On Friday, May 17th, our 8th Grade students headed to Manhattan and experienced the real world by visiting two leading technology-based companies, Google and Pivotal. Our shout out to Mr. Saurabh Gupta, a 7th-grade CHP Parent, who entirely coordinated and collaborated with both companies, and made possible this unique and very special opportunity for our students. Gratitude to Mr. Clarke, an 8th-grade parent who chaperoned the kids. Pivotal is a software development company whose mission is to transform how the world builds software, using empathy and “pair programming” as its core values. The associates at Pivotal, also called “Pivots”, graciously welcomed our students and exposed them to the importance of soft skills (empathy, team-player), in addition to technical skills, when working for their company. They walked us through every floor, describing the varied tasks and job descriptions of their Pivots, and facilitated an interactive activity focused on time management and prioritization. They then offered a hearty lunch to us all, and spent one-one time answering all curious and insightful questions. #pivotallife
We then followed on to Google, a company which is a household name to us all. It is a rare opportunity to walk through the company’s giant 2.9 million square foot open space (one block wide), and experience the unique corporate culture that is now visible in more companies worldwide. Mr. Gupta arranged for three “Googlers” to come and present to our students the different aspects of working at Google, and again, most importantly, the soft-skills that are needed in today’s work environment. One such example is of a Google Cloud Global Program Manager who showed us that although she majored in Sociology in College, it is due to her extensive organizational skills and experience, her ability to work with several departments (tech-based and others), time management skills, and most importantly, being a problem-solver, that she manages over 1200 employees worldwide. At the end of our trip, we were pleasantly surprised to be treated with gift bags from Google.
Our greatest takeaway: Qualities that top companies look for beyond the conventional skills-set? 1.Being a team-player. 2. Having Empathy; 3. A critical thinker; 4. Collaboratively solving life-puzzles and problems.
