Machine Learning and Product Development School Career Panel Recap with CIHC

Once again CIHC has brought another group of career panelists to inspire and shed light on their career fields for the benefit of these high school students.

We brought these guests to help students to look at careers from the eyes of the professionals already working there.

The main objective of CIHC is to provide a platform where students can interact on a one-on-one basis with professionals in different careers. That way, the students learn first-hand what it is like to work in a certain career field, what it takes to succeed in the job market and many other things.

The students get an opportunity to connect what they have been learning in class to what it takes to fit in the real work place.

Vladimir Bogdashkin and Tobin Ansong, who are the founders of CIHC hosted this event graced by 20 students and two inspiring panelists.

Here are the bio details of the two panelists:

Brad Arsenault – Artificial Intelligence consultant

Brad is an artificial Intelligence (AI) engineer, entrepreneur and consultant. He delved into the field of software development from a young age. This led him to create machine learning based solutions, email analysis, real estate valuation and data extraction.

Brad also dabbles in product management and product development. He also develops advanced reinforcement learning based automation systems. His work has earned him a high reputation in the Artificial Intelligence industry in Canada and beyond.

Martina Montero – Consultant for small business growth

Martina has been working as a product manager with various organisations in Canada. Over her career, she has held various positions with different tech companies in Canada. Her last product manager role was with Prodigy Education. She left two years later after driving the company employee base to grow from 200 to 500.

At one time in 2016 to 2017, she was managing a portfolio of more than 300 clients, engaging in processes such as user interviews, data analysis, onboarding improvements and other roles.

Today, Martina consults for several sectors including small businesses, YouTube channels and others on culture creation and growth.

Preliminaries

As soon as the introductions were over, the CIHC founders opened the floor by posing thought-provoking questions to motivate the students. This was followed by a session where the panelists gave a brief overview of their career path and the professional roles they hold currently.

This introductory session is designed to help the students ask better-structured questions that will paint a clearer picture of the relationship between what they study in the classroom and the likely career path that they might take.

Engaging with the students

The questions below were asked. These are basic questions, designed to boost the confidence of the students so that they can know that it is okay not to know, but important to start thinking about the possibilities.

• What is your most favorite memory of high school?
• What would you advise your 15-year-old self if you could go back in time?
• How did you know that you wanted to follow this career path?
• What high school classes do you have the fondest memories of?

These were simple questions; more of a break-the-ice kind of questions intended to help everyone relax and feel comfortable discussing the practicalities of their future self.

The CIHC founders led the group to the next session, where more serious questions were asked. They were as follows:

• How did you transition into your job from college?
• What courses have you taken to prepare for your career path?
• What are the future prospects of your career field?
• What would you advise students regarding job search and getting ready for the job market?
• What do you enjoy most about your career and what do you find most challenging?
• How would you advise a high school student regarding university applications if they want to pursue the same career path? Would you share how you made your application?
• What changes in job roles can you anticipate in the near future, say, 5 years?

On to more serious business

The next session involved the students to ask the questions below. These brought out the concerns that they have about making good career choices. They were as follows:

• What degree should I get to become a product development manager?
• Is the university that I attend important?
• What jobs can I get if I study machine learning?
• Is it possible to get a product development or machine learning job without experience?
• What skills do product developers need?

Adjournment

The panelists answered all the questions, giving sufficient details for each answer. After they had answered all the questions, the students and panelists gave their experience for the day, with everyone admitting that they had had a great day.

We hope to see you for the next CIHC session, as we bring you inspiring panelists from other career fields.