R. D. Parker Collegiate's annual career day is happening on Monday, Sept. 28 this year, and is focusing on bringing in not only universities and colleges from around the province, but also representation from local businesses.
Patrick Miller, a counsellor in student services at R. D. Parker, says people from the Universities of Winnipeg, Manitoba and Brandon will be there, as well as representatives from various colleges in Manitoba. He says career day has changed over the years, with more career paths available for students to research.
"In the past it's been primarily for organizations that you need university to get into. What they're trying to do is attract the students, but not all students are going into university, a lot of them are staying in town," he explains. "They get to Grade 12 and they want to do something here, so we're trying to include a few companies from the local Chamber of Commerce."
Miller hopes that some of these companies will represent optometrists, plumbers, contractors and general accountants. The RCMP and organizations like the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba (AFM) will also be represented at career day.
Student services at R. D. Parker puts on a career day every year to allow students to gather information that will help them form a career path and map out what type of further schooling or training they'll need to be able to perform their ideal jobs.
"They get to ask questions, learn what is expected of them and what they can expect in certain professions. They talk about salaries, what the future outlook is in that profession, and the students get a good look at the choices that they have that are available to them," Miller says. "Research shows that a certain percentage of students definitely have a career path, and know exactly what they want to get into, so they pursue that - they generally go on and get that type of degree that they're looking for. But there's another percentage of students that are really not sure, and by going around the career fair and talking to various booths they definitely get a better opportunity to help them with any kind of choice that they may have, so it definitely benefits them to attend."
Miller says that a higher percentage of students are looking at entering a vocational career, and thinks that is probably because of the extensive vocational programming available at R. D. Parker Collegiate.
"Because the vocational stream has so much flexibility for them, students are being attr4acted to that area, but still the main trend is university," he explains, adding that a lot of students are looking for careers in engineering, medicine, law, education, social work, dentistry and more.
R. D. Parker's annual career day is happening from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 28, and is open to high school students of all ages and grades from the school.
