The Student Support Unit at Técnico – NAPE organised another edition of Alumni Talks, which brought together current students and successful alumni, who shared personal and professional experiences.

The five invited alumni were: Rui Bento, General Manager at UBER Portugal, Válter Fernandes, Project Developer and Senior Advisor to CEO at TAP, Paula Glória, Director of Organizational Development at Hovione, Manuel Maria Correia, General Manager at DXC Technology and Ana Domingues, Vice-president of CGI Portugal.

Motivations, challenges, choices and strategies were some of the topic shared by the alumni. According to Rui Bento “it’s very important that students anticipate future challenges and think strategically about their future, namely their entry into the labour market”.

The alumni were repeatedly questioned about recruitment strategies. “We can explain a little bit about what companies are looking for when hiring new employees and the students were very surprised”, explains Manuel Maria Correia. “Some of these students are concerned about the next step, but interested and excited about this opportunity of sharing ideas with us”, says the Vice-president of CGI Portugal, who also shared an important advice with the students: “Be proactive at work because that will make you great professionals”.

Válter Fernandes noted that Técnico played a major role in his professional career. “When you are an engineer, it’s a lot easier to break your work up into small, to solve problems and to manage time and priorities”, said the Project Developer and Senior Advisor to CEO at TAP. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t study at Técnico”, he added.

A networking session was held at the end and according to João Araújo, a Mechanical Engineering student who attended the event, “knowing the challenges and regrets, the good and bad things, is something that enriches us and it’s important when we still have time to make changes”. “It’s well worth being here”, he concluded.