Career Heroes - Elita Frid

Tell us more about you

I’m a Canadian living in Belfast. I have two sons who keep me busy, but outside of that, I enjoy softball, Zumba, travelling, and spending time with my friends.

 

What kind of work do you do?

I’m an Industry & Education Engagement Manager for MEGA. My main role is to attract people into the manufacturing and engineering sector. I do this by telling students about the variety of exciting roles available in the sector and by coming up with creative ways to connect industry and education. This could include, for example, organising company tours for students, delivering hands-on projects in companies, organising careers events and talks in schools, and putting schools and companies in contact with each other so they can build a relationship where companies can visit schools to tell them about the different jobs available to their students.

When I visit schools, I talk about the various job roles in the manufacturing and engineering sectors, and I also explain how to get into the sector, such as what courses students can take, what route they can take, and how to get started with a company.

The MEGA team is quite small - there are only five of us - and we meet once a week. It allows us to stay up-to-date with what everyone is doing and keeps us all connected as it can get quite lonely on the road when travelling.

My team is great in that we all support each other - when someone is bogged down with work, we all come together to give a hand to ensure everyone can get their job done.

How did you become a Engagement Manager?

When I finished secondary school, I’d no idea what I wanted to do. I was interested in science but was discouraged from going down that road by my teachers. However, in university, I chose a few science courses while I was doing a degree in Spanish - completely unrelated to STEM. I then went on to do my MBA (Master of Business Administration), as I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.

During my university years, I worked in a variety of sectors (food industry, legal, travel, translation and interpreting services) and having my MBA gave me a great grasp of how business works, which allowed me to adjust easily in the various sectors I worked in and then go on to start my own business.

I was running the company Science Starz, which is a mobile STEM lab for primary and nursery-aged children, but I felt I wanted to do more to assist a wider age range of young people in order to steer them down the STEM route. When the opportunity for this role came up, I jumped on it! As a female in STEM, I’m well aware that the largest shortage of female uptake is in the area of Engineering, which is why my interest lies in that area.

If you could do-over, What would you do differently?

It’s impossible to rush experience. My varied employment over the years has given me a variety of skills and knowledge that cannot be learned any quicker.

Not everyone knows what they want to be when they “grow up”, and sometimes trying things out is the best way to find out whether you’re interested in it or not.

When I went to uni, I did so because I thought that was what I had to do to get a good job. That was why I went, even though I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I decided to do an MBA because my brother had done it and recommended it. I still didn’t know what I wanted to do after completing it. I just knew I didn’t want to sit in an office all day staring at the walls.

If I could change anything, I probably would not have held back in trying things that I thought would narrow down my career choices. If I had just realised that no career decision is ever final, I would have found it easier to make choices, not worrying about whether I would be happy with it in the long-term. You can always change your mind!