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18 Queen Margaret Calling :: ISSUE 62 :: October 2018 Middle and Senior School students explored future careers in Term 2 and 3 with Meet the Professionals and New Zealand EngineeringWeek. As part of the events students engaged with industry experts and explored the different options for their futures. Meet the Professionals is an annual event at QMC where students sign up for multiple sessions to investigate different careers. This year students could meet with over 20 professionals in 20 different sectors including police, science, law and lifestyle blogging. Manager of Student Support Programmes Holly Gooch says it was fantastic to hear students’ comments after they walked out of each presentation. “I know some students have their heart set on following a career now because they were so inspired by the speaker they listened to,”Holly says. “Hearing about a regular day in different jobs was a real eye opener for the students.” In August students visited Xero, Opus and Beca as part of New Zealand EngineeringWeek. Year 12 student Jourdan Craig attended all three company visits to find out about the different types of engineering. “I have always been in awe of what engineers do,” Jourdan explains. “I find it amazing how they can make just about everything that functions in the world actually work.” “My favourite subjects at school are maths and physics, and engineering is an area primarily focused on these two subjects.” Jourdan says Xero was an amazing place to visit. “Their open-plan work space and way of working was incredible to see. We learnt what being a software engineer at Xero would be like and we had a go at using a coding programme to make SumoBots (robots) move,” she says. “At Opus, they deal with a much wider range of engineering, from transport engineers to coastal engineers. We heard from people specialising in all the areas and visited the Opus Laboratories in Petone. “Beca is very similar to Opus, but is more globally recognised. We went on a special site visit toWellington Airport where we got a tour of the new Rydges hotel building and car park. It was really interesting to see the different stages of building and how engineers had a role in coordinating the whole operation.” Jourdan says the thing she was most shocked to learn over the week was howmany different types of engineers there were. “Currently, there are over 100 types of engineering you can specialise in. This was particularly interesting for me because it made me realise that there are so many pathways you could take in this profession and that the opportunities are endless.” FUTURE CAREER OPTIONS Students on a site visit to Wellington Airport STUDENTS EXPLORE SENIOR SCHOOL LEARNING