On 27th and 28th October took place another edition of Pitch BootCamp at Instituto Superior Técnico organised by SparkAgency, bringing together about 150 students who attended the event to learn more about their entry into the labour market.
Miguel Goncalves gives advice and makes the audience vibrate. He highlights merit, diminishes fears, remembers the path that is coming ahead and sets out strategies to achieve success. “Pitch Bootcamp is about exploring yourselves”, he said several times. “You are great, but nobody will know if you can’t show it”, points out Miguel Gonçalves.
In the fisrt day the audience was inspired by the experiences of three professionals. Joana Loureiro ( Daymon), Victor Duarte (TechnipFMC) and Luís Santos (Alpac Capital) shared their lessons learnt and highlighted their strategic priorities. “Daring to say no made all the difference in my career”, noted Joana Loureiro. They all agreed that the continuous search for knowledge is the best career enhancement. In addition and, as highlighted by Victor Duarte, “we should never doubt our skills”.
On Saturday, the participants presented themselves to about 180 representatives of companies. Some are nervous but others can hide. The approach is never the same and the conversations focus on individual skills and future expectations. Criticism, praise and possible career alternatives are some of the outcomes of the second day.
Patrícia Silva, student of Integrated Master in Aerospace Engineering, had already made two pitches when we talked to her. “They criticised more my 2nd pitch”. During her Pitch she talked about herself and what made her different from others. She spoke about all the activities that she was involved in, but her speech lacked confidence. João Figueiredo is completely different from Patrícia although they are attending the same course. He is calm and takes advantage of the last minutes before his Pitch to meet colleagues and advise them because this is his third time at Pitch Bootcamp. “I changed a lot since my first time here”, he says. “Coming to Pitch Bootcamp made me realise how companies work and what they are looking for. At the same time coming here every year makes me understand what I want”, he adds. “This help us to know more about us”, he concluded.
