Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School (PSO) was the place to be for local students and adults looking for a career path in British Columbia.
WorkBC’s Find Your Fit tour stopped there to showcase in-demand jobs in B.C. for job seekers in 100 Mile House on March 24.
Following all-day sessions that gave students an opportunity to experience this interactive, hands-on free careers event, it also opened to the public for about four hours.
Tour stop supervisor Meghan Glover says this first Find Your Fit stop at PSO was “really successful” and the students were “very polite and respectful.”
“A lot of them had a career path in mind already, and so instead of helping them find something, we were telling them what school to go to, what kind of grants are available, and what classes they need to take in grades 11 and 12.”
Everyone who attended had the chance to test-drive some of the skills they would need for various careers, to learn about jobs in demand in the province and online resources to find work, and to experiment with career options.
Grade 8 PSO student Gawen Pinkett says he experimented with the interactive tools, particularly computers and an electronics building station that challenged him to fit parts together to turn on lights.
Pinkett says he already has a career in mind.
“I want to design cars.”
Calvin McEachern, who is in Grade 9 at PSO, says he checked out a welding test and some other interactive stations.
“You can actually see how well you do at welding, it tells you your accuracy and what not,”
he says, adding he was most confident with the electronics station.
“I am more into technical stuff. I have worked on that kind of stuff my whole life. So I learned a few more techniques.”
Pete Van Osch of Forest Grove took in the tour stop with his two children after school.
“I’m just helping my kids pick out a career, or narrow it down. My son [Michael] is more into the trades end of it, but my daughter [Reneé] is more interested in the RCMP.”
Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett says the tour supports the province’s future demand for skilled workers.
“… [Find Your Fit] maximizes the potential of the young people about to enter the workforce, current workers who need to upgrade skills, and those in under-served communities who face unique challenges to employment to be first in line for the jobs of our growing economy.”
More information on the tour is online at www.findyourfittour.ca.
