The Rotary Club of Princes Town hosted a Career Guidance Seminar at the Rio Claro College for Form Three students at which it had TT/Germany 2006 General Coordinator Peter O’Connor as the feature speaker on Thursday.
Initially, the club had attempted to have FIFA Vice President Jack Warner as the featured guest but he had to withdraw due to a prior engagement outside of T&T and O’Connor was then approached and he subsequently delivered the goods in introducing some of the opportunities available through football in the employment market.
The seminar was geared towards advising the Form Three students of the various career fields that would be available to them as they readied themselves for choosing their subjects for the CXC O’Level Examinations.
Among the companies which took part in the seminar included Republic Bank Limited, University of Trinidad and Tobago, University of the West Indies whose career placement officer Chandar Gupta Supersad delivered presentation, National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago, National Security/Police Service, Methanex (Engineering), Image Consultancy (Roxanne’s Beauty Salon), Automotive Industry (Bhola’s Auto Body Works), Information Technology (Prism), the Regional Health Authority and the TTFF.
O’Connor and TTFF Media were posed with several questions throughout the 3-hr seminar from students and accompanying parents, not only on the “Soca Warriors” getting ready for the upcoming World Cup but also on the opportunities available through football other than being an actual player. They were well informed of these other areas, ranging from event coordinating and management, culture relations, health and sports physiotherapy, officiating, media relations, accounting, and security – all some of the areas of occupancy required for the staging of tournaments and representation at international tournaments.
O’Connor, also a former TTFF President and Marketing manager advised the students to broaden their knowledge and never feel restricted to one specific field of work.
“You can never experience too much. Throughout your work career you may find yourselves experiencing ten or more different fields of work with different companies or organizations. You must be wise but never feel pressured when you are doing a particular job. Never feel as though this is all you can do and if you don’t make it as high as you would have hoped, never feel as though it’s the end of the road. There are many windows of opportunities and it’s up to you and for those of you are fortunate to have assistance of your parents, to explore them and gain as much experience possible. Try to decide on what you prefer to do or what you are good at and further your knowledge in that field but also be aware of the opportunities around you,” O’Connor stated. He reminded them of a son of their soil in Warner who began his trails in Rio Claro and went on to becoming one of the country’s biggest ambassadors worldwide. The students were no doubt thrilled to later find out more on Warner, skipper Dwight Yorke and his teammates and other information about the team’s participation in Germany
As the countdown to the World Cup continues, the TTFF continues to meet the request for assistance from individuals, both overseas and local, seeking guidance and information in the football arena and on the country’s preparations to take on the world.