Zak Abbassi just graduated from NJIT on May 17, but he already has a great job lined up.  Starting in July, Zak will begin working as an Associate Systems Engineer for Cisco Systems, a leading corporation that sells networking equipment and network management systems for the Internet.  Cisco will train him for a year and then promote him to Systems Engineer -- a top job for a young engineer.  

Zak was offered the job for two reasons: one, he was an excellent student at NJIT, an electrical engineering major who graduated with a near perfect 3.9 grade point average.  He was also a scholar in the Albert Dorman Honors College who held four scholarships.  But during his five years at NJIT, Zak also worked co-jobs and internships.  And it was that work experience that prompted Cisco to offer him a top job.

In the below interview, Zak talks about his co-ops and internships, his studies at NJIT and his future career at Cisco Systems, one of the leading corporations in the world.

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Can you discuss the internship you had at Cisco?
I began this internship in January of 2008 and worked there until May 17, the day I graduated. . My main duty was as a lab administrator.  I also assisted Cisco engineers develop networks similar to customer setups. This allowed the engineers to assist customers with problems. To help the engineers, I typically installed servers with Cisco Unified Communication Manager and connected Cisco IP phones to them. I also helped develop environments for training purposes. This was a full-time internship, but my manager allowed me to work flexible hours since I took two classes last semester

You also worked a co-op job with Cisco. 
My first co-op with Cisco was in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, from February to August of 2007. During that time, I recreated customer networks by interconnecting routers, switches and phones to simulate a customer’s setup. I maintained constant interaction with engineers, supervisors, my manager and, on occasion, the customers. Three months into the job, I became the head of training for the new people hired to work the co-op jobs.  After this co-op job, I was able to obtain the internship with Cisco, which I mentioned above. And the co-op job and the internship led to a full time job offer from Cisco.

So what will your full time job be?
I was offered a great job. Starting on July 28, I’ll begin working at Cisco as an Associate Systems Engineer. I’ll do a year of training at Cisco’s office in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The training will teach me all about Cisco’s various products. After completing the year of training, I’ll be promoted to a Systems Engineer.  I might be placed at any Cisco plant in the U.S.  My primary role will be in sales, but depending on what division of Cisco I’m placed in, I may do presentations to customers or assist customers with network setups and designs. 

You've also had a co-op job at Panasonic? What did you do there?
Two years ago, I applied for the co-op program at Panasonic through the Career Development Services (CDS) office.  I applied for a couple of positions, but I didn’t hear back from them.  Then one day while I was in class, I got a call from a manager at Panasonic, asking if I was interested in working for him. I said yes, and asked him how he got my resume.  He said the career center at NJIT gave him my resume. I later called the career center and Ms. Alexia Jones told me that the center submitted my resume to Panasonic, without me knowing, since they thought I was a good match for the job. That was great.  I started the job a few weeks later.

What kind of work did you do for Panasonic?
At Panasonic, I worked with DVD/VHS players, camcorders, and digital cameras. I tested the color accuracy of all these devices. I also checked the Total Harmonic Distortion and Signal to Noise Ratio of the DVD/VHS players during audio playback. I also fixed some DVD players, and even recreated customer problems and helped customers resolve their problems. I enjoyed my stay there greatly, and it gave me the experience I needed to get my first position with Cisco.

What about your internship at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. What was that like?
I applied to Wyeth Pharmaceuticals during the spring 2006 Career fair.  The Career Development Services office told me about the fair and encouraged me to attend. Before I went, I researched the companies who would attend. Wyeth was one of them, and during the fair I visited its booth and talked to recruiters. Employees from Wyeth contacted me shortly after the fair. I began working the internship there in June 2006, and finished in August 2006. For this job, I worked on an MS Excel spreadsheet that dynamically calculated the amount of power consumed by each building and division within the Wyeth facilities there. Although this was not the kind of work I wanted to do, it allowed me to mature and develop my social skills.

What’s the difference between a co-op job and an internship?
Co-ops and internships are set up differently. An internship is typically during the summer and you don’t get credit for it. Contrarily, a co-op job can be a year-round position and you get credit for your work. A co-op counts as one academic class. In addition, if a student registers for a co-op, he or she can only take two classes that semester since the co-op is full-time work. So students should make their decisions based on their priorities.  Instead of graduating from NJIT in three years with no work experience, as I originally planned, I graduated in five years having worked a total of four internships and co-ops. And that work led to my graduating with a great job offer from Cisco.  NJIT gave me a solid education, one which I’ll build a solid career on.

What was it like being a scholar in the Albert Dorman Honors College?
First and foremost, the Honors College gave me a scholarship that helped relieve the burden of tuition. In addition, the Honors College lounge was a place I always retreated to. With computers, a study lounge, a pool table, and a television it was a great environment that had everything I needed at all times. The requirements that the Honors College has were felt at times like a burden: maintaining a high GPA, taking honors courses, attending colloquia and doing community service. But these requirements can be compared to real-life work, where you don’t always want to do something, but you must do it to keep moving forward. With these honors requirements, students are given the opportunity to grow out of their shells and become exposed to unfamiliar and challenging territory. 

How did you come to study electrical engineering? 
Mathematics has always been my favorite subject. I went to Al-Ghazaly High School in Teaneck, an Islamic School where I could pray with my fellow students and my teachers during mandatory prayer time.  Al-Ghazaly has some strong departments, and thankfully the Math and Science Department is one of its strongest.  I had a math teacher who always gave us nagging assignments, but they were challenging and forced me to become better at math. When I was unsure of what career to pursue, that math teacher encouraged me to consider being an electrical engineer.  Since I liked math, she said, I’d definitely like electrical engineering.  She was right.

Can you talk about your wife and your extended family?
Although school was demanding, I always made time for my wife and my extended family. I am the youngest of five children, and I love spending time with my parents, siblings, grandparents and my eight nieces and nephews. My siblings and I are all married now. Out of the five of us, I am the only one who does not yet have children.  My wife and I have been married since the summer of 2004. She graduated from NYU with a degree in chemistry and is now working on her Ph.D. in chemistry at Princeton University.

How did you juggle work and school and a family?
When I tell people that I have a large family and that I have been married for nearly four years, they usually feel bad for me. They assume it must be difficult to juggle a married/family life, school and work. In reality, though, my wife and family made it easier for me to handle these pressures. They constantly gave me support and when necessary, reminded me of my prayers and our Islamic priorities. My wife and family kept me humble, too, and reminded me that the grades I earned, the job opportunities I had and my success in school or work was not due to my smarts, but given to me by Allah (God).

Did you have any free time or time to relax?
Finally, nothing is just all work and no play.  I have something to do with all of my family members. Whether it’s jumping on the trampoline with my nieces and nephews, playing sports with my brothers, sitting with my father while talking to Jehovah witnesses, learning the rules of reading Quran with my brother-in-law, walking with my sisters, taking my mom out to shop, or doing all of the above with my wife.  I always had my family to help me diffuse the many pressures of work and school. 

Can you talk about your ethnic background or your family history?
My parents are both originally from Palestine. My mother came here with her father, who was one of the first members of my family to come to America. My grandfather first worked in NYC, and then moved to Oradell, N.J., where he and his entire family worked in the embroidery business. During their years in that business, NJ was known as the capital of US embroidery. My father grew up in Baghdad, Iraq, where he attended medical school.  In America, he worked at a hospital in East Orange for 25 years, and now he has his own medical practice in West Orange. He specializes in allergies.

I am the youngest of five children, with a 10-year gap between my oldest sister and me. My two sisters are teachers. One brother is an accountant, and the other graduated from NJIT in 2004 with a degree in chemical engineering. He has been happily working full-time since he graduated from NJIT.

Sounds like you made the most of your years at NJIT?
I did and there are many things that I am grateful for. Support from advisers gave me the encouragement I needed to keep moving forward. Geny Moreno in the ECE department and a number of others encouraged me to become active on campus. I was involved in a Peer Mentoring program for one semester, where I met a transfer student weekly and discussed a variety of topics with him and gave him advice. He just graduated in May. I also worked as a facilitator for the Circuits and Systems class. I held a weekly study sessions and answered students’ questions.  I also met with students off campus on occasion when they needed additional help. So all in all I had great experiences at NJIT. I’m really happy I decided to come to school here. It could not have worked out better. 

(By Robert Florida, University Web Services)