IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014 - 44

Pipelining
Attractive Programs for Women

uwannadu Gets
It Done

and all three now share top billing as
cofounders.

Hitting It Hard

Together, the team has been working
for about four years, though Hodges
says they really "hit it hard" about three
Providing a deeper look at potential careers
years ago. After hundreds of focus group
interviews with high school and college
students and counselors, a beta closed
site was made available to about 100 students in May 2013. In September of that
leaving, they would tell me that the job
same year, the site opened up publicly,
One of the most direct questions to ask
wasn't really what they wanted to do.
and Hodges took a formal break from
a person is "What do you want to do?"
I wound up thinking about how they
his full-time job.
But such a straightforward question
should have known that before starting
Despite focusing t hose init ia l
does not always have an obvious answer,
at the company."
rounds of research on students,
especially when it comes to career
Knowing this trend would
Hodges notes the site demochoices. Enter uwannadu.com, a new
continue and one day affect
graphics extend from ages
Web site that provides a discerning look
his children, an idea began
14 to 60. "At trade shows,
at what a chosen career actually entails
to form. The genesis of
I'm finding that people
and links job options to relevant colleges
uwannadu, says Hodges,
in their 30s and 40s will
and companies to offer a comprehensive
was that "if people knew
lower their voices and ask
look at particular career paths.
more about what careers
me 'is this only for kids?'"
Chris Hodges, founder and chief
really are before starting
he
says. "While we built the
executive officer of uwannadu, personChris Hodges
one, they would be better
site aimed at young people
ally experienced the very problems his
able to decide if they will like it or not."
thinking about their careers at an early
site tries to solve. After nine years in
Hodges left GE and transitioned into
stage, we fully intend to support people
the U.S. Navy and a graduate business
management consulting at Accenture,
in all stages of their career." In fact,
degree, Hodges was still unsure about
but the idea would not die. When he
on the day we spoke, Hodges had just
what career he wanted to pursue. "I felt
met Darren Wheeling, a professional
received a call from a New York-based
like I didn't have a good way to answer
artist and Web designer who shared
woman in her 40s who had found a job
that question," he describes. "I spoke to
his passion for this potential service,
in marketing thanks to uwannadu.
as many people as I could but I didn't
the company really began to take root.
Catering to its varied clientele,
really understand what they actually did
Next, realizing the team would need a
uwannadu.com offers four different
because they would describe things in a
technology guru, Wheeling brought in
ways for newcomers to kick off their
very abstract way."
Gabriel Stevens, a Web developer and
career search. "We really believe that
He eventually landed at General Elecuser interface expert.
people explore careers very differently,
tric in Silicon Valley, but in his decade
Before the site even launched,
and one of the biggest mistakes people
there observed many young colleagues
Hodges knew the management team
who build Web sites make is assuming
grappling with the same problem he
was a success. "The three of us have very
everyone navigates them in the same
once had. "These young people would
different backgrounds and experiences
way," says Hodges. "Because of that, we
start at the company and many would
but also tightly aligned goals and motibuilt four options."
stay, but also a lot would leave," Hodges
vations, which is important for our partTo get started, one option is an
recalls. "When I asked why they were
nership," he says. Originally employees
interest quiz, which only takes about
of the company, Wheeling and Stevens
six minutes and is set entirely in
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2014.2353311
were instead made owners of uwannadu
images of work scenarios, tied back
Date of publication: 7 November 2014

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44

IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE

DECEMBER 2014
http://www.uwannadu.com http://www.uwannadu.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2014
