Misagh Tavanpour
PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering (2017)
- What field of work are you in, and what duties are required in your position?
I am working as a Software Engineer at Cisco Systems. I am involved in different aspects of a code life cycle including design, implementation, unit test, integration test, debugging and code maintenance.
- What challenges did you face when looking for work after graduating?
Being overqualified and not having Permanent Residency.
- How did you arrive at your current position?
I had a friend who was working at Cisco and he passed my CV to one of the directors at Cisco who was looking for a candidate for an available position in his team at that time. The director liked my CV and he contacted me to see if I was interested in that position and if I was willing to start the interview process. I had four rounds of interviews, including a phone interview, an online exam, an on campus interview and a written exam in order.
- What advice would you give to a graduate student looking to follow a career path similar to yours?
Try to deal with real people and do NOT rely only on online applications. If you want to apply for a position in a company, try to find a recruiter/employee there and tell him/her that you want to apply for that position and send him/her your CV. The most important thing is try to apply for a job that you like since you are going to deal with it every day!!! It may take more time but it’s worth it.