Oil Tech had a career expo set up on the inside and outside of Mullen Gym. Students received a bingo card and had to have it filled out with stickers by the end of the day by talking and interviewing the companies. They were also required to dress formally for the occasion.

Overall, there were about 30 companies and each students had previously selected which two they were planning on interviewing. The Oil Tech teachers wanted to, “push the kids to meet all the companies and to get them used to speaking to adults,” said teacher Eric Newton. Being able to openly communicate with others is a very important skill to have in the workforce. Like they always say, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” and that will get you far in life, and not just with business interviews. Making good connections is key in order to be successful.

Oil tech gives their students, “…many scholarship opportunities,” sophomore Hailey Steele said. Students also like how the program is not, “…just about oil, it gives us a variety of opportunities to prepare for the career of our choice,” claimed junior Kayron Vasquez. The program gives students a wide variety of skills that they can apply to many different career fields, and it challenges students which looks great on college resumes. It provides a very, “…hands on environment that prepares you for the oil industry,” said Pedro Cota Valenzuela.

The program itself is all about getting students to want to go to college and to succeed while they’re there. The industry is, “getting a lot more competitive as the years go by, so we encourage students to go to college and get a degree,” says Tarang Lal, a representative of a company that was being shown at Career Day. There are also options for students who want to go straight into the workforce, “in companies like GPS, but there are not as many opportunities,” Lal added. The opportunities are endless when students go to college and do well there, so Oil Tech really emphasizes, on the whole, go to college.

Advisers acknowledge that there are other options other than college, but let students know that they’re a lot more limited if they happen to choose that path. Chances are, if a student is in Oil Tech, they are determined to go to college to receive higher education.