Prepared by Natricha Levy McFarlane
Important advice shared with students:
“It’s important to find out what you like and what you don’t like”
- Bernadeau Charles, Systems Engineer
“Don’t rush, or have a timeline or deadline to the point where you bypass an opportunity to try something new just because it will take half a semester longer to graduate”
- Laura Santiago, Program Management Head
“One thing to keep in mind, whether you are in college, or high school or you want to switch careers…nothing is set in stone. You can change your mind”
- Blaire McCoy, Medical Laboratory Scientist
The world is changing, and SOSA is adapting. We hosted our first virtual career fair on September 26, 2020. Our intent was to inspire youth, especially high school students transitioning to university and college, and undergraduates, to see a career in STEM as an option.
We targeted youth from groups under-represented in STEM careers such as girls, African Americans and Hispanics. Parents of students, potential sponsors and possible future career fair presenters were also welcome to attend.
Eight professionals from various STEM fields shared their career journeys with attendees including the educational requirements of their field. Attendees got a chance to get up close and personal with presenters in fields of their interest through break-out rooms. Here, attendees asked questions and got to know the presenters and the fields on a deeper level. Presenters shared some excellent tips with the students, advising them to find what they like, not to rush into a career choice and that it is alright to change their minds. Dr. Elssy Lopez, General Dentist, shared, “You spend most of your life working, so you want to get into something that you like.”
In all, we hosted 47 attendees aged 16 to 48 years old, with the majority (81%) being females. By the end of the career fair, almost 2/3 (65%) of attendees stated that their level of interest in a STEM career had increased and all said they would attend another SOSA workshop. One attendee shared, “Other programs do not describe how the professionals got to where they are today; usually they only discuss what their company/job role is all about.”
The essence of the career fair was summed up beautifully by this attendee, “I learned about careers that I didn't know existed, and it helped me calm down. I found out that they all have great careers and their journeys were all so different in getting to that end point, so there is no need to stress about it or rush the process.”
Mission accomplished Team SOSA!