Texas Border Business
PHARR – Students across the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo School District had the opportunity to learn from dozens of business professionals during Workforce Solutions’ 2020 Virtual Careers In Texas Youth Conference, which took place via Zoom over the course of four days starting, Monday, Oct. 12.
During the conference, 6th-12th grade students were able to explore careers in high demand occupations directly from professionals, learn about valuable soft skills, work on their resumes, and develop interview skills. Attendees’ parents were also invited to connect to the virtual conference to learn wellness and financial tips through sessions specific for adults.
“By participating in voluntary conferences like this, our students are making a conscious effort to learn about topics that can benefit them in the long run,” said PSJA Superintendent Jorge L. Arredondo. “They are attending these sessions because they want to expand their knowledge on topics that they are interested in, and they will hopefully use what they learn to succeed in the career of their choice.”
As part of the conference’s design, students had the chance to attend sessions relating to their respective interests as each of four days featured different presenters and topics. Among the topics were Business and Finance, Education and Healthcare, Law Enforcement, Social Media, Healthcare, Construction, Hospitality and Retail.
For PSJA Sonia M. Sotomayor P-TECH 11th grade student Tiffany Huerta, attending the virtual conference was an opportunity to learn different aspects that come with having a career.
“The conference was amazing,” she said. “I learned so much during the three sessions I attended. Especially about how you have to respect not just yourself, but employees, managers, customers, and competitors. I also learned about managing time so that you get time to rest and to go back feeling energized. It was also comforting to hear that every day will not be the same in the workforce. We’ll all have to deal with different customers, processes and experiences.”
Huerta encourages all students to attend conferences like this in hopes they learn tips that can help them in their future career.
“If you do attend one, you should definitely take notes,” the 11th-grade student said. “You can always go back to what you learned during the sessions. Writing down what caught your attention could always come in handy in the future.”
