IT – Seidenberg School News

Summer Internship Series: Melanie Greene

Summer is almost over, meaning it’s time to catch up with our students on where they interned over the break. First up is Melanie Greene (BS in Information Technology with a minor in marketing), who interned at broadcaster SiriusXM and was kind enough to share her experience with us.

Take it away, Melanie!

Over the summer I had the privilege of interning at SiriusXM within the Business Intelligence department of the company. I have been working with the IT Desk Support gaining exposure to the corporate world and the IT infrastructure of SiriusXM. I have a mentor who is the Site Supervisor. He has been training and teaching me along this journey. It is hard to fathom that it has been over two months since I started – time flies when you’re having fun!

Since I started back in June, I have gained a vast amount of knowledge and hands-on experience dealing with equipment and developing relationships. Establishing a good professional working relationship is essential to getting the job done, and hopefully opening the doors to professional development in the future.

Working in the field is completely different from reading a textbook – I value a hands-on approach to learning because there is nothing like diving into the field and participating in real world problems. Throughout my internship I have replaced and allocated equipment to my co-workers, moved employees from one location to another, replaced hardware in desktops, managed the inventory of hardware in Active Directory, reviewed the updates of machines in System Center Configuration Manager, and fulfilled tickets generated by employees on ServiceNow. Additionally I have updated the inventory of hardware in our Access database and created excel spreadsheets to keep track of newly acquired hardware. I also imaged machines with the SiriusXM build. My tasks changed every day depending on what my mentor asked me to do.

A lesson my mentor taught me when troubleshooting is to consider many reasons why something is not working. I could also see how this lesson applies to life. I feel that I have gained many new skills and strengthened many old ones. To work in this field or any industry, I have learned that it is essential to have stellar communication skills when asking the right questions, to manage customer relationships, and to troubleshoot relentlessly. These skills can be applied to a variety of jobs because they are invaluable.

I cannot fathom how fast the summer has gone. At SiriusXM I have had the opportunity to attend Snack and Learn Sessions where myself and the other interns would enjoy snacks and listen to an employee of the company discuss their journey on how they got where they are today. Towards the end of the internship there was an Intern Celebration Luncheon where we talked about our experiences and munched on delicious pizza and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream from our Intern Advisor which was extremely generous. I had a wonderful time attending the Snack and Learn Sessions, the Resume Workshop, and the Intern Celebration Luncheon.

One of my favorite parts of this internship has been meeting so many interesting employees from different walks of life and career backgrounds. I am fascinated speaking with my colleagues because I learn and grow as a technologist, a student, and a future woman in the workforce. It is intriguing to hear about everyone’s positions and the work that they do. I have met Java Developers, Web Designers, Application Developers, Marketing Managers, among many others – everyone’s job contributes to the success of the company. Everyone has been so kind to me and I cannot thank them enough for making me feel so comfortable and providing an environment for me to thrive and learn. It has been truly an unforgettable experience. I will most definitely be remaining in contact with everyone that I met and worked with. I hope the door remains open so that I could embark on more opportunities with SiriusXM.

I strongly thank all the professors I have had at Pace for challenging me and giving me the necessary foundation for thriving in the workforce and exposing me to endless opportunities.

CS, IS, or IT? Dr. Dwyer Explains the Differences

Freshman year of college is a year of discovery and exploration. Your first year is a great time to find what inspires you and what you want to spend the next four years pursuing. It can be tricky to navigate the sea of different majors when choosing just one or two feels like such a huge decision. But not to worry — for those who are interested in the complex world of computing, the chair of Information Technology (IT) at Seidenberg Dr. Cathy Dwyer sits down and answers a few questions freshmen want to know.

Dr Dwyer

What is the difference between Computer Science (CS), Information Systems (IS) and Information technology (IT)?

“There are a few differences between CS and IS and IT. CS focuses more on building software, whereas IT and IS focus more on the use or the application of it. CS is where you focus on building software — you become interested in things like “is this the right algorithm?” “Is this software being as efficient as it can be?” “Am I using the resources of the machine in the best possible way?” In CS you study patterns and techniques to make your software as efficient as possible.

In the IS and IT department, your focus is more on the application of the program. These students think more on how to use the programs and the best way to use them. It is more focused on identifying real world problems that people have and want to use technology for. IS and IT students look at problems in such a way that you can say, “okay, this is the right tool and this is the right way to use it.” That is the difference between the two.”

What is a skill that both IS and IT students should have?

“You actually need two sets of skills. You need to have good IT skills but also good people skills; it’s very important to be able to communicate. When you get a job, it isn’t just working in IT — you’re also sort of a conduit. You need to be able to explain your IT skills to people in a way that those who are not in that department will understand. There are a lot of excellent programmers who can’t explain what they’re doing unless it’s with someone who is also in that field, so this is where good people skills come in.

What is big in IT and IS?

“Right now it is big data, data analytics, text analytics and using a variety of analysis tools to look for relationships between the data that are of interest and documenting or explaining them in a way that’s useful.”

What’s the best way to find an internship?

“The most important thing is to get involved in Co-op and Career Services. I know it can be a pain sometimes to go to workshops, but they are definitely worth it. Seidenberg actually has someone in the office every Wednesday that can help you find an internship. Just from spending time at Seidenberg, you’ll hear about internships and there is also a bulletin board that is always filled with flyers advertising different job opportunities for students. For freshmen and sophomores, it’s really about feeling ready for an internship, and what’s great about career services is that there are interview workshops to help you prepare and the Seidenberg career counselor is available to look at your resume and talk about what to emphasize and maybe even discuss other opportunities to further your experience before you take an internship.”

For freshmen, an internship may be the first job they ever have. Sometimes asking about money can be awkward, what do you think the best way to ask an employer about payment?

“It’s about asking at the right point. Before you actually commit to something, just ask. If they don’t answer you, they most likely are not going to pay you. So it is up to the individual to decide if the job is worth the experience or not.”

Are there any classes you recommend to freshmen?

“If there are any freshmen in the IT or IS department, I should know them. Come and introduce yourself and together we can figure out what you’re really interested in and what courses are best for you. For people who are testing the water, I suggest they take the Web Authoring and Multimedia Class (CIT231) or Service Learning (CIS102W) or Hardware (CIT211) as a way to get their foot in the door. But to really pick a direction, come talk to me or make an appointment to talk to one of our very talent academic advisors Stephanie Elson and Kim Brazaitis to find the right path for you!”

Do you have any advice for freshmen?

“I really encourage students to try to get internships. Come to the computer club — get involved in any student activity. Go to meetups just so you’re exposed to the profession, so you can get a sense of what people in your field are doing and the kind of problems they are working on.”

Dr. Dwyer is currently teaching Introduction to Information Technology (CIT 110) and in the Fall she will be teaching a graduate course on Social and Mobile Technologies (IS 676) and Java Programming (CIT 312) — check them out in Schedule Explorer!

Peta Clarke on the Frontier for Change

Peta Clarke, a Seidenberg graduate student halfway through her MS in Information Systems, also heavily involved in the program Black Girls CODE (BGC – pictured on the right at Google HQ), is also a Senior I.T. Analyst for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In this role, she works as Web Developer, Database Programmer, Software Tester, as well as Business Analyst or Project Manager if need be. Her main responsibility is assuring the quality of Fedwire, the premier electronic payments and securities transfer services that banks, businesses, and government agencies rely on for mission-critical, same-day transactions.

Black Girls CODE, the organization that has worked with Pace on many occasions, was founded in 2011 and has already:

Held classes and workshops for over 2,000 girls in mobile app development, game design, Web development, robotics, and other computer programming topics
Scaled rapidly, building chapters in seven different states in the US and one chapter in Johannesburg, South Africa
Has received requests from more than 80 cities worldwide to bring this innovative program to their communities.

BGC works towards empowering girls of color from ages 7 to 17. The early exposure to S.T.E.M. fields, programming languages, technology mentors, and leadership activities will give the girls tools they need to create their own futures, while providing a network of like-minded peers.

Clarke’s work at her bank and her work at BGC have both come together for February, in celebration of Black History Month. The Bank has selected BGC as its service project for February, meaning that 25 students from BGC were invited to the Bank and given an overview of the NY Fed and how the Bank uses technology for daily operation. Bank employees then gave valuable career advice to the students. The event was a success, leaving the students with all kinds of ideas and newfound interests in technological careers of banking.

We asked Peta how Pace has helped her in her goals and she brought up Dr. Jonathan Hill’s support. She was working on launching the NY Chapter of BGC, and through Dr. Hill, Pace played host to BGC’s first Game Design workshop this past August. Since then, four other workshops have been held, and more are scheduled to happen.

As we segue from Black History Month into Women’s History Month — we felt the need to ask Peta about her thoughts on gender in the technological field. She responded with the idea that “any imbalance places limits on the potential of a community.” She praises the unique perspectives women bring to a group that would be absent among only men. Then, gender aside, Peta states that “we need more people in tech, period!” Computing-related jobs are on a steep incline, and the computing graduates of the U.S. aren’t even filling a third of those jobs.