Looking Overseas! How IQP Has Helped My Career Search

Mshini Wam is an informal settlement outside the City of Cape Town and will serve as the project ground for our reblocking support initiative for 2 months

Molweni!

In Xhosa language spoken in Cape Town, this means “hello (to you all!).”  In seven days’ time, I’ll be on a plane heading to Cape Town, South Africa, to embark on my Interactive Qualifying Project.  In a group of five, we will be supporting a reblocking initiative in the informal settlement of Joe Slovo Park, where a congested illegal housing system has left the community out of cohesion.

However, something that most of my peers don’t know is that I did not get immediately accepted to this site.  I was placed on the Waitlist, which was tough to bear.  Most of my friends were ready to head off from Worcester to Thailand and London; I felt like I was perpetually caught in the wind tunnel, not sure which way I’d be thrown next (Tech jokes for the win!).

good impressions are essential to finding amazing opportunities.

Thankfully it didn’t take long to find out I was going to Cape Town.  Turns out, I made a good enough impression on my first choice destination that he referred me to an open spot in the Cape Town Project Centre.

This directed related to my internship search which the CDC helped me to prepare for.  My internship at GE Aviation was late on the mark, and happened through networking.  

Moral of the story?  The opportunities I’ve been fortunate enough to receive thus far weren’t because of my IQ; there are thousands of kids at this school more technically savvy than I am.

These chances were through the connections I was confident enough to make through training from the CDC.  

SO!  Build your confidence and know your skill set before heading into the next interview.  Make a one-on-one appointment with a CDC counselor today!

Until C Term, molweni!

-Adam