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The Career Exploration Program (CEP) is an offering from our Emerging Talent & Careers team, which was designed to initiate connections between Expedia Group and community colleges local to the Seattle area. The program took place earlier this year and was an opportunity for penultimate year technology community college students to build skills for entering the job market by learning from EG employees and mentors.
In this blog we explore the goals of the program, and what the experience was like, both from the perspective of the college students, and from the EG mentors.
Program Overview
Expedia Group partnered with the Seattle Community Foundation to provide students the 6-month Career Exploration Program! The CEP is a professional development program focusing on tech majors at Seattle community colleges! This program invests in the talent we have in the local Seattle area to prepare community college students for full-time positions in the technology industry. We utilized our Expedia Group employees’ expertise and to support in the transition from university to the workforce. From the program, students gained knowledge, expanded their networks, received college credits and complete a graduation requirement. Some of the core goals of the program were to build and develop critical business skills, increase student knowledge of Expedia Group as an employer for emerging talent, and to build connections with this community of students.
Kick-off Day: the program began with a day in the Expedia Group Seattle campus and included a tour of the office, an employee “Ask Me Anything” tech panel discussion, an overview of EG, and a networking happy hour.
Mentorship Conversations: each student was paired with a mentor who aligned with their career aspirations and had weekly catch-ups.
Learning Workshops: they attended weekly education sessions to build their career and business acumen. Some of the workshops included: How to Navigate Challenging Conversations, AI at EG, and Business Etiquette.
Mock Interviews: the students completed mock interviews (technical and behavioral) to prepare for them for their future careers. They were then provided with interviewer feedback, via their mentors.
End of Program Celebration: the students closed the program by returning to the Seattle campus and got to meet with their mentors, and network.
Student Experience
After the program, the ETC team caught up with the attendees to find out how the experience was for them.
– “My mentor was very supportive, insightful, and generous with her time, and I’ve learned so much, including a lot of technical tips.”
– “Being a part of this program has been a truly valuable experience. I learned how to navigate technical interviews, communicate and much more.”
– “The one-on-one mentorship was indispensable. The mock interviews were so good. It was great being able to both practice questions, but also stop along the way to ask questions if something came up.”
– “I feel so much more confident when facing a technical interview or behavioral interview, and I definitely learned a lot about the application process.”
“We really enjoyed the program and with several of the students applying for our internship opportunities at Expedia Group, we’re hopeful of the chance to be able to welcome some of them back to EG Seattle soon.” – Kendra & Molly from the Emerging Talent & Careers team
Program Mentorship
The students met with their mentors each week for advice and guidance. These conversations were opportunities for the mentors to to share about their daily responsibilities, provide tech job profile overviews, and explainers. Here’s a snapshot of the experience from the mentors’ perspective:
Chris, Software Development Engineer II
Mentor to Armando
“Armando was a great mentee who was dedicated and interested in learning as much as he could about what to expect when he begins his career. He was curious what a role at Expedia Group looks like, and what steps he can take to allow him to stand out. He always made sure to come to each meeting with questions prepared, and we had great discussions that went really deep into a variety of topics. I think Armando will have great success as he begins his career.”
Alana , Software Development Engineer II
Mentor to Yuria
“I know this program probably seemed a bit daunting at first, but I’m glad Yuria found it so insightful, and learned a lot. As she moves forward in her career I urged Yuria to keep finding people she can put her trust in, and lean on them. No one is successful alone.”
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