boeing Archives - College of Business

August 3, 2015August 12, 2015

A summer of study, networking

Back from Europe, Annemarie Lewandowski is interning in Gresham at Boeing.

Summer is a relaxing time for many university students, but often it’s a busy season for College of Business students looking to broaden their experiences, widen their networks and deepen their resumes.

Take Annemarie Lewandowski, a senior majoring in management.

The first part of summer found her studying international business administration at the Bad Mergentheim, Germany, campus of Duale Hochschule Baden-Wurttemberg. DHBW is one of the College of Business’ partner institutions through the Arthur Stonehill International Exchange Program.

“I liked it,” Lewandowski said. “It was a really good experience being in a different culture in a different country, a whole different system. I’m definitely glad I went – it’s one of greatest things I’ve ever done.”

The course structure and schedule took a little getting used to, though.

“We’d have like one class for a week and a half and then be done (before moving on to the next class),” she said. “It was horrible at first being in class from 9 to 4:30 straight; the first couple of weeks were rough. But we’d take a 10-minute break every hour and a half for the smoking students – it was funny, I was shocked at the reason, but I wasn’t complaining.”

While in Europe, Lewandowski visited nine nations.

“You cross over into another country for a weekend, the culture changes, the language changes,” she said. “Everything’s so close and so small, but each country is unique. I was the most fascinated with that. Within 20 feet, the architecture style changed, and the people were completely different in their views and opinions.”

Lewandowski particularly enjoyed the citywide beauty of Prague, capital of the Czech Republic.

“It’s magnificent, one of the places I would go back to,” she said.

Back home in Oregon, Lewandowski is working in Gresham as a business operations intern at Boeing.
She’s helping project managers on individual projects, and also assisting with a company-wide initiative toward leaner, more efficient meetings and reports.

“It’s something we definitely hear about in all of our classes – lean, lean, lean,” she said. “It’s been nice to be onsite, implementing it myself, to see what is taught in class come to life.”

For information about study-abroad opportunities, contact the College of Business advising office, 122 Austin Hall or 541-737-3716. For information about internships, drop by the Career Success Center, 102 Austin Hall, or call the CSC at 541-737-8957.

May 26, 2015May 21, 2015

Boeing Day busy for reps, students

Sierra Makepeace of Boeing, left, talks with pre-graphic design student Hannah King at Boeing's booth in the MU quad. — Sierra Makepeace of Boeing, left, talks with pre-graphic design student Hannah King at Boeing’s booth in the MU quad.

Representatives from Boeing, corporate partner of the College of Business, were on campus May 14 for Boeing Day, a series of workshops and informational events aimed at helping Oregon State students learn more about the aerospace giant and job opportunities at the company.

On hand were Brad Stevenson, a college recruiter; Sierra Makepeace, who works in business operations; Matt McMahen, finance; and Kalan Guiley, continued airworthiness manager for twin-aisle airplane programs and commercial airplanes.

Comprising Boeing Day were two separate resume workshops (in the Kelley Engineering Center and Austin Hall), a mid-day information table in the Memorial Union quad, and an evening information session in Austin Hall.

Sophomore Hannah King, a pre-graphic design student, and graduating senior Matthew L. Bautista, a management major, were among the throng of students to drop by Boeing’s booth in the quad.

“I wanted to see what the opportunities were, and I definitely got information that I want to check out,” King said.

Bautista is a former Air Force mechanic who now works in human resources in Portland for the Oregon Air National Guard in addition to attending OSU. He’s interested in HR or career development work with Boeing and is grateful for how his studies and professional life are propelling each other forward.

“I take what I learn in Austin and apply it to my professional life and personal life, and I take what I learn there and apply it here,” he said. “There’s a good synergy going on.”

Boeing, founded in Seattle in 1916 and now based in Chicago, is the world’s largest aerospace company and serves customers in 150 countries.

April 30, 2015September 28, 2015

Haakenson: Success reflects on OSU

Katie Haakenson.

When Katie Haakenson was still an intern, Boeing tasked her with creating and hosting a conference for the company’s project managers in the Puget Sound area.

The idea was for them to talk about methodologies they’d used and lessons they’d learned.

About 20 people attended.

“Everyone thought it was very valuable and said, we want to do that again,” said Haakenson, who earned a finance degree from Oregon State in 2009 and added an MBA a year later. “So the next year when we hosted the Boeing Project Management Conference, it went from 20 to about 100, and they came from all across the country. The third year, there were more than 300 from around the world. The event still goes on, and all the project managers look forward to it. It’s pretty cool to be able to say I started it.”

The creativity, leadership skills and organizational savvy that Haakenson used in developing the conference are among the reasons she’s this year’s Distinguished Young Business Professional.

“I think it’s a great honor,” she said. “Any success I’ve had reflects back to my experiences at OSU.”

Haakenson, hired as a permanent employee after starring in her internship, spent nearly four years with Boeing at the Everett (Wash.) Delivery Center. She’s now a project leadership associate with Point B Management Consultants in Seattle, having started there in January following one-year stints at Microsoft and Logic 20/20, also a Seattle-based consulting firm.

The bustle of Seattle represents a stark change from Haakenson’s youth in Corbett, Ore., where her graduating class at Corbett High featured 45 people.

Choosing Oregon State after a campus visit and conversations with faculty made her feel at home, she worked two jobs to pay for school and still graduated in three years, then stayed a fourth year and collected an MBA.

“I really liked the IBP (integrated business plan) program, and I wanted some additional time with College of Business faculty since I’d learned so much as an undergraduate,” Haakenson said.

She mentioned in particular professor Erik Larson, who taught Haakenson project management, and professional development instructor Gene Young, whose lessons “helped me get positions that on paper I didn’t have enough experience for by defining and highlighting what I could bring to the table.”

“Going to OSU was a great experience, and the connections I’ve kept with the university are very valuable for me,” she said. “I don’t think I could have made a better choice.”

April 22, 2015April 27, 2015

Business Expo draws huge crowd

Doug Robillard of Boeing talks about how students can get the most out of their internship and career.

Doug Robillard, quality director for Boeing’s 747 and 767 programs, told College of Business students that his company wants its interns to question why the company does things the way it does.

“Your questioning and understanding of what we’re doing make us better,” said Robillard, one of the presenters April 21 at the Business Expo at Austin Hall. “It’s easy for a company to fall into doing things a certain way because that’s the way we’ve always been doing them, and a lot of those companies are no longer with us.”

Robillard, a 1987 College of Business graduate who’s spent his entire career at Boeing, conducted a workshop titled “Keys to a Successful Internship and Job.” His workshop was one of four, each given twice, at the Business Expo; the others were “Making the Most of Your Internship,” presented by Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance; “Networking Skills,” by Mass Mutual Financial Group and Cambia Health Solutions; and “Resume Writing,” by Enterprise Holdings.

Those companies were among 17 that took part in the Expo, which drew more than 200 students of all classes and majors and featured hours of networking opportunities in addition to the workshops.

“It’s a competitive world you guys are in,” Robillard said. “Internships are a big step in our company for getting your foot in the door.”

Boeing internships take place in the fall, he said. Most of them are in the Seattle area, and there are also opportunities in Troutdale, as well as around the nation.

Robillard noted that at his last count, he was one of 678 OSU alumni working for Boeing.

Oregon State also has a strong alumni presence at Cambia, and the company sent Michelle Scwhartz, diversity and university programs manager, to Austin Hall to help teach students how to network their way to career success. A key topic during her presentation was the informational interview – meeting with someone at a place you might like to work to learn about it and what potential roles might be, and also to make a key connection to follow up with over time.

Schwartz advised developing a list of questions to bring to the interview, and the questions shouldn’t include asking for a job or even a job interview, or asking the interviewee how much money he or she makes.

Schwartz also told the students to write a thank-you note to the interviewee, ideally a handwritten one.

“It’s so rare, it really stands out,” she said.

MBA student Huiying Huang, who’s graduating this year and wants to be a management consultant, said she found the informational interview tips particularly useful.

Michelle Scwhartz of Cambia Health Solutions gives students networking tips.

October 11, 2013

Students make professional connections at Industry Info Sessions

Oregon State College of Business student Elizabeth Yamada didn’t know what to expect when she sat in on her first Industry Information Session.

Yamada is hoping to join the MECOP business and engineering internship program and wanted to hear from representatives of the Boeing Company, one of the session’s featured companies and a MECOP sponsor as well.

She spoke with Boeing Project Manager Katie Schuberg, an OSU Finance and MBA graduate and former MECOP intern herself.

Yamada left with her questions answered, a new contact at a company she’d love to work with and renewed confidence in her path.

“[Schuberg] was also a MECOP intern, and hearing she doesn’t have a technical background — like me — I needed to hear that,” Yamada said.

Put on by the College of Business Career Success Center, Industry Information Sessions bring representatives from multiple companies to Bexell Hall 328 at 4 p.m. every Tuesday.

Every session focuses on a different industry, allowing students to meet with recruiters, find out more about companies and start networking for future jobs and internships.

Fall term’s first session featured the aviation industry, with representatives from Boeing, the Port of Portland and Evergreen Aviation.

Yamada said the environment was welcoming, with recruiters open to questions and eager to give advice.

“It’s not as scary as it sounds like,” she said. “When they announce it in class, networking can sound intimidating, but the recruiters are just like we are.”

Schuberg said she enjoys coming back to Corvallis as a Boeing rep now, and encourages students to attend as many professional events as they can before graduating.

“It’s about opening students’ eyes to the possibilities at a company,” she said of her role on campus visits. “I never thought about Boeing until I was there.”

The sessions and in-person contact with a representative can also be tools when looking for future positions.

“That face-to-face interaction with representatives from a company is huge,” Schuberg added. “We do take resumes and answer questions, and it shows you’re proactive.”

For her, that active role in the job search is the best thing a student can do.

“You’re the only one looking out for yourself,” Schuberg said. “Put yourself out on a limb sometimes.”