-: A STEM, or specifically, an engineering background,
is phenomenal, because I've always thought
my engineering education allowed me to think
and allowed me to solve problems
and allowed me to be rational.
And those are skills that are gonna help you succeed
wherever you go and whatever space you're in.
And it's probably why I'm able to jump
from conversation A to B to C so rapidly,
because I'm allowed to just quickly discern
what are the facts and what are the problems
and how do we get from where we are to where we wanna be.
And I think students have to remember
that you learn just as much in the classroom
as you do outside the classroom, right?
So working on teams, working on group projects,
sort of doing research outside the classroom,
being involved in extracurricular activities
outside of just being a student and carrying a course load.
All those things really make an impact in the end,
and you don't necessarily appreciate it
while you're going through those activities.
But I find a lot of times afterwards
I'm having financial conversations,
I don't have a business background,
but because I was a treasurer in some club at NJIT,
I at least understand why the finances are important.
And that's a really small example
considered to billions of dollars of spend,
but at least it gives you an idea
and something to bring to the table.
The STEM background opens doors.
It gets your foot in the door,
but after that, the soft skills, the personality,
all the other aspects of your person,
'cause your education is just one small piece,
but all the other aspects are your selling point.
And a lot of it is how you contextualize it and message it.
So you've got to own your story and own your message,
and I really look for people who are able
to make sense of the experiences they've had
and the decisions they've made,
does it make sense, can you put it into a context
and really explain why it's valuable.