It's never too early to start thinking about one's career.
Utahloy International School Guangzhou (UISG) & Zengcheng (UISZ) recently hosted their very first career fair for 9th-11th graders, signaling the importance of early career exploration and goal-setting among students.
This initiative aims to empower young minds to dream big and embark on a journey of self-discovery and professional growth.
In today's fast-paced world, it's essential to start thinking about one's career path early on.
With the legal working age in many countries set at 16, initiating career conversations with 9th graders becomes timely and crucial.
But how do schools approach this dialogue with young students effectively, ensuring it's engaging and not overwhelming?
At the career fair, students were treated to a mini career forum, featuring representatives from 14 diverse industries.
From manufacturing to finance, art to non-governmental organizations, professionals shared personal experiences and insights into various career pathways.
Panel Discussion
Keynote speeches, panel discussions, and interactive booths allowed students to explore their interests and pose questions directly to industry experts.
Yein Oh, a College Counselor at UISG and one of the organizers, shared insights into the motivation behind the fair.
While college counseling typically focuses on immediate post-high school plans, the school recognized the importance of long-term career development and aimed to provide students with real-life insights and connections beyond academia.
That's: What prompted the school to organize this career fair?
Usually, college counseling is salient because it is more immediate.
Students need to be able to apply to universities right after high school.
However, the world of career development continues well after college, so we decided we'd like to support them in that endeavor.
We held a mini university fair for Hong Kong University in the fall, and we want to do something similar in the spring, which is in the career sphere.
Basically, it's not just me talking to the students about careers, I wanted them to hear directly from industry representatives and leaders.
Booth walk-around
That's: What sort of age group or grade is the career fair catering for?
The main audience was students in Year 9 to 11, that is, 14- 15-year-olds to 16-17-year-olds.
That's: How long did it take to plan for the fair?
The idea was planted last October in a conversation with our head of secondary, and then the date was set in January.
That was a bit hard because there were a lot of events happening in the school, so we had to pick a date that was good for everyone involved.
And in late January, we started recruiting, so we actually had three months to recruit.
Clearly, the heavy planning happened in April, and there were some representatives joining even in April.
Booth walk-around
That's: What sort of goal would you like to achieve for this fair?
For our students if they could gain real life insights, encouragements, inspirations with representatives and, more importantly, a chance to have a dialogue with them, and through this, have a more expansive view of the world of careers.
That would be my goal for our students.
For our guests, if they could get a chance to connect with the younger generation and inspire them.
That would be my goal for the guests, and also if the students can take home what our guests told them in the keynote and the panels, such as career development is not necessarily linear, success comes in many forms, do work hard but don't be afraid to make mistakes and don't be afraid to chase your dreams.
I see room for development for the next time, but I think the goal has been achieved.
From a guest's perspective, the tone of the career fair is well set for a long-term vision.
Messages mentioned by Yein were gracefully planted in panel discussions: Transition from Study to Work, Women in Industry, and Success in the 21st Century, three frequently debated topics in a global context.
Booth walk-around
As Lindsey Walsh, the co-organizer and college counsellor of UISZ, eloquently put it at the opening:
'The journey of choosing a career is about finding a sense of purpose and fulfillment in what you do.'
'When you align your passions with your profession, work becomes a source of joy and inspiration rather than a mere means to an end.'
We were excited to see a lot of keen faces at our booth, with well-thought comments and questions aligned with the long-term perspective of the career fair.
They shared with us their passion on writing, what they have been working on in order to land on the profession, their interests in traits for a good journalist other than excellent writing competence, and almost all of them are concerned that AI might take up their dream jobs, which lead us to further to some irreplaceable human traits, like compassion, critical thinking, and ethics.
Then we realized that we had run out of time in a pleasant exploration of a career in journalism.
The career fair at UIGZ was a fantastic opportunity for students to dip their toes into the vast ocean of career options.
By starting these conversations early and setting a long-term goal, the school empower students to explore, dream big, and find their path in life.
[Cover image: Career Fair Opening by Yein Oh and Lindsey Walsh/ All images are courtesy of Utahloy International School Guangzhou]
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