The Pitch Bootcamp@Técnico is a talent aggregator and bridges the gap between university and the labour market, but it is much more than that. Ethics and emotional intelligence are the key topics. Talent and self-confidence are the main topics addressed by Miguel Gonçalves, CEO of Spark, during this 2-day event. Most of the students show nervousness, introversion and fears. “This is an intensive, hard and long event; we are working together systematically”, said Miguel Gonçalves.
Thinking about the career, analysing the labour market and business are the challenges of the first day. During several hours the students learnt new ways of approaching companies and new communication tools. “Pitch Bootcamp is about what you can do to improve yourself”, recalls the CEO of Spark. “You have so much to offer to the labour market”, he added.

The panel titled “Lessons Learned” closes the first day and it works as an inspiration for the next day. Sofia Tenreiro (Cisco Portugal) Manuel Lopes da Costa (BearingPoint) and Pedro Oliveira (BP) talked about their professional experiences, their priorities and hard decisions, the labour market, the importance of teamwork and the secret to a successful career: “happiness”. “There is nothing wrong if you want to have a stable job. The very important thing is whether you are really enjoying what you are doing”, said Pedro Oliveira. “And being happy does not mean that you will not have to suffer or to work hard. Being happy is having a goal and knowing that you are doing everything to achieve it”, added Manuel Lopes da Costa. “I have no doubt that effort and hard work is the key to success”, said Sofia Tenreiro.

During the second day more than 220 professionals from 150 companies, many of them Técnico alumni, participated in the event. “Thank you very much for being part of this event and for all your availability”, said Miguel Gonçalves, who also highlighted students talent: “These students are incredibly talented”.

André Gonçalves, consultant at Winning and Técnico alumnus, shared: “Doing talent search at Técnico makes perfect sense. I know that Técnico graduates are well prepared and their profile will meet employer expectations. According to Mafalda Flores, Engineering and Management former student: “Técnico students have enormous talent but they can’t understand that, and this ends up limiting their ability to show themselves off. This is why it is so important to be here today, to calm their fears and to remind them of how extraordinary they are”, she stresses.
Students and professionals are now in front of each other, grouped in pitching tables. Students talk about their academic journey, career aspirations and dreams. The professionals give advice and clear their doubts. All details are written down and included in the final feedback.

According to Manuel Ramos, student of Energy Engineering and Management: “I was told to bring an object with which I could relate. So I decided to bring my bookmark: a dollar I brought from Washington because it tells much about me, as well as books and travels, which are my passion”. This is not the first time that Manuel participates in the Pitch Bootcamp. “The first time I attended the Pitch Bootcamp was very important for me because it made me realise that I was thinking about my future too late. But it was an incredible experience and I didn’t feel unmotivated. It gave me strength to start doing something”.
“What we have learnt here is amazing. We shouldn’t compare ourselves to others, we should rather compare ourselves to who we were yesterday and realise how we evolved. We can put things in perspective, but not our talent”, said Manuel Ramos.