And is that in a way that I feel would ah synergize well with my group and I'm also going to be looking for. You know the basics I'm going to be looking for somebody who has a major that is going to qualify them to work in my area.

26:17.98
sharonpak5
Ah.

26:22.58
sharonpak5
The.

26:35.45
Eric Eichinger
And possibly an internship or a research position that's going to have given them the opportunity to figure out if they dislike the kind of work I am going to provide. For example, if you're applying for a job and you've never done that job before the person on the other end.

26:44.26
sharonpak5
And.

26:52.49
Eric Eichinger
Is always going to be concerned that you may learn. You don't like that position and you'd rather they learn that with somebody else's internship previously so that when you're doing the internship the interview I'm sorry the interview you can just tell all kinds of stories on how you really like that work and why you want to do more of it.

26:54.44
sharonpak5
And.

27:08.47
sharonpak5
So true.

27:10.79
Eric Eichinger
So that would be a little bit of guidance. But again I'm never 100% confidence in fact like I said it's probably below 20% that ah just looking good at a resume and a 1 hour interview is going to be enough I've made some pretty poor decisions based on that data set alone.

27:26.26
sharonpak5
I mean it's really hard right? because you only have 1 hour to try and judge. Someone's character their work ethic. How much you think you'd like working with them and you're working at least 40 hours a week for the most part right with this person and so it's really hard to try and figure out in 1 hour and I'm right there with you.

27:43.30
Eric Eichinger
Well and we've touched on it a little bit before some people are just naturally enthusiastic Naturally great communicators and naturally charming. It's hard to separate all of that from people who are very qualified and have a great strong character that are going to allow them to do a good job.

27:53.89
sharonpak5
Um.

28:00.18
sharonpak5
Um, yeah, and.

28:02.17
Eric Eichinger
Those 2 are not always the same people and yet it's hard to look past that first individual and not draw attention to them and so that's just one difficulty that there is when you're a hiring manager often these energetic enthusiastic people.

28:08.39
sharonpak5
Yeah.

28:19.70
Eric Eichinger
Our go getters will only stay with you for a short time until they charm the next person who can offer them something better.

28:23.45
sharonpak5
So true. So true and I mean and that you get heartbroken right when they leave and you're like but I love you? Why are you leaving us so I'm happy for you. But also I'm sad. Oh yeah question 100% um and so that being.

28:34.27
Eric Eichinger
It sounds like you've been there Sharon yes, exactly.

28:42.90
sharonpak5
Said you've created this amazing high school internship program at Boeing and ah how many schools again how many high schools in the Southern California region are a part of your internship program.

28:53.16
Eric Eichinger
We have 14 partner schools in the orange county area.

28:59.80
sharonpak5
That's incredible and are you guys continuing to grow out that region or is it kind of just like locked into those 14 schools.

29:06.60
Eric Eichinger
I wish I could say we were growing but unfortunately boeing's presence in Southern California is declining and I'm struggling just to keep the program as large as it is you might not even recognize some elements of the program because now.

29:14.54
sharonpak5
Um, and.

29:23.32
Eric Eichinger
We were doing virtual internships before the pandemic and we've had to spread to having mentors who are not co-located just so we can keep the size of the program. What it is about 65 interns a year

29:34.93
sharonpak5
Wow I don't even know that at all because I was like we were coming in every single day but that was also when the campus was a little bit bigger at the time. Ah when I was there.

29:44.80
Eric Eichinger
Right? Well the interns come in every single day but the mentors don't ah some mentors are virtual and work locally and some mentors work in a different state but we've been able to find ways for them to provide assignments and our interns can find meaningful opportunity that way.

29:59.50
sharonpak5
Gotcha gotcha and do you know if because I know that for this internship program in particular the high school screen which interns you get and so you don't really have a say in which interns you get. But do you know of any other ah Boeing high school internship programs and different.

30:14.77
Eric Eichinger
Sure there are quite a few and I don't know all of them I'm still trying to learn. We have another one in Elsa Gundo of a similar size. We have one in the puget sound seattle area that is slightly smaller but I believe they pay their interns which is nice.

30:17.46
sharonpak5
It's yeah.

30:24.80
sharonpak5
The.

30:31.75
sharonpak5
A wow.

30:34.86
Eric Eichinger
There's a few in Oklahoma city. There's a few in Charleston and there may be a few other sites that have high school intern programs as well.

30:42.10
sharonpak5
And so for those programs can anyone just apply to those and do you know when those applications might open up or is it more like your program where you already have partner high schools and they just kind of feed into your internship program.

30:55.79
Eric Eichinger
So the 1 common thing is your school is going to want to call attention to you the difference between the program I have the privilege to administrate and some of the others is I take them directly from the school I don't know most of the interns when they show up. Whereas others do have an interview step with Boeing where they get a chance to talk to the candidates and do a down select of the students that the school has pre-selected um so per personally I have to say I like the way we do it.

31:26.30
sharonpak5
Gotcha its just like a 2 layer process.

31:33.65
Eric Eichinger
Because I get messages almost every day now from people who want their son or daughter in the program and since I am in no position to help anybody get into the program because the schools make the selection. It makes my life a lot easier.

31:39.25
sharonpak5
Smith.

31:49.54
sharonpak5
Definitely and I mean you're already running a whole high school robotics team you're running a lab. You're also running this program for interns and so between the 3 of them along with your own personal life because you have 3 kids you see your daughter just got married recently.

32:00.48
Eric Eichinger
You.

32:04.00
sharonpak5
I'm like your life is chaotic constantly you're in Ohio right now.

32:08.10
Eric Eichinger
Yes, it's It's never dull but look at it this way I get to meet people like you every year and it's just hard to put a price on that. It's worth a lot of time just for that privilege alone.

32:13.17
sharonpak5
Yeah, yeah, plenty of things that will keep you busy. Um.

32:25.46
sharonpak5
Yeah, so I guess like that leads into what made you want to continue this ah Boeing high school internship program and what motivates you to also run the first robotics team even when your son graduated from the school because a lot of times parents.

32:36.19
Eric Eichinger
Is.

32:40.93
sharonpak5
Kind of step away from the program once their kids are done with it. But you decided to not only be a part of the program still but you're basically spearheading the whole program without you. It probably be very hard to keep that program together. Um, you're the glue that's holding it together across 2 different schools.

32:57.82
Eric Eichinger
Well, you're you're very generous Sharon I don't know if that's true. Ah, but I can try and address your question as far as why? Um, first of all, it's a great sandbox for leadership development I'm blessed at boeing to have a wonderful team that gives me very few challenges.

33:02.92
sharonpak5
And her.

33:12.31
sharonpak5
The.

33:15.22
Eric Eichinger
The intern program and my robotics team are full of challenges. You're trying to do things often that have never been done before in very structured institutions that don't like change and for me there is a tremendous leadership challenge to often be able to make forward progress when you have so much headwind. Ah, second thing is I use this as a talent pipeline and I have actually hired people off of the robotics team and out of the high school intern program as you acknowledge and I Honestly believe some of those hires have been some of the best ones I've ever had the privilege of making um.

33:34.28
sharonpak5
Um, definite.

33:50.52
sharonpak5
Well.

33:53.90
Eric Eichinger
It turns out if you're a wonderful person when you're 17 years old you're going to be a wonderful person when you're 27 years old as well and the last thing I already touched on I get to meet people like you if I didn't run these programs I wouldn't know you and there's a lot of people I feel.

34:01.96
sharonpak5
Ah, that's awesome I Love that.

34:08.10
sharonpak5
Christian.

34:11.72
Eric Eichinger
Very connected to that I wouldn't know as well and it just makes up for all the frustrations. All of the effort to have somebody in your life who supports you cheers you on and as you're so Good. Reminds you that you are doing a good thing even if you're. Getting nothing but frustration that particular day.

34:28.56
sharonpak5
Yeah, for sure Eric without you I would not be an engineer today I didn't know what Boeing was boeing is what made me want to go into aerospace if I had not turned that boeing out I've never seen what engineers did and so while I was going through engineering school which was miserable.

34:43.81
Eric Eichinger
Yes.

34:44.37
sharonpak5
Um, but I learned a lot I Met a lot of good people I loved my professors but the actual classes were really hard I already saw the light at the end of the tunnel because I was like boeing my internship was so much fun and I got to meet all these really cool people and work on all these cool projects and I wouldn't have had that experience if you were not running the program. So.

35:02.20
Eric Eichinger
Again, you flatter me I think you would have turned out just flying Sharon either way. But you're very kind to say those things.

35:11.50
sharonpak5
Yeah I'm telling you the truth Eric I think I would have dropped out of engineering school and went into business if I had had an already in from epoing I knew what I was like after I graduated but um, the last question I want to ask you before we wrap things up.

35:14.63
Eric Eichinger
And.

35:25.46
sharonpak5
Do you have any? ah words of wisdom for current college students anyone that might be struggling maybe through school they're kind of losing hope because maybe they didn't get that high school.

35:28.62
Eric Eichinger
Is.

35:37.20
sharonpak5
Ah, boeing experience that I had and so they're like why am I going through this isn't really worth it. Ah should I become a chemical engineer. What should I do.

35:38.25
Eric Eichinger
He has been.

35:45.79
Eric Eichinger
Right? So yes and I have that conversation with lots of people who have pretty much told me what you just said it sounds like you know some of the same people that I know. Okay, so if you're struggling. Obviously there is no easy answer.

35:56.19
sharonpak5
And her.

36:05.64
Eric Eichinger
I Would just say that there are paths to your future. Some are steeper and some are less steep the less deep path always is going to look more attractive and appealing but it doesn't take you to the high places that this deep path does and.

36:22.90
sharonpak5
Ask.

36:25.10
Eric Eichinger
I would be very intentional about what you're looking for once you go through this very difficult program just doing difficult things just because they're difficult is not necessarily the answer you want to end up in a place where you are going to find fulfillment and.

36:36.64
sharonpak5
For.

36:44.21
sharonpak5
Ah.

36:44.48
Eric Eichinger
Often for smart people they are going to be fulfilled when they're using that large brain of theirs but to be paid for using that large brain in a meaningful way means you have to use it over and over again in college and college is difficult and you're surrounded by other smart people doing the same thing. I would just say that stick to it give it your best effort. The cream does rise to the top eventually. Sometimes it requires patience internships are super hard to get especially at companies like boeing we have thousands of applicants and we tell many qualified applicants. No. And it doesn't mean that they're not qualified for the position. It just means somebody else got the job who was qualified also and I understand how difficult that is I've had those conversations. Um think about it as you have a very large ladder and. You have lots of rungs in it because you're a smart person and you can go far but you want to be very intentional which wall you lean that ladder up to so when you get to the top of it. You don't have to come back down it and go back up it ever again. You can enjoy whatever is at the top and whatever you can see and to do that. Unfortunately for many of us requires a lot of effort. Um, so I can't tell you not to struggle I can't tell you it's going to be easy I can just tell you that if you're intentional about what you're doing. It will be worth it.

38:07.52
sharonpak5
Yeah it's so true and I mean I I went to the exact same thing I went to school for 5 years and I was struggling and now I'm having a great time right? at blue origin and ah helping to work on the next generation of spacecraft. And even having conversations with you like I got to bring you into my workplace the other day and we got to kind of compare and contrast um the differences between the programs that you worked on with the different like shuttle missions and then the ah workplace that I'm at right now which is kind of a more like startup be a space environment so that was super fun.

38:29.46
Eric Eichinger
If anything.

38:42.00
Eric Eichinger
Um, it was.

38:44.73
sharonpak5
And now we're having fun but maybe the process on getting here wasn't the most fun and was kind of hard to get to. Ah.

38:54.51
Eric Eichinger
Um, ah Dmi. Ah.

38:55.39
sharonpak5
Yeah, but okay, thank you so much Eric I had so much fun chatting with you and you shared so many brilliant words of insight. Um I'll have to take a look at the 10 the list of 10 things that you mentioned earlier.

39:08.82
Eric Eichinger
Okay.

39:11.95
sharonpak5
Um, that anyone could do but I know that it's also kind of late for you in Ohio but I hope that you have a great night and thank you so much again for being on the show tonight.

39:21.41
Eric Eichinger
Well Sharon like always, you're way too kind and you give me far too much credit I just hope your listeners are not bored I've enjoyed every minute of getting a chance to share and talk to you and congratulations on your wonderful podcast and. Ah, thanks for letting me be a part of it I really appreciate that.

39:40.34
sharonpak5
Of course it's going to be a hit all your interns. All 1000 of them are going to listen to it. Yeah, yeah, I might let's stop it now.