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By FORED BC
CAREER EXPLORATION QUESTIONS
Deciding what career and post-secondary path can be daunting for youth in senior grades. Before youths enroll in post-secondary, we recommend they consider reaching out to various professionals in the careers they’re considering and do some “information interviews” with them. Most professionals are willing to spend some time helping the next generation. Here are some general questions used by one youth to interview various engineers: a chemical engineer, a software engineer and a mechanical engineer. This youth who developed the questions is now in her second-year of engineering at UBC and happy to share these with others to help them choose the right career.
Students may adapt these questions to ask professionals working in their chosen industry.
1. What kind of skill sets, attitudes, and qualifications are required to work as an engineer today?
2. What would a normal day/week in your field look like?
3. What’s the corporate culture like in the engineering world? Do you find people are toxic and cutthroat, kind and supportive, very competitive…?
4. Where do you see the discipline going in the future? What can I do to stay current on those changes?
5. Which subjects did you learn in your university program that are applicable in your role today?
6. What’s the salary range from entry level upwards?
Personal questions:
1. What inspired you to be an engineer?
2. What do you wish you had known and could’ve done differently before choosing this career and education path?
3. What are your favourite and least favourite parts of your job/s?
4. What would you consider your biggest career success and biggest stumble?
5. How do you manage to stay motivated and balance all your professional obligations and volunteer endeavours with time for yourself?
6. If you were starting out now, where would you apply for post-secondary?
7. Is there anything that is a must-read or a must-know?
#post-secondary
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