Chimwemwe John Paul Manyozo, PhD, Chart.PR’s Post

While working with the UNDP in Malawi, Africa, I was tasked with leading the organization of a career fair by the joint United Nations UN Cares team. The main objective of the fair was to bring together young people and professionals from various fields, hoping that the professionals would serve as role models, provide information about their respective fields, and possibly agree to mentor some of the young people. To make the event possible, I contacted the professionals in my network. I got professionals from diverse fields, such as the military, creative industry, architecture, IT, aviation, agribusiness, social work, education, medicine, law, accounting, events management, media and communication, to share their experiences with the young people. These professionals are doing remarkable work in their fields, and it was an excellent opportunity for the participants to learn from them. Each professional was given a booth where they could showcase and make a presentation about their field. The professionals began by giving a pitch about their field and work to attract people to visit their booth, and later on, the participants were directed to other booths. The idea was to ensure that the young people learned about their field of interest and had an opportunity to learn about other fields. The majority of individuals who shared about their careers were young professionals, which made it even more exciting. The success of this event convinced me that we need to have more activities like this for young people in Malawi. Rather than having it as an isolated once-off event, it would be great if educational institutions incorporated career days into their programs. It would also be beneficial if organizations made provisions for their employees to be released to participate in these career days. This will help provide the necessary support for our young people's transition.