A little over a year ago, I assisted at a career day for my Alma Mater.  When I submitted my title to the team putting the event together, I used “Account Manager”.

When I arrived the day of the event, I learned that there would be 5 sessions.  Each session would be about 30 minutes long and the students would move to a different session ultimately learning about 5 job titles.

My attendance at session one was sparse.  Not a single student decided to show up for my second session.  During that session, I took a walk around the school to check out how things had changed over the years.  I also peaked into some of the classrooms and made the following observation.

Sessions with titles most of the students recognized (teacher, nurse, dentist, lawyer) were full.  Sessions with titles less familiar like account manager did not have large turnouts.

After one of my sessions a young man came up to me and said, “I’m glad I took a chance on this one, this was the best session by far.”  Rather than filling up with pride (well, maybe I filled up a little), I recognized that schools are not equipped to really help the young people see how big the world really is when it comes to career.  The students flocked to standard job titles and ultimately learned about 5 opportunities that day.

That was the birth of “Career Day Live.”

Please pass along to anyone in your life trying to figure out what career best suits them.

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