Caterpillar Recruiters Attend Women Engineers Conference

 

In November 2012, a group of 35 Caterpillar recruiters attended an annual conference that focused on helping female engineers network, to recruit talented candidates and expand their technical expertise in the field of engineering. The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) conducted an annual conference in Houston, Texas, where 6,400 participants (both men and women) could participate in a career fair, technical tours, panel discussions and networking events.

Christine Troglio, with the Caterpillar U.S. Talent Solutions Team, said Caterpillar uses conventions such as SWE to recruit interns and recent college graduates.

Troglio said, "Career fair attendees can talk to Caterpillar recruiters about current employment opportunities. It's a great way to promote the Caterpillar employment brand. A lot of people are looking for jobs right now, but we're also talking to younger students who might consider us for future openings."

Recruiters also had the opportunity to attend the educational sessions and a keynote breakfast with speaker, Dr. Ellen Ochoa, deputy director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Kelsey Anderson, who works in Hydraulic System Development, wrote two blog posts about her experiences at SWE.

In her blog, she said, "Ellen Ochoa of NASA talked about her journey to her current position, including her family history and her path through college in the 70's - including one physics professor who actually encouraged her. She concluded by narrating a video that showed footage of her shuttle mission to bring a truss structure to the International Space Station! If I didn't already have a cool job, I'd say it would be hard to pick any career other than astronaut by the end of her presentation. In fact, most of the women who asked questions at the end started off by saying, 'I always wanted to be an astronaut…'"   

Several members of the Caterpillar team also presented during the workshops and panel discussions, and Solar Turbines Inc., a subsidiary of Caterpillar, offered a technical tour of the TurboFab facility in Channelview, Texas.

Debra Kimberling, Principal Engineer from Solar Turbines, became a Fellow of SWE. She won this award for her significant contributions in raising public awareness of engineering as a rewarding career for women both in the community and in the workplace. At Solar Turbines, she led the creation of the first employee resource group, which helps women engineers meet and get to know others in the same profession at work.

"I can't tell you how proud I am to work for a company that embraces so many employee resource groups and employee initiatives. This helps to create a positive environment for the development and maintenance of a diverse workforce," said Kimberling.

Kimberling has been involved at all levels within SWE over the last 20 years, serving as section president of the San Diego County Section and on the society board as Region B Director. Today she serves as the Corporate Connections Director for the San Diego County Section, where she mentors younger members and provides leadership on fundraising and section initiatives. She is also a member of the SWE Magazine editorial board and frequently speaks on the latest research on women engineers.

Caterpillar's own Stacey DelVecchio is the current SWE President-Elect and will become the society president in July 2013. SWE is a global organization established in 1950 with more than 20,000 members and more than 400 professional and collegiate chapters around the globe. Next year's SWE Annual Conference is October 24-26, 2013, in Baltimore.