Career Day 2020: Exploring Your Career Path
The Career Center at The American University in Cairo (AUC) hosted its annual Career Day on February 26, 2020. Being an annual event, it offers the unique opportunity of having corporate professionals answer any inquiries that a curious student might have about 45 different career fields, open their eyes to new pathways, or inspire them with their own personal success stories.
The event started off with a speech by AUC Provost Ehab Abdel-Rahman, who talked about how special this year’s Career Day was because it coincided with the university’s centennial celebrations that had been taking place for the past few months. He highlighted that “the purpose of the event is to introduce students to the real world as early as possible so that they could be better equipped to tackle the future.” He also emphasized that the university isn’t just preparing students for their first job; it aims to develop their mindset for as far as their final job. He then introduced several new programs that are being initiated by the university, such as the Business CO-OP program, which allows undergraduate students majoring or minoring in Business Administration to work in a firm alongside their studies while being under the supervision of faculty staff.
The event had many diverse career paths offered for the student’s convenience, and it gave them a chance to explore beyond the bounds of their declared majors. Hossam Tharwat, Health and Safety Director at Cemex, was glad that he was approached by many students who weren’t from a Construction background, and we're all curious to know more about how Health and Safety differ from one industry to the next.
Worth mentioning, some career professionals had a stronger connection to the university because they weren’t just coming as representatives but also as AUC alumni. Aya Mahdy, Sales Section Manager at Proctor & Gamble Egypt, mentioned how she graduated from AUC in 2018 with a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Business Administration. She missed the university and was feeling emotional being on the other side of the corporate professional’s table, after being a frequent visitor to previous Career Day events in her undergraduate years. She then said, “I got questions from a lot of freshmen and sophomores, so I was glad to see that students now have an early awareness of what they want to do with their professional lives. What I loved the most today was the spirit of the students.” She liked how students were more eager to learn more about what awaited them after graduating.
The event allowed participants to imagine their future careers, encouraging them to reconnect with their passions and to not hesitate to dream big. It pushed them to approach professionals with their doubts and worries all in the hopes of assisting them with exploring their career paths.