Looking at previous editions, correcting some errors, defining potential improvements and improving strategy to make this 17th edition the best ever was the plan of the Business and Technology Week 2020 (SET 2020), held from 2nd to 6th March, at Técnico – Taguspark campus. The new initiatives, the wide and varied range of speakers, the increasing number of participants – namely students from Alameda campus – and companies made this year’s edition a success. ”The balance is very positive. We evolved, we managed to attract more students and to innovate some activities ways”, stresses Tiago Fernandes, co-coordinator of SET 2020.

Companies representatives explain students the recruitment dynamics and the internship opportunities. “This year, we managed to bring a record number of companies – 50 companies are attending SET”, says Tiago Fernandes. “The companies participate in different ways: exhibition booths, workshops, stage presentations on a specific topic and speed interview”, explains Tiago Fernandes.

Speed interviewing is, in fact, a new and innovative activity at SET and it was also one of the most successful. “Basically it is a 3-minute individual pitch to companies”, explains the co-coordinator. “Students and companies were very pleased to participate in this activity. Unfortunately we could not accept all speed interview registrations. We are very pleased with the outcome”, says the student.

Tiago Fernandes recalls “in previous years, we had only one or two speakers per day”, but in this year’s edition, there were “4 or 5 speakers per day”, experts in Cybersecurity, Data Science, innovation, etc. “We had never managed to bring such important speakers and companies representatives”.

Some of the renowned speakers are also Técnico alumni. The panel titled “Next Step” held this Thursday, 5th March, brought together André Lucas (The Navigator Company), Tomás Jacob (Softway), Ana Marta Borges (Medtronic) and Pedro Meneses (Kaizen Institute), who shared their experiences and gave some advice on labour market issues.

The recruitment process, the expectations, the challenges of teamwork, were some topics addressed. “When I started working, I was unsure about what people were expecting from me. I didn’t know if I was able to fulfill all the expectations, if I had enough knowledge, but I quickly realised that I had to take things calmly and that there was no hurry, I had time to learn”, shared Ana Marta Borges. “Thanks to Técnico, I felt prepared for everything”, said Tomás Jacob. Pedro Menezes shared some advice “in the first two or three years you shouldn’t choose your job just for the money. Choose a company where you think you can develop yourself professionally”. André Lucas stressed the importance of conflict management. “Choose the right battles, find out what is really worthwhile and if it’s worth the effort, try to have some emotional intelligence, because it is very important”.

The IST Vice-president for the management of Taguspark campus, professor Helena Galhardas, closed the session and highlighted the importance of having “a large number of companies attending this year’s edition”. “It is evident that these events are very important for IST and particularly for IST Taguspark campus, which is based at this science and technology park”, said professor Helena Galhardas. “The participation of a wide range of speakers brought us more knowledge about technology and different opinions”, said the Vice-president.

Tiago Fernandes thanked his team for the “fantastic atmosphere at the 17th SET”. The co-coordinator of the event stressed that the effort was worth it. “A lot of students from Alameda campus attended this year’s edition. In total, we had 500 to 1000 participants on each day, which was very good. I think we can improve even further”.