#ghc15

The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront - A program of the Anita Borg Institute. It is the largest technical conference for women in computing and results in collaborative proposals, networking and mentoring for junior women and increased visibility for the contributions of women in computing.It is co-founded by Dr. Anita Borg and Dr. Telle Whitney in 1994 and inspired by the legacy of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper.

I was first introduced to GHC by “Bangladeshi Women in Computer Science & Engineering, BWCSE”. I was confused whether I would be able to grab this opportunity in the very first year of university. But I thought of giving a try as I was highly inspired by my seniors Samia apu and Raisa apu (who attended GHC 2014). In every step of my scholarship application, they have guided me like mentors. When I finally got the scholarship I could not believe my eyes. This has been only because of BWCSE. My very Special thanks to my adviser sir, Dr. Md. Shohrab Hossain, who recommended me for the scholarship. My gratitude to the kind application reviewers who paved me the way to GHC !

Then finally I got an identity of a GHC Scholar along with Anika Tabassum Apu with around 455 scholars. This year’s GHC was grand with around 12,000 people in Houston,Texas for 14th-16th Oct,2015. All the three days offered a great series of sessions, workshops, career talks, presentations etc in technical, career-oriented, open source and many other tracks. It was like a powerful crowd of which one will always want to be a part of!

14th October:

At the very first day, we first collected our badges, swag bags and meal card from registration booth. There was a series of “Wednesday keynote Session” where Telle Whitney & Hilary Mason’s Keynote was extraordinarily entertaining! There was “Student Opportunity Lab” where different tables had discussions on different topics. There is an overview of “SOL” in this video. There was super amazing “GHC Scholars Lunch” sponsored by Apple. After a dive to the world of Virtual Reality in “Oculus” booth we roamed over the career fair as well as community fair (New edition of GHC’15). The  Career Fair was full of opportunities and diversity. My trip to career fair started from Intel and got over with LeanIn.org. I also won a small raffle draw there and got some cool stuffs from LeanIn.org ,whoowhoo !

 As the career fair was 3 days long, we tried to visit it almost everyday and got to meet recruiters from awesome companies like Google, Apple, Intel, Intuit, Microsoft, Ericsson, LeanIn and also many universities! There was opportunity to schedule on-spot interview. We interacted with the recruiters and collected some awesome swags.

15th October:

Like the first day, we started with the Thursday Keynote session. After roaming over the fair, we headed to the Lunch Time Table Talk of “Bangladeshi Women in Computing” and it was an amazing meet up with the alumni of my university. We(me and Anika Apu) had a great time with Fariba Apu, Zalia Shams Apu, Nova Apu, Moushumi Apu, Ambreen Siraj Apu and Selina Apu. A big thanks goes to Nova Apu who arranged this table topic.

 That day, we had our lunch at “WomenTechMakers party” sponsored by Chromecast and we got a cool Chromecast Audio by Google. Later on the two consecutive nights(14th & 15th), there were hangouts ( kind of parties ! ) in Nova Apu’s room with the senior apus and they were of great fun. Spending time with them was the most amazing part of our trip.

16th October:

Finally, It was the last day of GHC. Attending the keynote session of Sheryl Sandberg, we attended a session on Data Science along with Monica Apu & it went quite good. Then after roaming a little over the fair, I headed to “Systers Lunch” sponsored by Prudential. This meetup helped me to connect with great ladies there!  After the sessions and fair being closed, the most awaited Friday night celebration came! It was held in the “Minute Maid Park” near to the convention center, sponsored by Google ,Expedia and Microsoft. The people there didn’t give any rest to the dance floor till midnight, including us! Me, Bushra Apu, Mihika Apu, Sabrina Apu, Nazifa Apu, Anika Apu literally had a lot of fun with our random dance-steps. Thus the Record breaking Grace Hopper Celebration 2015 ended with the splendid Friday night celebration.

The most important thing that I learnt from GHC is how to connect with people and interact with them. It’s not just about sitting beside them, but talking to them and broadening your network. This experience will always remain as a very special memory throughout my life.

This week marks week two post GHC! I hope at this point, you’ve made contact with others you happened to meet at the conference and have established a connection. This week, we will focus on post GHC interviews.

At this point, companies should begin contacting (if they haven’t already done so), applicants with whom they’d like to move forward with the interview process.(1)  If you are one of the lucky applicants, congratulations! Keep doing what you are doing! For all those who might not fare as well, this one is for you!

I’ve had my fair share of interviews (for both internships as well as full-time positions) throughout the years of attending GHC and have gotten the “Next Steps” email as well as the “Thanks for interviewing with us” email. One of the best things that struck out to me my first year attending GHC was the career fair. I recognized early on, it was probably my only chance of getting some face to face time in front of some of the best companies in tech. These tech companies simply didn’t recruit at my school and a lot of times, I was certain if I had applied online, my resume probably never got seen in a flurry of thousands of applicants competing for the same job.  The upside to that though is at GHC not only do you have the potential to get one interview- you can get many.

The downside however is the potential to get several thanks but no thanks emails. Interviewing is tough and it takes a lot out you. Here are some things I did throughout my job hustling years to get past those ‘you just weren’t the perfect fit’ type emails.

It is totes okay to binge eat any or all of the following post email: junk food, the whole bag of skinny pop, chicken wings or anything your normal diet simply doesn’t allow.

It is okay to not know every single answer.

One time I got asked about sets in python. Problem was, I forgot sets don’t allow duplicates then and there so that question was bust. I don’t recall a lot from that interview-just that I didn’t know the correct answer. What did I do? I went and looked in Python docs until I found my answer. You bet your butter I never forgot that sets don’t allow duplicates in python.  

Comparison will lead to self-terror and should be avoided at all costs.

In school, we’d always talk about how the internship/research hunt was going and there’d always be one or two people who’d boast about having 3-4 offers. Stay away from those people. I’m not saying don’t talk to them but don’t compare yourself to them. There will always be someone who can code better than you, faster than you or bust out more robust code than yours. Celebrate their successes but recognize how awesome you are.

You might need to alter your mindset…just a tad.

It ties in with the comparison bit. It is easy to beat yourself up when you go through periods of nos. I actually had a running list of things written down of things I was good at. The list had comp sci related things as well as other things like: yo-yos, dodge-ball,eating. I would add 3 things to the list every time I got a rejection email and would reread my list. It helped me from getting too down on myself.

You can learn from every interview in some way.

As I mentioned before, only you and your interviewer know how the interview went.

Skills missteps

I’d like to say that my python blurp was one of the worse things that ever happened to me during a technical interview. Nope. You know what I did do? Get help on those things post interview. My late advisor sat down with me and gave me 3 problems to work on and report back with my answers. Every week.

Program program and program. You’ll never get better if you don’t practice. Practice doesn’t make perfect, but it will build confidence.  

Behavioral missteps  

Sometimes, it’s difficult to ask for assistance during programming interviews. I tried to focus on solving the problem-quietly. Problem was, I figured out being quiet doesn’t help you during an interview. It actually hurts you. Engineers probably don’t want to hear silence…especially when it’s apparent you are struggling. It’s an interview-not an awkward first date. Be vocal about your thoughts or the route you are taking and talk through it. Sometimes, you’ll figure out your error by vocalizing it or your interviewer may step in and guide you in the right direction.

Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try again.

We don’t win them all but remember you are smart, talented and driven. Could’ve should’ve would’ve doesn’t help you. At this point, focus on what went wrong, write down a plan to fix it, execute and keep on interviewing.

Rejection is tough. You have to move forward though. Remember to stay healthy, exercise and unwind once in a while. You’ll find a great place to work or conduct research.

Like a Boss. 

I hope you enjoyed your time in Houston. I also hoped you met, networked with and connected with a lot of female technologists! This week is follow up week AKA the most important week of the year.

Don’t let all of that networking go to waste.

First thing is first- let’s find those business cards you stashed away. Hopefully, you have them together if not, time to fish them out of every notepad, card holder and bag you had around you.

Secondly-the sorting begins! Go on and dig out that sorting hat. I found it helpful to have a few piles. The connectors,the influencers, the potential mentors and the networkers.

The networkers- those who I’d love to have in my network. The people who make this list are generally people who are in different fields or have various levels of experience.

The influencers- the influencers typically were the speakers or those whom I aspired to be. Some of my influencers include people like Megan Smith, Jo Miller, Nora Denzel and of course Sheryl Sandberg.

The potential mentors- those who I look up to and feel I could learn from.

The connectors- the connectors tend to be social butterflies. They know the inner workings of Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and they know everyone.

(Note: Sometimes people can fit into one or more pile and that’s cool too)

All of these people will play a key role in your network and it is important to recognize which pile they belong to so you can approach them correctly. Every person is different and each email should bridge both what they are good at and what kind of relationship you are looking to establish.

Third- Establish the connection. A lot of times, their business cards will have their preferred contact. This can be anything from Twitter handles to personal emails. Armed with that info., it’s time to make contact!

3 (and a halfsies)

Probably the most difficult yet most important part of this entire thing.

Emails or LinkedIn are actually one of the easiest ways of getting in contact with someone. Things to include are:

A reintroduction of yourself

A quick note as to where you met/what you were doing when you exchanged information at #GHC15 (I say this because it is conference season so sometimes- people will leave one conference and jet off to the next)

What you are looking to gain from your new found connection

Thank them for their time and finally

Wish them well.

So they love to tweet

You have a 140 characters to make an impression so go for it! I dig deep and get creative. Emojis are your friend, insert tiny snippets of your conversation or if you really just can’t; DM is the way to go.

Fourth Keep the spirit going. You've made the initial contact-great! Don’t let them forget you! No this doesn’t mean you have to have weekly emails but drop them a line (or tweet) once in a while to check in. Maintaining a relationship with your new connection isn’t hard but it is pivotal in networking.

Male allies are having a moment. I missed the session last year but heard all about it through word of mouth and Twitter. Hearing stories of women being mistreated socially and professionally is difficult but necessary for us to move forward.

I’m here 15 minutes early and the place is already at capacity. I’m reminded of my late advisor-Dr. O.-one of the greatest male allies around. I grew excited as I looked around and saw all the men in the room. It was as though every man at the conference was in this room.

Speakers Ray and Rayona took the stage and gave some fun facts about themselves. I sparkly duo-they mentioned that last year the male ally panel listened to stories and this year we would hear from others (aka them).

They jumped right in and spoke about the bobble head ally. Those men who would shake their head up and down with the yeah I get it over and over again. Sadly, I myself have encountered this version of a male ally.  “Good intentions aren’t good enough..” Ray mentioned “we [males] have been the mass majority of the problem….it’s all justified and I get it and I’m sorry” Ray continued. I didn't really know what to think but I felt as though this was deja vu and I had heard it all before.

Why men should care:

a better quality of life

no more isolation

restore our dignity

our family members

it makes for better business

Ray and Rayona went over each one and almost seemed to emphasize the last- it makes for better business. The whole business notion bothers me. Why now? Did we as a society miss the memo that stated there were X number of women in the United States? So is it about making the world a better place or is it about dollars and cents. I charged on.

“Women have a lot of work to do for  each other.” “If you think it’s challenging for white women, think of our sisters of color who have a much taller hill to climb”- Rayona. I took a deep breath and began to shift in my seat.

3 powerful leverage points Ray and Rayona discussed were

empowering and supporting women leaders

engaging men as allies

identifying and transforming institutional spots and systematic barriers.

Finally I thought. Some solutions. The duo mentioned the biggest obstacle we face is unconscious bias. They spoke of how it can be defeated by awareness. “we live inside of language…those conclusions are the source of our reactions”…Rayona.

Key insights to know about men:

shaming and blaming doesn't ‘work

moral case

business case

personal case

mistakes will happen

We cannot evolve as a species without forgiveness. If you are looking for mistakes you’ll find them. If you are looking for progress you’ll find that too. I thought about progress and how we can get there. Ray and Rayona spoke about accountability. For organizations-> metrics, a call on women, for organizations to insist recruiters bring in qualified minorities. An example was used for an C-suite position that remained vacant until a qualified person filled it. Finally, sponsorship; two women: 1 white, 1 woman of color. The duo spoke about how we should push, promote and protect. I rather enjoyed the accountability bit. Companies however, will hire the best of the best. I waited for the pipeline word to drop. It didn’t and I didn’t miss it.

The duo reminded us if you take the case you can’t make a difference you won’t and that practice makes permanent not perfect.

Pictures from the 2015 Grace Hopper Celebration last week are now up! Thank you to all the organizers for another AMAZING conference. Each of our attendees loved it!

We’ll be discussing our experiences at GHC and our society in general at our first general body meeting of the year, TODAY! Be sure to come out! Free pizza is involved. The details:

Drexel WiCS (First!) GB Meeting Wednesday, Oct 21 (today!) 5: 30 - 6:30 PM RUSH 209

This past weekend was the Grace Hopper conference, “Celebration of Women in Computing,” sponsored by the Anita Borg Institute in Huston, Texas. The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing ranks itself to be the largest gathering of women in computer science and related fields, and thus serves as a networking and inspiration tool for women in information technology. Every year, the conference brings together professionals of all parts of the technology industry, from front-end to back-end for three days to educate and help spread awareness about woemn in sectors of tech with event such as the ACM Poster Session, Open Source Day, CRA-W Sessions, Student Opportunity Labs, the Career and Community Fair.

The conference’s namesake, Grace Hopper(1905-1992), was one of the top software engineers before computer science, strictly speaking, existed as a rigorous or academic subject. Grace Hopper was a programer for the Harvard Mark I project during World War II, she invented the first compiler for computer programming languages, and created one of the first high-level programming languages: COBOL, “common business oriented language.” In an effort to popularize computer science and make computer programing more accessible to individuals outside of academic mathematics, Grace Hopper designed a programing language where commands could be issued in English.

2015 was my first Grace Hopper Conference. For those who don’t know, it’s the largest gathering of women who work in technology. The program includes technical talks, career and personal workshops, lots of free swag, a huge career fair, and plenty of parties. I attended to recruit and interview for Yahoo’s APM program, so I was mostly stuck in the career fair. (I did sneak away to listen to Sheryl Sandberg and watch iLuminate.) I talked in depth with eleven amazing college seniors and invited some of them (using hand-written, wax-sealed invitations, of course) to an absurdly swanky dinner at a nearby steakhouse. Recruiting has its perks! I went with another APM, Jennelle, and our APM Program Manager, Rachel, and we had a wonderful time.

I also got to see lots of old friends. Ashley, a fellow Fulbrighter who put me up when I was stranded in Brussels, is a doctoral student in computational biology and a member of the Anita Borg Institute’s board. She was elusive, but we finally managed to grab brunch. I also ran into three Olin friends (Katie, Mariah, and Molly) who are all program managers at Microsoft and a Microsoft friend (Claire) who was on my team when I interned there.