Deciding what to major in college is always the million dollar question. Law? Engineering? Medicine? IT? To give students access to real-life stories and professionals, IISJ debuted a talk series called Career Chat. The talks target Juniors and Seniors to help them explore different professions while asking questions in real time. The idea is that someone, someday, somewhere might inspire them to choose a specific career path.

The talk series debuted with a presentation by Tanmay Goel, a product manager at Rakuten. Armed with a slick Powerpoint presentation, Mr. Goel narrated his path from CBSE to Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to Rakuten. But “one thing I really enjoyed in school that I’d like to emphasize is extracurricular activities,” said Mr. Goel. Colleges want to see students engage in after-School activities, but only in a few and do those few well, he said. 

“It was very honest of him to share his life experiences and struggles with everyone,” said Hirenya Setya from 11C. She was able to identify with Mr. Goel because of his CBSE background. “The focus on college essays and extracurriculars was helpful,” added another student.

This edition of Career Chat was hosted by the staff of Hibiki and members of the Digital Media Club (DMC).