On Thursday night, we have the opportunity to chat with Tasnuva over dinner. She is the technical project manager in Alta Devices. She was brought up in Bangladesh, finished her high school in Bangladesh. Then, she moved to the UK for her college. She received her Master’s degree in Material Science from Cornell University. The biggest take-away for me is that communication is essential in our career life. She shared with us her story about how her job involves continuously talking to people. Although she is an introvert, she developed excellent communication skills over time. She also told us that it is okay to change job if we find ourself not learning anything new. She currently works as a startup in California, focusing on renewable energy. She used to be in a small company, and then she switched into a bigger company. Since she is working with international corporations, it is unlikely that she would have a 9 am to 5 pm schedule. Instead, her work hours are from 9 am -9 pm because 5 pm-9 pm is the most active time for Asian countries. She has to be call-in for a meeting to know what is going on. We talked about how the employee does not expect to be paid overtime because they are willing to do the work.

Overall, I am glad that I have learned a lot from her journey. She gave us a lot of advice regarding academic and career. The dinner is an excellent networking opportunity, and I look forward to joining another one.