Exploring career options

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Speros Batistatos (left), president and CEO of South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority, talks with students from Boone Grove and Hanover Central High schools during a job shadow event. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: March 20, 2012 8:11AM

Students from two high schools tested the water in the work world recently when they spent the day at the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority.

About 20 students from Hanover Central High School in Cedar Lake and four from Boone Grove High School in Valparaiso learned about a number of career paths they could take in the tourism and hospitality industry during the 2012 National Job Shadow Day Feb. 2.

“I began my career parking cars at the Holiday Star. There wasn’t an opportunity like this,” said Speros Batistatos, president and CEO of the SSCVA. Batistatos has worked in the hospitality and tourism industry for more than 30 years.

“This is something our organization embraces,” he said. The SSCVA has participated in National Job Shadow Day for more than nine years.

Students spent the day shadowing employees in human resources, marketing, accounting and sales as well as communications and technology staff as they prepped for a press conference.

Participants had the opportunity to observe job characteristics, responsibilities and learn first-hand the skills needed for a career after graduation. The job shadowing opportunity also can help aid students in choosing a career path before entering college.

Aramis Martin, 17, of St. John spent the day with the public relations staff. The Hanover Central junior wants to work in public relations in the political arena.

“It was really good for me. That’s what I want to do,” Martin said of the experience. He said it was interesting to hear Batistatos talk about every day challenges that come up and how the staff at the SSCVA deals with them.

“You need to be innovative,” he said.

His classmate Irene Bradley, 16, of Cedar Lake appreciated the opportunity to learn not just about possible careers but what the workplace is like.

“It’s really nice to get insight into what’s going on in the workplace, not just hearing about it,” she said.

Wendi Conrad, college and career coordinator for Hanover Central, said this is the first time the school has participated in an organized job shadowing event though individual students have had job shadowing experiences.

“I just see this has a great opportunity for the students. Just in talking to the kids, they are getting a lot of it and learning a lot,” she said.

Riley Vaneerd, 17, of Lakes of the Four Seasons, was among the Boone Groove students participating. The junior said he plans to pursue a career in electronics and spent the day with the SSCVA’s information technology department.

He also enjoyed the opportunity to see what goes on in the workplace in a real world situation, something he had not had the chance to do before.

“It was cool seeing what (IT) was in charge of during a day. If any problems come up, you have to learn to troubleshoot,” Riley said.