Monday 14 March 2016

Career Snapshot - Oluseun Adekunle - Job Shadow Week Participant 


Oluseun Adekunle is an undergraduate international student living in Edmonton, Alberta. He is currently in his fourth year of Electrical Engineering with a focus in Power and Control Systems.

What made you want to participate in the U of A Job Shadow Week Program? Did you find the program valuable in helping you recognize potential career paths?

My participation in the University of Alberta Job Shadow Week Program was influenced by the desire to understand more about the various career paths possible in the Electrical Engineering discipline, specifically the Power and Utilities branch. The realization that an established career is beyond what I have learnt in school prompted my participation in the University of Alberta Job Shadow week.

I was privileged to be matched with Mr. Lorne Clark, an Electrical Engineer working with the Utilities Services, University of Alberta. The information sessions hosted by the Career Centre played a pivotal role towards a wonderful experience with the host. In addition to the information sessions, reading the material provided by the host was another great way to prepare for the event. At the end of program, I wanted to have a definite idea of the duties of an Electrical Engineer and the skills needed to excel in this profession. 

The day kicked off with an office meeting, brief discussion about our backgrounds, interests and expectations for the day. Mr. Clark summarized the schedule for the day along with general guidelines and we proceeded to watch videos that provided a detailed description about Utilities Services. Mr. Clark presented and explained the single line diagrams of the campus. We spent the morning touring the Cooling Plant on Campus and the Heating Plant. He took time to explain the significance of thorough thinking and its effect on the outcome of a design. He mentioned specific factors that come into play in implementing designs and analyzed factors from a managerial perspective. Examples of such factors are accessibility, reliability, safety, organization, life expectancy and flexibility to upgrade among many others. The discussion centered on the realization of design of systems captivated my interest. We were privileged to spend the afternoon with another staff member, Shaun, reviewing more single line diagrams and time-current curves used in protective device coordination. Lorne concluded the program with advice and recommendations for career advancement.
 
This Job Shadow week was successful for me because Lorne went above and beyond to help the participants and provided comprehensive answers to our questions. More importantly, I left with a list of useful skills that I needed to either hone or gain that will point my career in the right direction. Words cannot do justice to appreciate the Career Centre and the hosts for their effort in providing these opportunities for students.

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