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KimDuyen Ngo ’00 remembers high school as a difficult time. Having moved with her family from Vietnam to Charlestown when she was 12 years old, she got good grades but struggled to learn English.
The Boston Private Industry Council helped change that. Established 31 years ago, PIC is a private-public partnership that connects private businesses, the Boston Public Schools and institutions of higher education — including Boston College — with students and young adults looking for employment opportunities. Through PIC, Ngo was able to land a job placement at Liberty Mutual, and it made a major difference for her.
“I was able to practice speaking in a professional setting, and worked with people who were patient and helped when I didn’t understand,” said Ngo, now a human resources assistant at BC and a co-supervisor for the Boston College PIC program, which has been active since 1985. “PIC was a turning point in my life.”
Each summer through PIC, Boston College hires high school students from the Boston Public Schools to work in departments across campus. Funded by the President’s Office, the program provides students with valuable work experience, computer skills and college admissions information.
Ngo credits PIC for helping shape her future and paving her way, both to college and into the workforce, and relishes the opportunity to help supervise the program at BC.
“I’ve really come full circle," she says with a laugh. “As a teenager, it can be lost on you. But looking back now, I realize the skills I gained there – filing data, accurately reporting data to analysts, having attention to detail – I use that every day.”
Office for Institutional Diversity Associate Director and PIC Program Supervisor Sidney Holloway works with Ngo and Human Resources Employment Specialist Emmanuel Johnson to ensure PIC continues at BC. He urges University departments and offices to consider the benefits of a PIC placement and learn more about the program.
“We are struck at how many people don’t know about PIC here,” said Holloway. “We are really hoping to raise awareness.”
Human Resources Information Technology Manager Bernadette Conley says seeing today’s PIC students at BC brings back memories of her own time in the program. A Dorchester native, Conley commuted into Copley each day to work at the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company during her junior and senior years of high school. She was hired as a full-time file clerk after graduation.
“It was the early 1980s and I started to learn and help my colleagues with computers. It was new and exciting. I loved it,” she remembers. “That experience helped me to gain valuable work history and got my foot in the door.”
Conley points out that the advantages of PIC are far-reaching, both for the students and the employers.
“The experience is invaluable, from a manager’s perspective. It can be a lot of work, bringing someone in who may not know what needs to be done, but after they find their niche, they are willing and anxious to learn and do what needs to be done,” she said.
“It is a win-win for workplaces and for kids who are motivated and grateful to get a chance.”
The Boston College Private Industry Council invites University offices and departments to consider a PIC placement. For more information on the PIC Program or to request a PIC placement, contact Sidney Holloway, KimDuyen Ngo, or Emmanuel Johnson.