The Career Conversations series, created by Career Counselor Anthony Gliffe, is a new series of video interviews with professionals across the seven different career pathways, intended to be a resource for students to learn more about a career. These career pathways are Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources; Arts and Communications; Finance and Business Services; Health Science and Technology; Human and Public Services; Manufacturing, Engineering, Technology and Trades; and Information Technology.
“I thought it would be really cool to reach out to real professionals in a variety of professions and careers and start to interview them and ask them questions that I thought would be really important for our students to hear that could help them expand their career awareness,” Gliffe said.
Gliffe has filmed over 50 interviews with professionals. In these interviews, he covers topics ranging from misconceptions about the career, advice to interested students and the expected pay grade. Gliffe hopes students will use these videos to learn more about their intended careers.
“My hope is that the students that are serious about going into a certain career or who are very curious will watch a video and come away with some additional knowledge in terms of if this is something they want to pursue,” Gliffe said.
Gliffe also encourages teachers to incorporate Career Conversations into their curriculum.
“I think this is a great way for our teachers to incorporate these videos within a lesson and get them exposure to additional careers that are out there. I’ve also encouraged our special education teachers to maybe use this as a goal for a student on their individualized education plan.”
Junior and broadcasting student Nick Schwartz watched a video where Gliffe interviewed Mitch Rosen, a Niles West alum and vice president of “The Score,” a sports radio show.
“It showed me more depth about the career that I’m trying to get into and more about how I could advance into this career and get into colleges to learn about it further by starting early in high school,” Schwartz said.
Rosen reflects on his participation in the series.
“I’m a proud alumnus of Niles West and I am doing this to give back to the community and spread knowledge about the opportunities and resources students can use here to explore a future career,” Rosen said.
Beyond just these videos, Gliffe envisions that the series will lead to more opportunities for students to explore different careers and gain mentorship.
“The other really cool thing about reconnecting with individuals in Career Conversations is that it opens up the door to new opportunities, whether it’s a career speaker, whether it’s a career field trip or even an internship one day,” Gliffe said.
Gliffe shared the full folder of video interviews with all students via email on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
