Diversity In Action

Symantec: an inclusive environment and jobs in 2010

The company seeks software engineers, product managers and technical support pros. A new program reaches out to grads and interns

The perfect job candidate at Symantec reflects the company’s values: “innovation, action, customer-driven and trust, or I-ACT,” says Ellen McLatchey, director of global diversity and inclusion. “We want people who get things done and who are very innovative at the same time, and we’re most definitely searching for new college grads to fit that bill in 2010.”

Symantec provides security, storage and systems management solutions for businesses and consumers, and has operations in more than forty countries.

The company typically seeks software engineers, product managers and technical support professionals. “Historically, we’ve hired people with more experience,” McLatchey says. “But with our new university relations program, we have a strong focus on bringing in new college grads and interns. We’re very optimistic that this program will help us reach women and minorities,” McLatchey says.

Globally, the company hopes to hire more than 400 students in the fall of 2009 and the spring of 2010. About a third will be hired in the U.S.

Symantec focuses on universities with curriculums that match its needs. It also connects with organizations like the Anita Borg Institute, SHPE, the Tapia conference, NSBE and SWE to help identify schools with strong support for technical women and minorities. University relations recruiters work with each school.

The company attends and is a frequent sponsor of several national conferences. This year the company is a sponsor of the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing and the SWE national conference. It will attend the national conferences of SHPE and the National Black MBA Association. The company supports many associations’ scholarship funds as well.

An expanded partnership is underway with Florida A&M University, targeted for its strong IT program and its proximity to the company’s sizable Florida location. Other target schools include University of California-Berkeley, University of Texas campuses at Austin and El Paso, Mount St Mary’s College, Scripps College, Stanford University, University of Minnesota, MIT and Georgia Tech.

“Students seeking internships should come from a good school with a good curriculum and be interested in the types of engineering we do: security and storage and data management,” McLatchey says. “Our interns do a lot of external events as a group to build a sense of team and establish personal and professional relationships that will support them throughout their careers at Symantec.”

Interns get a new-hire orientation and are assigned a peer buddy as well as a mentor. Women are introduced to the Symantec Women’s Action Network (SWAN). There are additional employee resource groups for blacks, Hispanics and members of the LGBT community.

New college grads and interns are encouraged to reach out to individuals they’d like to have as mentors, often more than one, McLatchey adds. Web-inars and learning opportunities are available for new grads. They will also find that Symantec is a company that is “very committed to ethical operations, the environment and positive social impact,” McLatchey declares. In 2008, Symantec received a Ceres-ACCA Sustainability Reporting Award; the awards are designed to recognize companies that communicate their sustainability activities effectively.

Employees are also encouraged to get involved in community as well as company activities. “We rely on the energy and passion of our volunteers both to run our resource groups and to drive our philanthropic efforts,” McLatchey says. “They’ve done a lot of work with schools and other community organizations. That helps us connect with young kids to get them interested in math, science and technology.”

In the San Francisco area, Symantec employees have partnered with the 49ers Academy, a public-private middle school that serves a community where many students are at risk of dropping out. Symantec chairman John Thompson, who is African American, has met with students there, McLatchey reports.

In Florida, employees partner with Crooms Academy, a magnet high school for kids interested in technology. Employees volunteer as mentors and sit on the school’s industry advisory committee. They also host tours of Symantec labs and offices.

The company recently hosted an event called “Wow! That’s Engineering,” in partnership with SWE. One hundred Girl Scouts and Brownies came to Symantec’s Heathrow, FL site for workshops about Internet security. They also had a chance to test their programming skills on robots and make lip gloss and slime.

Symantec’s Minnesota employees hosted an event called the Girls’ Geek Festival. At both events, women engineers spoke to local schoolgirls about careers in technology.

“The events were inspirational for the young girls and our engineers enjoyed giving back to their community and acting as role models for the next generation of talent,” says McLatchey.

Symantec’s executive steering committee for global inclusion includes its most senior leaders from around the globe. “This sends a strong message that we’re a company that embraces diversity,” says McLatchey. The company is proud to have a diverse leadership team.

“We make it easy for people to fit in,” McLatchey concludes. “We consistently get the highest ratings from employees on the inclusiveness of our work environment.”

D/C