Cisco's ERO Conexion & MESA partnership for students

September 18, 2013

On Friday, September 6th, 2013 Cisco’s Latino Employee Resource Organization (ERO), Conexion, had another first. They partnered with an organization called MESA, Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement, here in San Jose. MESA helps underprivileged college students in engineering majors by providing guidance & mentorship programs. Conexion joined forces with MESA last spring and conducted a shadowing day at Cisco for 30 students who were then partnered with 30 Cisco mentors for a one year engagement. One request that kept coming from the students was how to "get into Cisco".

After a few conversations with Diversity Recruiting and University Recruiting, Conexion decided to host a recruiting day. Conexion worked with the different business units to understand where the requisitions would be open and had the students apply ahead of time. Anabelle Pinto, Director in Sports and Entertainment at Cisco, kicked off the day with some inspirational words to the students. Cisco had 7 students interview for full time positions. Two students interviewed for internships. Nine students, that do not yet qualify for either internships or full time positions, had mock interviews with Cisco employees. The day ended with Rosie Cofre, ERO Strategic at Cisco, sharing her story about her challenges of growing up as a diverse person in the US. It resonated well, and left everyone inspired! This was the first time that an ERO was able to provide a diverse candidate pool to Cisco that resulted in interviews and hopefully in a few new hires for next summer! About Conexion/MESA partnership: Conexion sponsored the MESA Shadowing Day & Mentoring Journey originally on March 8^th, 2013 at the San Jose Cisco offices. Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) is nationally recognized for its innovative and effective academic development program. This particular program is a partnership between MESA and Cisco to provide shadowing and mentoring opportunities for MESA higher education students interested in pursuing careers in technology. To kick-off their experience, thirty students spent a half-day at Cisco, learning more about their technologies and solutions, meeting their individual mentors, shadowing their jobs, and then reflecting on the experience. Thirty Cisco mentors were recruited through our partnership with the Employee Resource Groups at Cisco. Informal mentoring relationships between MESA students and Cisco employees will continue for a period of one year, where they will meet monthly to discuss student areas of study and interest, review areas of focus for the Cisco employee, and engage in coaching and mentoring discussions.