In speaking with UBC Mechanical Engineering alumnus, Christy Chow, it was interesting to learn that many of her career decisions were a result of opportunities that she acted upon as opposed to a set plan that she was following. John Krumboltz’s Planned Happenstance theory of career development can be observed throughout Christy’s career journey.
For most of Christy’s first year, she hadn’t really considered opting into the co-op program, but after attending an info session, she changed her mind. During her second year of studies, she completed an 8-month work term as an R&D Mechanical Engineering Intern with a medical device company in Vancouver. During her work term, Christy worked on new and legacy medical devices, supported CAD releases and documentation, and implemented validation test plans. This work experience led her to decide to pursue a specialization in Biomedical Engineering.
Continuing to follow her curiosity, Christy was researching student opportunities and discovered the Cansbridge Fellowship. Founded by William Yu, the fellowship provides Canadian university students with the opportunity to participate in a one-week entrepreneurial bootcamp in the Silicon Valley followed by a work term in an Asian country. The fellowship chooses 15 – 20 students each year based on their entrepreneurial spirit and capabilities with the goal of creating the next generation of innovators. Participants receive a $6,000 stipend for their work terms, but the students must find their own jobs and they cannot have connections to the country where they are employed.
Christy chose to work in Thailand where she had no experience with the culture or language. She worked at Robert Bosch GmbH as a R&D Programming Intern. Although Robert Bosch is a large company, Christy worked in the small community of Rayong, where very little English was spoken on her team. Not only was the language barrier a challenge, but Christy had superficial experience with Matlab and C++ from her courses and had to teach herself how to program.
Christy’s co-workers were not used to working with a female programmer as this was unusual in their country. At school, there was usually another female student in her classes, but in the workplace, Christy was often the only female member on her team.
“As someone who is naturally more introverted and timid, I often experience situations where I am overtalked and overshadowed by my peers in design meetings. One of my employers recently pulled me aside and advised that when this happens, regardless of my age, seniority, gender, and position, I have the authority to raise my hand, direct the room’s attention to this fact, and request for a different method of exchanging ideas. Naturally, this is easier said than done, but having another engineer recognize my unique challenge and provide this gentle mentorship was very encouraging.”
After her Thai experience, a traditional co-op no longer had the same appeal for Christy. Although she was not clear about what she wanted, she was clear about what she did not want. When a UBC alumnus reached out to the co-op office about a position at Tesla, she jumped at the opportunity. Christy’s experience in Thailand gave her the confidence to move to Palo Alto, California in January 2020 to complete her final work term.
“I was surprised that the most important lesson to me was unrelated to anything technical: the culmination of all of my work experiences has taught me about what I value and what I seek in a workplace. Working in various industries, various company sizes, and various countries has provided me with a very diverse perspective on the many different workplace cultures and arrangements - and I certainly had my fair share of disappointment along with fun. This insight was instrumental in where I am now.”
Christy is now a full-time Mechanical Design Engineer at Tesla Motors in Palo Alto. Had it not been for a chance attendance at an information session, Christy may have chosen a different path.
“Without a doubt, give co-op/WIL a shot! If you’re looking to enrich your engineering skills, there’s no better way than to do it than on a real-world project with a tangible output. If you’re looking to make connections with the greater engineering industry, co-op programs do a great job of hosting industry nights and providing the skills you need to initiate coffee chats and seek mentorships. There really is nothing to lose from trying it out, and only a plethora of skills, friends, and knowledge to gain. “