Take Our Kids To Work Day: What does my parent do everyday?
What happens when you invite eight grade nine students into your workplace? Lots of laughter, learning and an insider’s view of BlueCat.
Key takeawaysKey takeaways are generated with AI assistance. Because automated summaries can occasionally contain errors or miss important context, always refer to the full blog post for complete information.BlueCat hosted eight grade nine students for The Learning Partnership’s Take Our Kids To Work™ day, offering them an inside look at running a fast-growing global technology company and the day-to-day roles of their parents. Students heard from CEO Michael Harris about goal-setting, tenacity, and career perseverance, met leaders across teams through a passport challenge, and participated in a “speed dating” session to ask employees about career paths and hiring skills. The experience gave students practical career planning advice, revealed the variety of roles required to run a business, and left participants with memorable takeaways about workplace reality and food enjoyed at lunch.
What activities did BlueCat plan to help students understand workplace roles during Take Our Kids To Work™ day?
BlueCat organized a multi-part program including a CEO overview, a leader meet-and-greet with a passport challenge, and a ‘speed dating’ rotation. The CEO, Michael Harris, shared his career journey and emphasized goal-setting, tenacity, and perseverance. During the passport activity students met many BlueCat leaders who discussed why they chose their careers and the educational background and skills they seek when hiring. The speed-dating segment paired each student with employees for five-minute conversations to ask focused questions about day-to-day work and career advice.
What career guidance did the CEO and employees provide to the grade nine students?
The CEO’s message centered on setting goals, focusing on achieving them, and never giving up, stressing that tenacity and perseverance can open many career doors. BlueCat leaders described their own career choices and detailed the educational backgrounds and skills they value when hiring. During the speed-dating conversations employees offered practical advice about planning a career, highlighted that early expectations about future careers can change dramatically once you start working, and reinforced the importance of varied roles and teamwork in running a business.
What were the students’ main takeaways from the day at BlueCat?
Students were surprised by how many different types of people and roles are required to run a business, gaining visibility into functions beyond what they expected. They learned that career plans at age 14 can change dramatically as one gains exposure to real-world jobs, and they absorbed advice about goal-setting, perseverance, and the skills employers look for. Additionally, the social elements of the day — including the speed-dating conversations and appreciation for the lunch prepared by the BlueCat chef — made the experience memorable and enjoyable for both students and employees.
What happens when you invite eight grade nine students into your workplace? Lots of laughter, learning and an insider’s view of BlueCat.
On Wednesday November 4th, BlueCat participated in The Learning Partnership’s annual Take Our Kids To Work™ day.
Each of the eight students who participated has a parent who works at BlueCat. We were proud to welcome them to the place where we spend our days.
“You need to set goals and focus on achieving them and never give up. Tenacity and perseverance can definitely open up many career doors.”
We filled the day with opportunity and visibility into what it takes to run a fast growing, ever changing global technology company. It was a great way to provide them with an understanding of what their parents do at work.
Upon arrival, the students were asked what they hoped to learn during the day. Most questions centered on the theme of “understanding what my dad/mom does all day.”
The day kicked off with our CEO, Michael Harris, giving an overview of what a CEO does and his career journey that led him to his current role. The key theme from his discussion: you need to set goals and focus on achieving them and never give up. Tenacity and perseverance can definitely open up many career doors!
The students then had a chance to meet many of the BlueCat leaders while participating in a challenge to check off their passport.
The leaders answered questions about why they chose the career they had and what educational background and skills they look for when hiring for their teams.
The day closed off with the student’s favorite part of the day – “speed dating.” Each student was paired with employees who had five minutes to answer questions about what they do and why they chose their particular career path. They also gave advice to the students about planning a career.
When asked at the end of the day what they had learned, the students were all surprised that it took so many different types of people to run a business. They were also struck with the fact that what you think you are going to do at age 14 for a career can change dramatically when you actually start your career.
In true grade nine fashion there was a lot of appreciation for the food that was prepared by the BlueCat chef. It seems that lunch will always be a favorite subject no matter what age you are!
Thanks to everyone who participated in this important day. We hope everyone – adults and students alike – found it enlightening and memorable. We look forward to welcoming the next bunch of grade nine students again next year.
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BlueCat provides core services and solutions that help our customers and their teams deliver change-ready networks. With BlueCat, organizations can build reliable, secure, and agile mission-critical networks that can support transformation initiatives such as cloud adoption and automation. BlueCat’s growing portfolio includes services and solutions for automated and unified DDI management, network security, multicloud management, and network observability and health.
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