Langara students job shadow for a day

Reported by Sam Mowers

Langara students had the opportunity to spend a workday with a professional to experience what their careers could entail in the future, as part of the college’s job shadowing program.

Forty students, with the largest group being in marketing, participated in the event that was started by the Langara Business Association four years ago. This year, the special events class of the business program organized the activity and found mentors, half of which were Langara alumni, for each student. After their job shadowing, students and their mentors attended a networking event in Yaletown.

Langara alumnus mentors current student

Marketing management student Stavros Arvanitis, said he got a realistic sense of what marketing involved, from Michael Alvaro, his mentor and a marketing professional.

“He gave me really good insight about how my future might look and what to expect,” Arvanitis said. “It was really nice to be able to see behind the scenes.”

Alvaro, a Langara alumnus, said he benefitted from the job shadowing because it gave him the opportunity to meet new people who might become future colleagues.

“As someone who went to Langara and is now in the field working full-time, I think this is an amazing opportunity for both sides,” Alvaro said. “It’s an opportunity to further my network and potentially meet other people who could work for my company or who I could do work with in the future.”

An invaluable experience

Students such as Bryn Tucker, who’s studying marketing, got more than they expected. Tucker’s mentor, Keith Cornies, a Re/max franchise owner and life coach, gave Bryn Tucker, the student he mentored, a coaching session.

“I ran him through 12 years of material in an hour and a half to two hours,” Cornies said. “[I tried] to give him as much as I possibly could so he could understand my philosophies in business, and my philosophies in how to tap into his genius.”

Tucker said he found the session invaluable to his future career.

“What I’ve learned from his life coaching will help me in business. It can be taken with me throughout my entire business career,” Tucker said.