The Carlmont College and Career Center provides infinite resources for students to plan for the future following high school. Such resources include extensive lists of volunteer and job opportunities and a space to have important questions answered.

In the past, Nina Rasor, the College and Career Assistant, invited professionals from all fields to discuss their career and education experience with students. These meetings served as valuable opportunities for attendees to obtain information to influence their own future career pursuits.

“Carlmont hosts career speakers in order for students to learn about different professions,” Rasor said. “The career speaker will talk about their path to the career, day in the life and the reasons they choose their profession.”

Rasor believes that it is important to diversify students’ knowledge of careers that may pique their interest. When discussing a career with someone who has succeeded in the field, the possibility of following the same or a similar path becomes more realistic.

Albeit digitally, the career speaker visits continue to occur at the same level of productivity. If anything, meetings are more organized, with the chat being a means of querying in detail.

“I think the meeting was informative. The speakers explained their jobs very realistically,” said sophomore Leena Wang, who was present at the career speaker meeting on February 3. “There was plenty of time during the meeting to ask questions while the Zoom was in session, and they addressed all the appropriate questions at the end.”

It appears that career speaker meetings have undergone minimal change. Speakers have continued to share their backgrounds, and Carlmont students can still listen and ask questions. There have been a plethora of speakers, including videographers, architects, and even FBI agents.

“The agents described what jobs they worked in, the requirements needed to work in a job for the FBI, things that would disqualify you, such as felonies, and if you could maintain a home life outside of this job,” Wang said.

Student interest in the virtual meetings has intensified, not only because they are enlightening. Rasor has observed that more Carlmont students have been seizing these opportunities for a simple reason: they have more time.

“With Carlmont in distance learning, more students have attended the career speakers,” Rasor said. “Having the session virtually is convenient for students. In past years the career speaker would take place either during lunch or after school, which did not always work into the student’s schedule.”

Now would an excellent time to check your email inbox and register for the upcoming career speaker meeting. It might define your entire future.