There are many engaging and fulfilling career opportunities in the technology sector. Recently, we hosted a group of high school students at our office in Hanover to show them what it can look like to have a career in network innovation.

The students were part of Building STEPS, a nonprofit organization in Baltimore that exposes high school students to careers in STEM and helps them transition to college and earn a degree. Ciena’s Blue Planet division has been supporting Building STEPS as part of Ciena’s Digital Inclusion program that provides students with digital skills, tools, and learnings needed to unlock opportunities in STEM.

Building STEPS conducts year-round programs for high-achieving students from their junior year of high school through college graduation and as they start their careers. These programs include seminars for high school juniors to tour STEM-related companies, a summer experience for rising high school seniors, college workshops, a college connect to help students transition to college, and alumni services for college students and graduates to promote career development.

Over the past two years, our people have volunteered with Building STEPS in their programs and at special events. Recently, we invited the Building STEPS students to a career day seminar at our office in Hanover.

This experience provided the students with a look into our products during a lab tour, a live demonstration on web page creation, and five rotational sessions where our colleagues from our Information Technology & Business Applications, Finance, Business Information & Data Analytics, Cybersecurity and Marketing, Industry Analysis & Strategy teams discussed their roles at Ciena.

We continue to support Building STEPS through our Digital Inclusion grant program and will work together to bring greater STEM experiences and opportunities for Baltimore students.