The Career Fair is probably one of the biggest events that TGO has hosted, and the level of success and the magnitude of the event were a lot higher than previously anticipated. This post is going to embody the different stages of the process that TGO underwent in order to set-up and execute a career fair on November 28th. As the reflection progresses it is evident that the construction of the career fair took place at an exponential rate- not much progress in the beginning but a big surge of improvement towards the end.
When we started setting up and planning for the Career Fair about a month before the event, we encountered various problems. One of the biggest hurdles. we had was our constant shortcoming to execute projects that we spend months planning. Having 7 members in our CAS, we had eliminated the conventional idea of leadership and aimed to run a sort of inclusive and collective leadership, however, this ended in anarchy. The hour session was chaotic, with everyone yelling over each other as we debated ideas and appropriate ways of doing things- we weren't progressing. Mariana and I were frustrated because it felt like we were unable to get things done, and the deadline was approaching at a surreal pace. We had a chat with Ms.V about how we can improve the situation, she suggested we set-up different comities and allocate different people to specific committees (logistics, communication and advertising). After that, we broke down the responsibilities of all the committee to the very basic level, because we noticed that people got overwhelmed when introduced to big tasks so this was a way to make it more tangible. We let the comities decide how they wanted to split the workload and when it should be done by. The pictures below are screenshots from the google doc, to view the entire thing go here: https://docs.google.com/a/istafrica.com/spreadsheets/d/1x5k-l00zV14c0Au9mDojOpURRz2qgnJQ455WG9QZ6Vs/edit?usp=sharing
When we started setting up and planning for the Career Fair about a month before the event, we encountered various problems. One of the biggest hurdles. we had was our constant shortcoming to execute projects that we spend months planning. Having 7 members in our CAS, we had eliminated the conventional idea of leadership and aimed to run a sort of inclusive and collective leadership, however, this ended in anarchy. The hour session was chaotic, with everyone yelling over each other as we debated ideas and appropriate ways of doing things- we weren't progressing. Mariana and I were frustrated because it felt like we were unable to get things done, and the deadline was approaching at a surreal pace. We had a chat with Ms.V about how we can improve the situation, she suggested we set-up different comities and allocate different people to specific committees (logistics, communication and advertising). After that, we broke down the responsibilities of all the committee to the very basic level, because we noticed that people got overwhelmed when introduced to big tasks so this was a way to make it more tangible. We let the comities decide how they wanted to split the workload and when it should be done by. The pictures below are screenshots from the google doc, to view the entire thing go here: https://docs.google.com/a/istafrica.com/spreadsheets/d/1x5k-l00zV14c0Au9mDojOpURRz2qgnJQ455WG9QZ6Vs/edit?usp=sharing
While the google doc proved to be a good platform to get everyone started and motivated about the career fair because the workload wasn't impossible to achieve, and each member had a section of work to complete. There was also an increase in the amount of people that did work outside the 1 hour CAS session, which was great! However, the google sheet wasn't able to keep up with the constantly changing demands of the workload because as we learned different things we had to change the way we approached certain tasks. In addition, the initial allocation of tasks between committee members didn't stay the same and there were some people who took-on more work even though it wasn't their responsibility. In my opinion, this showed how at some point in time it didn't matter whether or not it was someones responsibility, if it had to be done there were people who stepped up to do it. The experiences we have gone through have definitely helped us become a better team.
The audio clip reflection from nov 10 shows how we had no speakers about 18 days before the event. We were desperately scrambling across the internet to find potential speakers, contacting them and eagerly awaiting responses.
Reflection Nov 10 |
The session on Nov 10th was used solely for contacting speakers, because they were extremely crucial to running a good career fair. We had gotten a few responses, but no one was confirmed to attend the career fair-which was a bit concerning. as a group we contacted a lot of people (not an exaggeration). We used Facebook, twitter, Instagram, email, text messages to get through to different people, and only a fraction of them replied positively or replied at all for that matter. Contacting speakers was quite a fluctuating experience, because we spent several weeks with no responses and then got a lot of responses. In addition, Vicky Ntetema (our initial keynote speaker) told us 5 days before the event that she will be unable to be the keynote speaker. The good thing was that Shufaa and Nibwene will be creating and presenting the Keynote. Similarly, Sara was able to step-in and craft her workshop days before the event with a bit of help from Ms.V.
In contrast, contacting the schools was much easier because all the schools were extremely interested in attending the event and were looking forward to it. I was in direct contact with 1 school throughout the process, Ms. Gillman co-ordinated with Bethsaida for the multiple events they were going to take part in on nov 28, Ms. Gloria volunteered to keep in touch with the school in Kawe, and Alishah and Steffi were helping us contact Zanaki.
In contrast, contacting the schools was much easier because all the schools were extremely interested in attending the event and were looking forward to it. I was in direct contact with 1 school throughout the process, Ms. Gillman co-ordinated with Bethsaida for the multiple events they were going to take part in on nov 28, Ms. Gloria volunteered to keep in touch with the school in Kawe, and Alishah and Steffi were helping us contact Zanaki.
The picture below shows hoe the library will be set-up on the day of the Career Fair. The bottom floor will be dedicated to the Career Booths where each speaker (professional) will be able to set-up, and the students will be able to move around to the different booths depending on what Career draws their interest. The upper level of the library will be filled with chairs facing the wall. This space will be used for the Keynote opening by Shufaa and Nibewene, as well as Steffi and Alishah's workshop.
The document above is the pamphlet we will be handing out at the Career Fair. Each student will have one pamphlet, and it outlines the careers of the different speakers, the general theme of the workshops and the schedule of the day. In addition to the pamphlet, each student received a "goody bag" that had a pen, notebook and water bottle that they could use throughout the day. Browse through the pamphlet to view the different careers that were represented at the Career Fair.