The Society of Women Engineers Conference (SWE23), by Courtney McAllister
At the end of October, six executive members of the Dalhousie Women in Engineering Society attended the world’s largest conference for women in engineering, hosted in Los Angeles, California. The Society of Women Engineers Conference (SWE23) is an annual conference for students and professional engineers to gain professional development skills and network with other women within their fields. Hosted from October 26th-28th, the conference was filled with opportunities to learn from speeches by industry professionals and to network at the career fair.
The conference theme was to Live Without Limits and presentation topics ranged from personal development to career management. The opening keynote presentation by Kate Maxwell, Microsoft Industry Lead for Worldwide Education, captured the essence of the theme. Her speech highlighted personal lessons learned; the importance of prioritizing wellness, finding validation from within, owning your authenticity, and being brave instead of fearless.
Aside from a daily keynote speaker, there were simultaneous presentations and panels throughout the event, allowing attendees to learn about a wide variety of topics. Some highlights include the presentation by Selena Rezvani, author of Quick Confidence, who discussed tips for confidence in the workplace, like embracing natural hand gestures while presenting and being intentional about choice of language. She suggested choosing to use when rather than if, should instead of could, and let’s to replace can we when communicating within a team. One of the most popular sessions was by Leslie Griffiths, SWE Leadership Coach, on the topic of Salary Negotiation: You Know You Should, Now Learn How! She advised to avoid giving ultimatums (such as needing a salary increase to cover personal loans) and instead using data to convey your point. She also discussed why it is important to consider negotiating for alternative benefits, such as vacation time and professional development opportunities.
The event included a career fair with an extensive list of companies sure to appeal to attendees of all engineering disciplines. There were resume review stations available to attendees as many companies were conducting on-site interviews for co-op placements or full-time work opportunities. There was representation from all industries, from snack food innovation for companies like Kellanova and Keurig Dr Pepper, to automotive design for companies such as Tesla and Toyota. An attendee from Dalhousie won a spin mop from the Freudenberg Group, a Halifax apartment necessity.
The career fair was a great opportunity to visualize the magnitude of impact engineers have within the world, and it was interesting to learn about why companies large and small value engineering for their operations. It was also nice to learn about opportunities that exist for students upon graduation. In general, when asked what qualities these companies value in potential employees, passion for the industry was always mentioned to be considered a great asset.
The SWE23 conference was filled with a passion for engineering and provided many avenues for attendees to learn and network. The Dalhousie Women in Engineering Society had a great experience attending the conference and have been excited to implement knowledge gained within their membership at Dalhousie.
If you would like to learn more about their experience at the conference or to participate in future events, feel free to contact the society at www.dalwie.com.