What is your personal brand? What is it really like to do the job you’re dreaming of? 

These are a couple of the questions we posed to our post-secondary students this summer. To help them find answers, they participated in the Pivotal Experience – a summer program that helps students get an in-depth understanding of the careers they’re interested in, understand, and develop their personal brand, and create strong resumes. The four-week experience culminates in an informational interview where each student speaks to a professional in the career field of their choice to learn about the job they’re interested in. Once they complete their informational interview, students receive a $1,000 stipend. 

This year, 30 scholars signed up for the Pivotal Experience and 25 completed the program and received their stipends. We recruited from students who were not matched with internships, as well as juniors and seniors who are starting to think about what comes after graduation. The Pivotal Experience provides foundational knowledge to prepare students for the workforce. Ashley TacTac Pullout Quote

“We had excellent participation this year. Of the few students who didn’t complete the Pivotal Experience, most dropped out because they got full time jobs and wanted to focus on that instead,” says Ashley Tactac, Pivotal’s Enrichment Curriculum Specialist. 

The Pivotal Experience wouldn’t be the success it is without the support of our team of volunteers who gave their time, energy, and resources to provide informational interviews. Our students’ interests are wide and varied and we were able to place every student into an informational interview in their preferred occupations, including software engineer, physician, occupational therapist, and even firefighter!

We’re so grateful to our volunteers and hope all our Pivotal Experience scholars had a summer experience that was both productive and fun!