Beate Connette

How did you pick your career? Did you know all along?

I would say my careers have picked me :-) I had an idea what I liked and what I thought I was good at and started in pre-law outside of the US. As my country of residence changed, so did my interests and I switched to learning a new culture and the people part of it, so Human Resources became more fitting. This took me into a Production and Technical environment and I followed my curiosity and went back to school to become an Industrial Electronics Engineer. As such I started to work for a Phone Company and as the company transitioned to become a Technology Company I again went back to school to become a Network Engineer. Along the way I enjoyed process development and use it to learn new jobs and solutions such as Automation. At this point I have had a 30 year career and am always ready to learn what my next career change will bring. It has been interesting and I have enjoyed the Journey so far.

What is the one piece of career advice you wish someone gave you when you were younger?

Learn how to advocate for yourself without needing to brag. Know how to surround yourself with people who are different from yourself and learn from them. Learn how to network professionally and effectively.

In layperson terms, what do you actually do at work?

At a high level we build and maintain Network Infrastructure. If you think of the network like a city road system that has lanes, traffic lights, traffic signs, bridges, under passes and also traffic law enforcement, the Network Infrastructure has lots of parts that all have to work well together to allow internet traffic to pass. That traffic is email or txt msgs or video streams (just like a road system has cars, buses, trucks or bicycles). The traffic can originate or terminate from or to computers, phones, tablets, TVs, etc (just like road systems connect homes to schools, grocery stores, hospitals). There are lots of different parts to this infrastructure and sometimes I help design where a road is needed or equipment needs to go, other times I help others improve how they build something (like using a better phone app to take pictures and make them look better automatically).

When did you get your first Big Break? How did you get it? How did it go?

Shortly after I entered my pre-law program and worked at a law firm, my boss noticed that I'm good in dealing with Clients who had traffic violations or accidents. Instead of assigning a lawyer to these Clients, he assigned them to me instead to handle all the way through lower court appearances. I really didn't do anything other than applying my best when I was at work. I didn't actually ask for the assignment as the work was previously done by only lawyers. However, my boss was aware that I was qualified to make lower court appearances and confident in my abilities and professionalism, so he made the assignment and was able to put the other lawyer on other case loads. It was exciting to get the assignments and even more fun to see that the Clients had full confidence in me, despite only being pre-law at that time.

What is it like when your job gets tough?

My job gets tough when there are lots of deadlines depending on me to complete in time and simply not enough hours in the day. I have to prioritize where exactly I spend my time and have to inform customers and co-workers when I had to assign a lower priority to their deliverables. I don't enjoy not being able to deliver on time and having to tell anyone that they won't get what they need and when they need it.

When you were a student, did you do anything outside of school to build skills or get knowledge that has helped your career?

Actually I have never once gone to school while NOT working in a related field to my studies. I have completed multiple degrees going to school fulltime while working fulltime. When I was studying for my Business Mgmt degree I worked as a tax preparer and as a life guard and also volunteered for the Military Personnel office as a clerk and the American Red Cross as a Swim Instructor. Exposure to people at all walks of life gave me perspectives about people and also access to knowledgeable people in related areas. Good grades and studying is very important, but so is being able to relate what you are learning to the actual career areas. There are always opportunities to get in touch with professionals who work in a field related to studies and it makes homework so much easier and more fun.

Did anyone ever oppose your career plans when you were young or push you in a direction you did not want to go?

Fortunately I have never had any opposition to my plans, but I was always over prepared for what I wanted to do or try. There was always a plan B and I knew never to jeopardize my future with either bad grades or no income to pay for my school. So maybe no one attempted to push or oppose me because I left no room for discussion or arguments against my plan :-)