Recently Jim Hisert, of the Indium Coporation, interviewed me about my passion for chemistry. Jim is a Manufacturing Engineer, supporting the company’s engineered solder materials. He is responsible for providing engineering support for the manufacturing cells at Indium Corporations Business Park Drive facility, which includes interfacing with product management, quality, and sales. Jim asked me how I have utilized chemistry during my past two internships at Indium Corporation, and asked me about my future career goals. I could tell through the whole interview that he was enthusiastic about learning more about me; and that made me more excited. Our interview wasn't the typical face-to-face interview, it occured via email.

I didn't know how I would feel about doing an interview through email beause the only other interviews I have done were in person, or over the phone. I always felt that an interview through email has some pros and cons. For people who are shy (which is not me by any means), they are able to conduct an interview via email easily. They don't have to worry about making eye contact with another person or getting nervous about answering a question on the spot. People are able to take their time answering their questions without the pressure they may have in a real-time phone or in-person interview. The downfall from an interview over email is that you aren't able to see the other person's expressions as you are telling them the information. In person you can see the person's expression light up as you are talking about something that you are passionate about. This is something I love seeing during my interviews because it shows me that the other person is really interested in what I have to say, which makes me less nervous during the interview. I was nervous with how he may react with what I was going to say, but, honestly, I could see the enthusiasm he had throughout the interview every time he responded back to me. This then made me write even more for my answers because I knew he was really interested in what I was saying about chemistry.

One of the things I learned through this interview was the amount of passion I had for chemistry and the intern experiences Indium Corporation has offered me over the past two summers. Whenever you are in an interview that is either over the phone or in person, you never really realize how much you are saying about a subject. Throught email however, you are able to see how much you are writing for each question - literally. It made me realize how much I love talking about my major and the experiences I have had. Sometimes I felt like I was saying too much at certain points but, to me, it was all valuable information that I wanted to tell him. Another thing I learned was that the experience Indium Corporation has offered me through their internship program has been a perfect fit with what I love to do. I am utilizing my chemistry skills while learning about how my skills apply to the company. I really find that the projects I have done and are currently doing are definitely projects I can see myself doing in the future.

I want to thank Jim for taking the time to interview me. I have certainly learned a lot from this experience and I hope he has as well! Hopefully this will be a conversation starter for the next time I run into him!

Until next time,

Lindsay