Steno Career Fairs
Promoting the courting reporting and captioning profession one career fair, and platform at a time. In-person or virtual, by any means necessary we will work hard at promoting and protecting our profession.
Earlier this year, I was excited to announce that I had partnered with KIPP, a nationwide non-profit network of public charter schools, to promote our court reporting and captioning professions to their schools. In order to promote our profession during a career fair, it was suggested that maybe I could put together a full career fair that represents the legal profession. I was able to get the courtroom approved to hold the career fair. We were going to have the panel set up in the courtroom, provide lunch for the students, give a mini-networking session with the students and professionals, set up a few steno machines to allow the students to try them out, and then finally give a tour of the courthouse. COVID-19 happened and changed everything. The fourth and final virtual career fair was held at KIPP Academy- Bay Area, Calif. This virtual career fair was different from Houston’s career fair. The director only wanted the panel to be present and we did a Zoom recording only. All professionals submitted pictures and their bios, and the students sent in their written questions ahead of time. Once we held the Zoom meeting, all professionals gave an introduction and answered the students’ questions. The panel included Judge Jo-Lynne Lee from California; attorney Peter Langley from California (husband to our very own stenographer Early Langley, RMR, a freelancer in Danville, Calif.); Shacara Mapp, a freelancer in Warren, Mich.; and Chase Frazier, RMR, CRR, CRC, a CART captioner and court reporter in Murrieta, Calif., who provided the captions while he and Mapp both spoke eloquently about our profession and answered the students’ questions.
The virtual career fairs turned out better than I expected. Since we were not able to hold our traditional career fairs, the main goal was to inspire our youth that their dreams are still important despite what we are going through with this pandemic. Our stenographers promoted our court reporting/captioning professions. The judges, attorneys, and police officer shared why the judicial system was important and the importance of finishing school. Each virtual career fair ended with words of encouragement. From the judges to the attorneys, they made sure to acknowledge our court reporting/captioning profession. Doing things remotely is now the new thing. I find myself saying this on a weekly basis, “When technology evolves, so will stenography.” As a profession, we have to continue to find ways to stay with the times and make sure we are educating the public on who we are and what we do. Judge Lee was impressed to find out what captioners actually do. Let’s continue to keep the steno conversation going. Although these virtual career fairs were for the students, I think we all walked away learning something new from another profession. I definitely learned something new and was inspired by all participants.
Career Fair #1 for teen girls
We kicked off our first virtual career fair with a small group of teen girls from Dallas, Texas. This virtual career fair was held on Oct. 3. We had six stenographers participate. We had Linda McSwain, RPR, an official reporter in Mobile, Ala.; Kimberly Xavier, RDR, CRR, CRC, CMRS, CRI, an official reporter in Arlington, Texas; Lenora Walker, a freelance reporter in Oceanside, N.Y.; Adriana Johnson from California; Vertina Yeargin, a freelance reporter in Lauderhill, Fla.; and Stephanie Hicks, RPR, a freelance reporter in Bronx, N.Y. These stenographers did such an awesome job promoting the profession and giving words of encouragement. I sat back and let these ladies do what they do best and that’s share their passion for the profession. After the Zoom meeting, Hicks decided to register for the RPR for the next testing cycle. You see, when a group of stenographers are together, we encourage and motivate each other. This was one of the highlights about the career fair. Empowered stenographers empower stenographers.
Career Fair #2 and #3 – Kipp Academy
The career fair for KIPP Academy Houston was done in two parts. This career fair panel was made up of the professions that you would see in a courtroom. We had Judge Dunson from Houston, Texas; attorney Eddrea McKnight from Houston, Texas; and police officer Sheldon Theragood from Houston, Texas. We had our very own stenographers Mekailah McChriston, an official reporter in Spring, Texas; Leticia Villanueva from Houston, Texas; Erminia Uviedo, RDR, CRR, CRC, a freelance reporter in San Antonio, Texas; and Adriana Johnson from California provided the captions. I was so proud at how passionately each professional spoke about the legal profession. The second career fair was Oct. 5. The director requested that we record the professionals who could not make it to the live virtual career fair and also wanted a person to be present during the live career fair to answer the questions that students may have. During this pandemic, the stenography world has been busy. It was hard to get reporters to commit during the morning hours to promote the profession. I ended up being the presenter for the live career fair. I had no clue that I would be speaking to four different classes on two different days. Each class was for 50 minutes. For some of the periods, we had classes that would combine and join the Zoom meeting. One class may have had 42 students, while another may have had 26 students. I put together a PowerPoint presentation and made sure that I had enough material to cover the entire class schedule while leaving room for questions at the end. The resources that I used were pulled from NCRA’s website. Between the PowerPoint presentation and the professional short video clips, the timing was perfect. I also included steno TikTok videos that the students enjoyed and could relate to. I was able to answer all questions and provide handouts and information on the NCRA A to Z® Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand Program. I promoted the profession for two days straight with a total of eight classes. The director and students were impressed, and we have been asked to promote the profession at their next career fair. The next time I will be sure to have stenographers on deck where there is someone for each class
Career fair #4 – Bay Area, California
The fourth and final virtual career fair was held at KIPP Academy- Bay Area, Calif. This virtual career fair was different from Houston’s career fair. The director only wanted the panel to be present and we did a Zoom recording only. All professionals submitted pictures and their bios, and the students sent in their written questions ahead of time. Once we held the Zoom meeting, all professionals gave an introduction and answered the students’ questions. The panel included Judge Jo-Lynne Lee from California; attorney Peter Langley from California (husband to our very own stenographer Early Langley, RMR, a freelancer in Danville, Calif.); Shacara Mapp, a freelancer in Warren, Mich.; and Chase Frazier, RMR, CRR, CRC, a CART captioner and court reporter in Murrieta, Calif., who provided the captions while he and Mapp both spoke eloquently about our profession and answered the students’ questions.
The virtual career fairs turned out better than I expected. Since we were not able to hold our traditional career fairs, the main goal was to inspire our youth that their dreams are still important despite what we are going through with this pandemic. Our stenographers promoted our court reporting/captioning professions. The judges, attorneys, and police officer shared why the judicial system was important and the importance of finishing school. Each virtual career fair ended with words of encouragement. From the judges to the attorneys, they made sure to acknowledge our court reporting/captioning profession. Doing things remotely is now the new thing. I find myself saying this on a weekly basis, “When technology evolves, so will stenography.” As a profession, we have to continue to find ways to stay with the times and make sure we are educating the public on who we are and what we do. Judge Lee was impressed to find out what captioners actually do. Let’s continue to keep the steno conversation going. Although these virtual career fairs were for the students, I think we all walked away learning something new from another profession. I definitely learned something new and was inspired by all participants.