Renee Hochstetler

GC graduation year: 2003
Major: English
Minors: Writing, Spanish
Current employer: LightSky
Title: Project Manager
Worked in Career Services: spring of sophomore through senior year

Renee Hochstetler

What organization do you work for now? What is your title?

I work at LightSky in Goshen. I started working in a temporary/internship position that allowed me to work on one project exclusively. My role then evolved into content planning and site organization, followed by specification work in which I helped plan, document, and test application functionality.

My title is now Project Manager. I meet with new and existing clients to plan and coordinate next steps for a website or extranet. The planning involves meeting with the client to ascertain their needs and propose a solution. I then bring the approved solution to the LightSky team for implementation, schedule the work in our pipeline, and oversee the process.

What is the culture like at LightSky? What do you enjoy about working there?

Generally speaking the atmosphere is very relaxed and casual. I wear a t-shirt and jeans, unless I'm traveling to a client meeting.

One of the things I most enjoy about LightSky is the people - co-workers and clients. Staff are great about teaching each other and sharing information. And we like to educate clients, too, so that they understand how their site works and how it benefits them. LightSky is a business, but it's one that values its employees and its clients as people.

How did you find your position?

Along with the other English majors I received an email from Beth Martin Birky about a temporary position at LightSky. They were looking for someone with writing and editing experience and who knew or was interested in learning HTML.

Until that point I had not even considered looking for an internship at a web development company because I had taken only one web course, but I had visited LightSky with my Creating for the Web class and was interested in the company. Shortly after receiving the email I called LightSky and scheduled an interview, and five years later I'm still here.

What advice would you offer students who are looking for employment?

It was really important while looking at options to look for things that fit with my values. Although LightSky has been a great fit for me, in retrospect I should have spoken with former English majors about where they ended up and looked more actively for where my skills and passions could fit. Certainly having a mentor would have been helpful, and I'd encourage anyone with the opportunity to be in a mentoring relationship to take advantage of that.

One thing I've done here that I should have done in college is learn to network - and not for the sake of networking or self-promotion, but to meet people, get to know them and what they do (work, hobbies, etc.) and build relationships with a wider variety of people. You can learn so much from other people, and hopefully gain a broader understanding.

What were some of the benefits of working in career services?

Career services certainly helped me prepare for life after college. My work schedule and task list was very consistent, and my supervisors provided direction without giving me the step-by-step instructions of how I HAD to do something, so I learned how to understand a goal and work out how to arrive there without being led by the nose.

I appreciated the professional environment, the independence I learned, and the way the staff in the office included me even though I was "just" a student assistant. I also had the opportunity to edit the Revealing the C.A.L.L. newsletter, which helped me learn interviewing, writing, and editing skills.