NJIT Invites Young Learners To Chart Career Paths Alongside NJ's Top Companies

Last month, more than 150 local high school students arrived at NJIT to begin charting their career paths alongside New Jersey’s top employers at the 2019 Junior Achievement (JA) Career Success® Workshop College Series.

The workshop — co-hosted in the university’s Campus Center by NJIT’s Collaborative for Leadership, Education, and Assessment Research (CLEAR) and the non-profit organization Junior Achievement of New Jersey — featured a day of professional development activities that connected visiting students to career mentors, which ranged from NJIT faculty and student ambassadors to representatives from major Newark-based companies, such as Prudential.

Representatives from local businesses and event sponsors such as Valley Bank, Merck and TIAA also gave motivational talks throughout the event where they shared professional experiences, inspirational stories and career advice.

Afterwards, a number of Newark’s young learners reflected on their experiences from an eventful day of resume writing workshop sessions, rapid-fire mock interviews and team building exercises that included designing a structure for a city park to benefit their community.

“I learned the importance of working together and how to think outside the box,” said Za’Dayah Wiggins, a junior at Newark's Technology High School. “Today was an experience of a lifetime.”

“The volunteers were amazing.” said Alison Valentin, a sophmore at Barringer High School. “I had confidence here that I don’t have when I have to present in school. I felt really comfortable here…this was a great trip!”

“The best thing I learned today was that even though we all go to different schools and learn different things, we could come together and do something big and important,” said  Belen Avila, a junior at East Side High School. 

The event was the second annual workshop that CLEAR has hosted at NJIT with Junior Achievement of New Jersey (JANJ)— a volunteer-based organization that provides “K-12th grade programs to foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills...and inspire students in the community to dream big and reach their potential.”

Through events such as the JA Career Success® Workshop, JANJ estimates that it impacts approximately 75,000 students per year.

“We want to empower young people to own their economic success,” said Christy Tighe, JANJ’s director of college and career readiness. “What was most notable from the workshop was the level of innovation, teamwork and satisfaction the students had from successfully collaborating with people they had just met. We’re grateful to NJIT, CLEAR and the 40-plus volunteer mentors who shared their time and expertise to encourage those students to dream big and reach their full potential.”

For more general information about Junior Achievement of New Jersey, as well as a schedule of their upcoming events planned, visit: https://www.juniorachievement.org/web/ja-nj.