On, January 13th, we had the pleasure of hosting students from Trinity High School.
After designing and developing the new Trinity School District website (http://www.trinitypride.org/), we worked closely with Trinity leadership to schedule a ½ day to host a group of students that are interested in technology. The goal was to expose the students to the world of Software Development and share the breadth of Information Technology. We demonstrated how we approach a software development project and also shared with the many opportunities that exist within IT.
Smart phones in hand, we introduced Diane Bowser, one of our Senior UX Designers to explain what the process looks like from concept to application. To break this complex process down, Diane invited the Trinity students to create a new application and brainstorm key features and functionality. The exercise taught the students to think strategically while imagining the user experience from a new perspective. The Trinity students then created a business case and pitched their team’s idea. One of the students who joined us, Matthew D., explained how the trip to OpenArc clarified the software development process: “This trip showed me what has to be done to develop a quality website or mobile application. I learned the planning process that a web page goes through before it’s build is complete.”
After the Trinity students got to explore what we do day-to-day here at OpenArc, we talked about the bigger picture with them. The bigger picture being, navigating through the endless education and career opportunities that lie ahead of these bright students. Marc Majors, our Software Engineering Manager, simplified the concept of these opportunities to a room full of undecided high school students. Marc explained that programming was only scratching the surface of the opportunities that exist in IT. Whether it be software engineering, quality assurance, project management or sales. Many opportunities exist and are in high demand.
Marc stressed the importance of networking and exploring what captures your attention. Networking allows your to foster mentoring relationships and make corporate connections that can lead to opportunities.
Chris Sciullo, one our Technical Career Advisors, built on the points Marc made. Some students were undecided on their direction and Chris emphasized that being undecided allows flexibility to focus and remain active towards discovering your career goals. Chris gave the Trinity students insight into what makes a resume stand out, the interview process, and how it can vary from company to company. It also gave us a chance to brag about our laid back but highly productive organizational culture; focused on reaching goals, integrity and accountability.
Hosting the students from Trinity High School was a win-win. Superintendent Dr. Mike Lucas agreed, “Trinity Area has been looking for career exploration opportunities for our students. This visit was perfect. We would love to do it again.”
The students walked away with insight from successful people that remember sitting in those chairs wondering what they might do when they ‘grow up’. The OpenArc team got a refreshing look into what these students are looking for when it comes to new technology and workplace culture. We look forward to hosting another group of students sometime soon!
