When you picture the city of Vancouver, you see big buildings right? These big high rises consume the city, you may see them everywhere, but have you ever wondered just how much work it is to build one? 

I put myself in my dads shoes, I was a Vice president of construction at Wesgroup construction company for a day.  With the driving question, how does experiencing a workday shape our view of career choices?, in mind, I learned just how much thought, people, and work goes into creating these buildings.  

The Project

I travelled to my dads work and spent the day shadowed him doing his job. I then was assigned with creating a video full of footage from my day, this video had to include the story of my day, an interview, my answer to the diving question, and my thoughts on the job.

Here is my video:

My Answer to the Driving Question

This day really helped me realize things that I value for my future career. In the video my dad talks about how half of his work is interacting with people while the other half he spends in his office sending emails. I have come to the conclusion that for my future career I want to work with people, I want to talk to them, collaborate with them, and I want to help them. I have also realized that I want to a job where I go places and get out into real life, I don’t want to spend  half of my job in my office sending emails.

What Helped me get There

Going to the Site

Going to my dads work site really helped me answer the driving question because it made me realize how much I value moving around during my work days and getting out into real life.  At the office, my dad was having a hard time deciding what he wanted to do on a part of his project but as soon as he got to the site everything started to make sense to him. That was a significant moment to me because I want to make a difference in the world and it helped me realize the only way to tell what needs changing, is to experience that world. 

Shadowing his job

While watching my dad in the office I realized that sitting on a computer is not somthing I want to do a lot of in my future career. Being on a screen all day is not very fun and it makes me feel groggy and like I’m not doing anything with my life. 

The Meeting 

I really enjoyed the meeting, it helped me conclude that I really enjoy working with people. In the meeting my dad collaborated with people, he had to debate and work hard to find a solution. This is something I want to do, I really enjoy listening to many perspectives on something, and trying to put ideas together to create or do something.

Thankyou Email

This day required so much effort and planning for my dad and his work. In order to communicate my gratitude I sent him an email, thanking him, telling him what I took away from being at his work, and including the link to my video.

F.A.I.L (Fist Attempts in Learning)

If I were to do this project again i would film more of my dad in action rather than just mostly B shots. This would’ve made it way easier to get a point across and properly show evidence of what my dad does and how he does it rather than just by word of mouth.

What I Learned

During this project i learned lots about what I value for my future career. It gave me a grasp on what I want to do for the future and what that looks like. I learned what my dad does for a living and just how hard he works. I learned how much work and attention to detail it takes to create the high rises that consume the city. I also learned many new skills on iMovie including Ken burns, freeze frame and speed changes.