Shelby's Job Shadow

1. Shelby Bechtold
Mrs. Livia McCleary, Director, Engineering Transformation and Cost Optimization, Motorola
Job Shadow Evaluation
Hours: 9am-4pm, Monday, April 2
1) For my job shadow, I was able to meet people and see what it is like to be in a
mechanical engineering working environment. I was taken to different places throughout
the building and meet people that gave me an overview of what they did and how they
are tried in with working with or alongside mechanical engineering. It started out with
going to see the smallest unit that is started with in order to make a product to all the
processes it has to go through in order to pass and be shipped out knowing that the
product will work in that certain environment. I got to sit in on a meeting with a group of
people as they went over plans and issues that needed to be solved. After that, I was taken
to see each one of them singly so I can see what they all do individually. I got to ask
questions throughout the tour to make sure I understood everything and everyone else
that I got to see were kind to also answer any questions I had, quite eager with being
asked something.
2) My experience was a positive one because of how nice everyone was to me. They took
me through everything that they did and explained everything they could to the best of
their abilities. I got to see what people in Motorola got to do, even other engineering
fields than just mechanical. It showed me how the work environment is like in an
engineering field and the differences.
3) One of the issues that the company is facing is how their antennas are. One of their
buyers is pulling away from them because they do not like the design of the antennas that
they have now. So now they have to figure out if they are willing to change the design to
make it better or leave it the way it is.
4) This is a profession in a path that interests me because it is indescribable how happy I get
when I see everything happening. I would love to design a product and see it come to life;
seeing the whole world using and benefiting from it. If I could, I would design a product
and build it myself for manufacturing engineering also sparks my interest. I love the
hands on work and experience from it all.
5) I got this job shadow from another teacher, Mr. Grady. The girls in his Introduction to
engineering math classes got to go meet with the female engineers of Motorola. Later on,
they allowed job shadows and I was able to be taken up on it. During the job shadow, I
met many other people among the company. They were generous and kind to me the
whole time I was there. They can help me out later in the future by giving me pointers
about what I can do about my future and possibly become connections later on.

2. 6) Mentor’s career path started in high school when she realized how much she loved
mechanical engineering. She went to college and graduated.
7) My mentor easily gets along with others because she can easily communicate with people
among her work place. There was not a time where she became nervous or stuttered at
all, even in a little meeting with the co-workers. Also, she was energetic throughout the
whole tour. She did not seem to get tired even once and was always moving around.
8) The coolest aspect of this job is the opportunity that I would be able to have. I would be
able to create products that people would be using in their everyday lives and get the
enjoyment of seeing that first hand. The amount of projects I can take on and designs I
can do would be amazing. Along with all the people I can meet and traveling to different
places to see where the issue is.
9) The least appealing aspect to this job is the meetings. I do not do well with public
speaking and there will be meetings where I will have to present the ideas I come up
with.
10) I learned that it is possible to make it. Livia showed me that it is possible to go into
mechanical engineering and still have time for a bit of a social life. The work maybe
hard, but it is worth it all in the end.