During two days, SparkAgency organised the largest Pitch BootCamp at Instituto Superior Técnico. The event brought together 225 students from Técnico, who had the opportunity to try job search tools, to approach the labour market and to be aware of their best skills.
The first day of the event, March 31, was devoted essentially to students self-assessment, which included information about their academic journey and personal traits that “will allow you to make the difference and will reveal a lot about your personality”, said the representative from Spark, Miguel Gonçalves, who worked directly with the students during the two days, motivating and advising them always in an enthusiastic way.
One of the highlights during the first day was the “Lessons Learned” panel, which brought together successful entrepreneurs. Patrícia Espirito Santo from Jerónimo Martins, Pedro Oliveira from BP and Rui Oliveira from EDP shared their experiences and how they took advantage of the opportunities. At the end they left some advice to the audience: “Be true to yourself”, “challenge yourself and your company constantly” and “be the very best at everything you do”.
The final challenge came on the second day of the event: presenting students to the companies. More than 200 representatives of companies attended this event to hear students and advise them on their professional future. According to Carla Quental, one of the representatives of Hospital Lusíadas Saúde and Técnico alumna, “it’s very important for students to have a real-world experience so that they may be able to change and to adapt themselves to it. It’s already clear that Técnico graduates are technically very gifted, they take challenges and solve problems. But it takes more than that, they must have communication skills and create a sense of empathy.
Students became more confident during the event. Tiago Eusébio, Chemical Engineering 5th-year student explained what brought him to Pitch BootCamp: “I am finishing my course and I think this event is a great way to get to know companies and to get in touch with the labour market. Besides that, we are given very useful tips and training”. Sara Galhós, Applied Mathematics student who participated at Pitch BootCamp@Tecnico last year, decided to participate as a volunteer this year: “I liked so much last year’s edition that this time I decided to come and to be on the other side” she said, adding that “last year, my participation was very intense. It was one of the best days of my life for what I learnt and the worst day I had at Técnico because I became aware of my fears and of what I didn’t know about myself and about the real world”.
At the end Miguel Gonçalves left a message to all participants: “This is a very special place and you are really very good”.
