MHTA — StreetSmart, a division of ClickSoftware recently hosted a group of students from the Sisterhood Boutique for an excellent Tech Experience Tour. MHTA provides these unique Tech Experience Tours for students interested in learning more about STEM careers and the high tech business world.

The Pillsbury United Communities/Sisterhood Boutique is located in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of South Minneapolis, the Boutique is a business venture designed and run by East African women, ages 14-23.

This tour was a perfect complement to the young women’s business development at the Boutique. The students visited StreetSmart and learned about how the company functions, and the innovative technological tools used.

The group discussed software development phases and how business personas are used throughout product development and customer lifecycle. At each station, the students were asked to engage in conversation and hands on activities. The students went through five work stations that featured different aspects of working for a company that creates mobile apps and cloud-based software for the field service industry.

All stations had information around the types of jobs in that functional area and the skills needed:

  • Implementation & Training – How to onboard and support a new customer through their lifecycle.
  • Sales & Marketing – The many aspects of marketing from analytics to social media. Brainstormed how to market a new video game.
  • Engineering & Programing – How engineering uses information to develop products.
  • Quality Assurance – Hands-on experience in testing mobile devices for their apps.
  • Design & Development Station – Hands-on activity to program a simple app.

StreetSmart employees also offered students advice for the future, in the different skills, degrees, and experiences needed in the diverse jobs and careers in technology.

The visit was organized by:

  • Alex Becker, General Manger
  • Chelsea Jane, Customer Onboarding Specialist
  • Denise Baerg, Sr. Marketing Manager
  • Josh Hiemstra, Professional Services Engineer
  • Anna Lee, QA Engineer and R&D
  • Sabhapathi Akkipalli, QA Team Lead, R&D
  • Laura Theodore, Director, Customer Support

“This was a great experience for the ClickSoftware team,” said Alex Becker. “The students asked a lot of great questions and we hope our tour and interactive workstations provided an opportunity for them to learn more about the many different career opportunities in technology companies.”

For more information on Tech Experience Tours, visit http://mntech.org/tech-experience-tours/. If you’re interested in hosting a future tour, please please use our contact form to send us a message.

If you’re a STEM educator looking to connect with a business, be sure to also visit our get STEM Minnesota website at getstem-mn.com.