Career Pathways @ St. Anthony Canossian Secondary School
The SACSS girls wore the hats of lawyers, stock brokers, healthcare providers, designers, theatre professionals, hotel managers and artists, to experience what it’s like working in these various fields.
Praxium conducted a career experiential programme as part of the schools Career Festival. Tapping into our network of professionals, we brought in 7 professionals from various fields to help ease the burden of tedious planning and coordination teachers had to do. We also worked with these professionals to craft engaging experiences for the students.
In 40-minute rotations, the girls experienced 3 different occupations/fields they were interested in, before rounding off the day with a panel discussion.
TLDR; check out the video we made here:
LAW
Professional: Scarlett
Occupation: Litigation Lawyer
Logical reasoning and critical analytical thinking are skills crucial for being a lawyer.
The girls were presented with a divorce case where they had to decide the percentage split of assets entitled to the husband and wife. They were given actual case laws, statutes and facts which they had to synthesize and analyze to present their best arguments. While some were fully immersed and engaged with the materials given, others felt overwhelmed with the volume of reading they had to do.
FINANCE
Professional: Lester
Occupation: Stock Broker
Apart from all the math and numbers, competent stock brokers need to be very aware of current affairs to give the most well-informed advice to their clients.
With Lester’s guidance, students took turns to play the role of a broker and a client. The broker has updated news about company x that she needs to use to convince her client to invest in. Through this activity, the girls realized that being in the finance industry is never always about calculations and numbers but also about having good interpersonal and negotiation skills.
HEALTHCARE
Professional: Priscilla
Occupation: Nurse
Aside from having a heart full of compassion, healthcare providers also need to be knowledgeable and vigilant to make appropriate decisions during critical situations.
The girls were tasked to play the role of a nurse attending to a patient who was suffering from excruciating pain. They first went through an audio activity identifying the patient’s heart patterns. Then, they had to decide if they wanted to give the patient more painkillers even though she was on a “no-painkiller notice” by the doctor.
The girls experienced the dilemmas and challenges that healthcare providers need to deal with every day. They understand that being a nurse not only requires one to have sound medical knowledge but also strong emotional resilience to handle difficult situations.
USER DESIGN
Professional: Gia Phua
Occupation: User Experience Designer
Do you have any clue what a user experience designer does? Well, the girls at SACSS now do!
Professional user experience designer, Gia, got them thinking about the design of their everyday item — their wallets. Through the experience of interviewing their friends and investigating why people use their wallets, they exercise empathy — a trait that is essential for a designer. The girls better appreciate the role of a designer and managed to clear their doubts about this very new profession.
THEATRE & DRAMA
Professional: Myra
Occupation: Theatre Practitioner
“Hands up if you want to be an actor!”
It’s not uncommon for one to associate drama with acting and performing. Many of the girls had preconceived notions that to venture into theatre, they need to possess a flair for performing and acting.
Myra came in to address this misconception and introduced other important players in the performing arts scene helming different responsibilities. These roles include the set designer, lighting and acoustics designer, scriptwriter, script researcher, costume designer and project manager.
HOSPITALITY
Professional: Brandon
Occupation: Hotel Manager
Service is the main essence of hospitality. For one to thrive in the industry, attentiveness and patience are important traits to carry.
Brandon attends to numerous guest requests daily which he shared with the students through a role-playing simulation. Students were tasked to act as hotel managers and deal with guest complaints and requests to help them understand if service is truly what they intend to pursue.
ART & TECHNOLOGY
Professional: Sarah
Occupation: Maker Artist
Technology has opened up new avenues for artists to express themselves. Art is progressively being redefined by technology and we want the girls to learn that an artist’s tools need not always be a paintbrush and a pencil.
In this session, the girls got to mingle with a 3D printer, an augmented reality application and some circuitry boards. Being very hands-on and experiential, the girls found the session engaging and were intrigued by the collision of art and technology.
PANEL DISCUSSION
We wrapped up the day with a panel discussion led by one of the teachers from SACSS. Each of the professionals shared more about their work and how they landed themselves in these fields. The enthusiastic girls also got to ask questions and seek advice from the panellists.
ENGAGING, FUN & USEFUL
These three words best summarise how the girls and teachers from SACSS felt about the programme. Here’s what the girls have to say about the programme:
“They (the programme) helped me figure out what I want to do. I learnt that everything is connected, doesn’t mean that if you do art you will only be doing art alone.”
— Shaiann“Before I just thought that hospitality was cool. But after I found that you need to have a lot of patience and problem solving skills. I also learnt about the different occupations in the hospitality industry that I never knew existed.”
— Rachel
We are blessed to have this opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of the girls. Want to engage your students in a meaningful, experiential and fun career day? Drop us a message at contact@praxium.co and we’ll get in touch with you!
