Ryan Miling (BSCS ’10) is providing Northeastern undergraduate students with a unique experience by drawing on the opportunities he had as an undergraduate. “I completed two co-ops, and these co-ops shaped everything for me and my career,” explained Miling. So, as software engineer and manager, he has made it his personal mission to train co-op students where he works and improve the quality of mentoring.

In the fall of 2006, Miling entered Northeastern with a mathematics background. After he was exposed to the possibilities of computer science, he pursued a dual major in CS and math. Rather than setting his sights on just one industry experience, Miling opted for two vastly different ones: his first co-op was at a small, tight-knit start-up where he worked on quality assurance and his second at a larger company, ATG, as a software engineer.

“The two co-ops I had gave me the breadth of experience to determine whether I wanted to work for a small company or if I wanted to work for a big company,” said Miling. “What was really great about these co-ops was discovering what I liked, and I realized the large-scale company wasn’t for me.”

After his 2010 graduation, Miling immediately entered the job market, “which was pretty tough,” he admitted, “because that was after the economy crashed.” The job search was challenging, “but I stayed positive and landed on my next career,” he said. In pursuit of new experiences, Miling jumped between start-up companies every few years, where he focused on networking and building communication skills with the other team members. His focus paid off. Early on, he became team lead. “I kept working in leadership, and now I work as a backend engineering manager,” he explained.

Miling regards co-ops as fellow software engineers

“What was really important to me during the job search after I graduated was reflecting back on my time at Northeastern,” noted Miling. As he built his own career, he paid attention to mentoring others. He recalled his excitement when InsightSquared, his former employer, began hiring Northeastern co-ops. Miling said, “I got really involved in it—I really doubled down at the company and was pretty much in constant communication with the co-op program.”

InsightSquared hired at least two co-ops every cycle. As the company grew, bringing on Khoury College students and graduates over the years, Miling had the opportunity to mentor and manage them, helping to develop an onboarding program for incoming co-ops. Miling emphasized the importance of treating the co-ops as fellow software engineers—like peers—and immersed them in side-by-side learning to engage them in improving the quality of their code.

Miling helped his co-ops grow professionally while allowing them to explore their passions within computer science. He reported that one of his former mentees, a bright individual with a unique skillset who worked alongside Miling at InsightSquared, developed an internal platform to manage business operations. The former mentee currently works as a tech lead at Drift. Said Miling, “It made me more happy, seeing him accelerate, having the same title as I, than any kind of personal success I’ve ever had.”

When asked about his commitment to mentoring Khoury undergraduates, Miling noted the mindset of the students, explaining “They’re very direct, very hungry to learn – it sort of felt like working with Northeastern undergrads was better than working with anyone really.”

About the co-ops he’s mentored, he added, “Their passion, strong communication skills, and dedication to producing excellent work really gives them a professional edge and understanding.”

As a mentor, Miling often touches back to his own co-op experiences, especially the first one. His interaction with fellow co-ops was key. “What we were trying to accomplish with our work was a really difficult challenge,” he said. With his peers, Miling was able to navigate through the new job environment and understand the business structure. “We went through a lot together, but going through the good and the bad made us a lot more confident going into the workforce,” he said.

College experiences shaped his commitment to mentoring

An individual at Khoury College who helped Miling realize his potential was Professor Richard Rasala, former associate dean. “He treated me like I was extremely bright and like I had this unique opinion and perspective,” shared Miling. Rasala introduced him to various faculty members in different departments, which “carried me a lot to be more confident when looking into potential careers,” Miling explained.

Miling also attributes his success to Melissa Peikin, his supportive undergraduate co-op advisor who is now director of undergraduate co-op at Khoury College. Peikin helped Miling focus on the career he aspired to have after he graduated. Today, he continues to work with her, offering ways to support students—and coming full circle.

Recently, he reached out to Peikin to discuss ways to serve as a mentor to current students whose co-op searches were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Miling wants to help students with long-term career path planning in matters regarding title, expertise, and salary, as well as short-term tactical mentorship like growth and attitude and tech interview coaching.

Said Peikin, “Ryan is a great example of what it means to give back to a community that helped shape the leader he is today. He understands the importance of the co-op experience and genuinely wants to share what he has learned in his ten-plus years since graduating.” She added, “As a co-op advisor, it brings such happiness and satisfaction to have a former student like Ryan mentor our current students.”

In his approach, Miling emphasizes the importance of co-ops being honest and direct about their technical understanding of concepts. He wants students to be comfortable admitting to a supervisor when they don’t understand. He advises co-ops, “Rather than just admitting that you don’t understand, help them help you understand the task at hand and how you can learn more effectively.” To foster a learning environment, when Miling has onboarded new co-ops, he would converse with them about how he could introduce them to different concepts by utilizing techniques that allowed the student to gain a better understanding.

As a mentor, Miling said he has learned how to become a better communicator and a better teacher. He insists, “I would never be who I am today if it weren’t for my experiences with all of them.” At the end of June, Miling made a move, joining Routable, a company that focuses on helping businesses scale their payment solutions. Inspired by his experiences as a co-op and a mentor, Miling intends to prioritize these roles in his own career—guiding engineers towards success by teaching them and fostering a growth mindset while enabling a results-oriented coding environment.