As part of our WITNext outreach to inspire and mentor young talent, we opened our events to tourism and hospitality students from the UNLV (University of Las Vegas). This is a summary of their learning from the WIT Bootcamp on Oct 27.
Entrepreneurs in a row, from left, Car Trawler’s Bobby Healy, Qunar’s CC Zhuang, Wego’s Ross Veitch, Momondo’s Hugo Burge and Rome2Rio’s Rod Cuthbert
- Constant shifts of trends in businesses
In the past, businesses used to solely focus on profit. But now, people and the planet (environment) play a huge role in any industry you’re in.
- Knowing how to relate to others is essential
The shift of focus from profit to people taught us that in this current society and business environment, the skills needed to communicated to another individual is emphasized.
- Got an idea? Go for it
New ideas are constantly being generated, so don’t wait too long to make that idea into reality! “Ever thought about an idea for an application to facilitate the ease of booking hotels?” Someone thought about that idea too, and guess what, they were one step ahead of you and executed their idea. Take the risk, and go fo,r it!
- Never stop learning
Education may begin from the classroom, but knowledge doesn’t end there. As students, we should not stop learning when we graduate. In fact, everyone should practice lifelong learning.
- Skills from school
School is one of our stepping stones in life that provides us the opportunities to learn and grow. Gaining confidence through the countless presentations, effectively passing on the message in our written reports will definitely be applicable to us in the future.
- Stay focused and committed
Being part of the Generation Y, we are very well known for our “job-hopping” habits. Indeed we may want as many differing experiences from different types of jobs but we should never lose sight of our personal goals. At the end of the day, finding what fits us best and staying committed to it should be our ultimate goal.
- If you haven’t failed, you haven’t tried enough
Go hard, or go home! Failure does not determine that you are unsuccessful in what you’re doing. Every obstacle that you stumble upon is just another stepping stone that all of us should all capitalize on and improve ourselves further.
The WIT Start-Up Pitch finalists – from left, Noon and Somsak, Local Alike; David Litwak, Mozio; Julian Jost, Spacebase and Rod Bishop, Jayride
- Don’t be afraid to make mistakes
We should always learn and grow from the mistakes that we have made. A mistake is an opportunity to better ourselves. As quoted by Albert Einstein “Failure is success in progress”.
- Be adaptable
Change is constant – new ideas on products and services are being generated every single day. With that, we have to be adaptable to these never-ending modifications and develop ourselves accordingly. In order to keep up with the competition, one has to keep an open mind, think and encourage creativity, embrace ambiguity, and exercise emotional intelligence.
10. Networking is the way to go
A piece of advice for students out there, don’t wait until you’re out in the workforce to acquire networking skills, get out and go networking right now! You will never know who you’ll meet during each session and what you can learn from these individuals. Remember, always remain visible in other to connect with other and build those important relationships thereafter! It’s all about practice, practice, practice!
