KUMASI, Ghana — In a collaborative effort to equip undergraduates with practical career strategies, the Petroleum Engineering Students’ Association (PESA), in partnership with the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) KNUST Student Chapter and the West African Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (WAIMM) KNUST Chapter, hosted a virtual development session titled "Internships and Beyond: Preparing for a Career through Vacation Opportunities."
The event, held virtually via Google Meet on Saturday, October 4, 2025, brought together industry professionals and engineering students to discuss strategies for leveraging academic breaks to build sustainable careers.
Navigating Professional Growth and Industry Expectations
The session featured insights from two key guest speakers: Joshua Nsiah Turkson, a Research Fellow, Data Analyst, and specialist in Gas Conversion, Storage, and Machine Learning; and Victory Kings, a Petroleum Engineering graduate, SPE Young Professional, and Python Data Analyst.
The speakers highlighted the shifting requirements of the global energy sector, urging students to look beyond traditional academic performance and actively cultivate practical technical competencies. Key topics included:
- Navigating Internship Expectations: Understanding workplace culture, performance benchmarks, and line-manager expectations during short-term corporate placements.
- Adopting Professional Best Practices: Developing soft skills, technical documentation proficiency, ethical workplace conduct, and active professional networking.
- Exploring Productive Alternatives: Maximizing vacation periods through open-source technical projects, data analytics certifications (such as Python for energy applications), and research contributions when traditional industrial placements are unavailable.
The organizers reiterated their commitment to bridging the gap between classroom theory and industry practice through continuous skill-building initiatives.