How To Recruit Your Own Mentor

How To Recruit Your Own Mentor How To Recruit Your Own Mentor How To Recruit Your Own MentorWhether youre an engineering student, landseeking a new job, or looking for ways to grow your career, a mentor can help you find and climb the steps to success, affirms Allison McWilliams, Director of Mentoring and Professional Development at Wake Forest University.Mentors see our strengths and interests, and then encourage us to develop these assets to achieve our goals, she explains, Its a relationship that goes beyond networking or informational interviews. Good mentors ask thoughtful questions that enable them to give you objective, valuable feedback.How can you connect with one? Organized mentoring programs, often run by professional associations, are usually accessible, structured, and time-limited with well-defined goals. You can check with a local or campus chapter of any professional science or engineering group to see if they have one.McWilliams remarks that more often, though, mento rs are found informally. Think about your go-to person for getting feedback or making decisions. Do you sometimes stop by their office to ask a question? Those people are your mentors, even if you dont call them thatDepending on your comfort level, you can formalize the relationship a bit. Remember, being a mentor is a commitment of time and responsibility. If someone has been very helpful and you feel a connection, be respectful of their time, while trying to confirm their interest, she suggests. (Using the word mentor isnt essential) Instead of simply dropping by to talk sometimes, you could say, I know you have a lot on your plate. Would you be willing to get together every month?Be very specific. McWilliams stresses, articulate your goals. It helps to say, ansicht are some things I would like to work on in the next six months. Thats much easier to respond to than an open-ended request. Be clear about what youre asking for because that sets parameters. Remember, the person youre approaching is busy with their own goals, too.Approaching someone you barely know is challenging, but possible, notes McWilliams, Make a list of people whove impressed you because of smart or interesting things theyve done professionally. Ideally, youve had a brief conversation with them or an informational interview. Tell the person something you admire about their accomplishments. Then ask, Id love to hear a little about your career and the choices youve made. Can I buy you coffee or lunch, and ask a few questions?Theyll appreciate your thoughtfulness and courtesy. This would be a great way to learn things youd never know otherwise, McWilliams advises.Mentoring relationships are not permanent. If you told the person up front that youd like to meet with them over six months, acknowledge that after six months. And even if you didnt specify a time frame, there comes a point when you know if youve achieved or advanced towards the goals you identified, says McWilliams.If youve met the goals, the mentor knows. But whether you have or havent, isnt a reason to discontinue the relationship, she stresses. For instance, you can tell the person, I havent achieved exactly what I set out to do, but weve opened some other threads I never thought of. Or you might say, Ive accomplished what I asked you to help with. And it is also fine to add, I would love for this to continue how do you feel about that?You will have different mentors throughout your career, McWilliams notes, As you change jobs or take on new roles. By paying attention to your own goals and progress, youll be able to benefit from each of these relationships.The ASME Mentoring Program is designed to give Mechanical Engineering Professionals an opportunity to share their knowledge and help the next generation thrive.

Are taxpayers in your state giving more money than they get back

Are taxpayers in your state giving mora money than they get backAre taxpayers in your state giving more money than they get backTax season is in full swing, and its fair to wonder what youre getting for all your money.It turns out for people living in fruchtwein states, the federal government is spending a lot more than its receiving in tax revenue.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and more40 out of 50 states are getting more, sometimes a lot more, from the federal government than theyre paying in taxes.Taxpayers in Virginia receive more than $10,000 on a per capita basis than they pay, the biggest imbalance of any state in the country.Several states in the Northeast pay thousands more in taxes than they receive from the federal government.Our data come from theSUNY Rockefeller Institute of Governments 2019 reporton fiscal policy. The report breaks down how much money each state pays to t he federal government through taxes on a per capita basis (pink), plus how much the feds sent back in the form of expenditures (green). Expenditures is a broad category and covers a variety of things, including direct payments to people like Social Security, contracts for local governments, wages for federal workers and sub-contracting work. We ranked the states moving clockwise from high to low on the net difference between the two figures, showing a unique take on the balance of payments between federal and state governments.The first and most obvious insight in our visualization is to understand which people are receiving more money in federal outlays than theyre paying in taxes.Virginia, Kentucky and New Mexico top the charts as the top three getting the most money back. For example, in Virginia, people on average contribute $10,571 in federal tax revenue but benefit from $20,872 in federal outlays. Granted, many of these expenditures are payments to the federal workers who actu ally live in the state, but its still a nice return for the state.At the opposite end of the spectrum, several states are actually in the red.Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts each contribute thousands more on a per capita basis than they receive back from the feds. California is the closest to breaking even at a net difference of $12 per person, which is slightly more than the states minimum wage of$11/hour. Bear in mind our visual doesnt take into account the overall size of the allocations. California looks small only because its a per capita figure. In reality, were talking about billions of dollars in money flowing back and forth.In the final analysis,40 out of 50 states are getting more, sometimes a lot more, from the federal government than theyre paying in taxes. Theres a net negative balance of payments across the country. Thats why the federal government is running a massive deficit of around$1 trillionthis year. Unless and until politicians are willing to let thei r states contribute more than they receive, this situation will likely only continue to get worse.DataTable 1.1This article originally appeared on HowMuch.net.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Eli Terry

Eli Terry Eli Terry Eli TerryAround the time of the Revolutionary War, Connecticut welches the epicenter of clock-making in the United States. Clockmakers had such a large impact on the region that today, towns around Plymouth still bear the names of successful townsmen who were in the clock-making business. One town, Terryville, takes its name from the father of mass-production clock making, Eli Terry (1772 1852), who had factories there and is one of the United States most famous horologists,one who studies timekeeping and timekeepers.He grew up in Plymouth and there completed an apprenticeship with a master clockmaker. At that time, clocks were made by hand, and his mentor had begun creating standardized parts for clocks.Terry soon started his own clock-making factory using wood for the gears since it was a locally abundant material. He was considered a great man and a natural philosopher with exceptional mechanical ingenuity. He received the first clock patent granted by the Uni ted States Patent Office in 1797 for his equation clock. It was signed by President John Adams and was the first of 10 patents awarded to him in his lifetime.Eli Terrys Pillar Scroll Top Case clock was widely used and copied. Around 1800, clockmakers would begin one or two dozen at a time, using no machinery, first marking out with a square and compass then cutting the wheels and teeth with a saw and jack-knife, a very slow and tedious process, says Chauncey Jerome in his 1860 book History of the American Clock Business.Terrys factory was the first to use standardized parts in clock-making and the first to use machinery to create clocks. At his factory, wooden gears were originally fabricated using a hand-operated machine with a foot-powered lathe. In 1803 he devised ways to use waterpower to operate his machines, and shortly after, he created jigs that helped make standardized clock parts, so the factory could produce more parts per year. He had, until this time, delivered the cloc ks to his customers in person, a practice that would become difficult with higher volumes.He located his next clock-making factory in a mill that had access to water for power, and it was there, in 1808, that he started the first five hundred clocks made by machinery in the country. This was a larger number than had ever been begun at one time in the world, and it was part of a contract to produce four thousand clocks at low prices, which most people doubted was possible.He sold the plant (which did deliver four thousand clocks) and bought another where he continued his work contributing much to the field of clock-making. He briefly pursued half-second pendulums, which leuchtdiode him to the development of a much smaller shelf clock in 1814. Terry invented and patented his Pillar Scroll Top Case, a one-day clock, which revolutionized the business. It was widely used and copied. This design produced clocks in large quantities until advancements in sheet-metal replaced wooden clock bo dies almost a century later.Terry not only pursued low-cost clock making, but also high-class brass-geared clocks, which could survive the rough seas better than clocks with wooden gears when exported to customers in Europe. He also made tower clocks, one which still stands today. Of his many children, several sons followed in his footsteps in the clock-making business. Eli Terry was a prime example of a successful engineer who made a fortune out of his own ingenuity.Debbie Sniderman is CEO of VI Ventures LLC, a technical consulting company.Terrys factory was the first to use standardized parts in clock-making and the first to use machinery to create clocks.