UniHawk's Learning Lab blends education, exploration and experience to support career planning

Khaleej Times

24-04-2025

UniHawk's unique mentoring platform, A Learning Lab, is embarking on its next phase of innovative programs and pioneering initiatives to support students exploring their university and career options as the end of the academic year approaches. Through a blend of educational courses, structured personal development programmes, virtual internships and immersive tours, A Learning Lab is aiming to empower students to make informed decisions about their future professional journey.
Building on the success of UniHawk's study abroad counselling for students in the GCC region, A Learning Lab was established to provide a complementary suite of professional discovery and development initiatives that go beyond traditional academics. The platform adopts a progressive approach that incorporates socialisation, externalisation, combination, and internalisation, to unlock their latent potential and guide them towards their goals.
On the agenda for the forthcoming season is a new wave of the prestigious Harvard Youth Lead the Change (YLC) Conference, which started in Dubai in 2022 and will be staged for the first time in Oman and Bahrain this July. Led by students from the Ivy League college, the event develops participants' leadership, empathy, and problem-solving skills through a program of presentations, workshops, case-studies, and project-based exercises that empower students to recognize their own strengths and define their career goals.
Building on the success of the Harvard YLC, A Learning Lab has curated the Harvard Business and Leadership Bootcamp, which is set to take place in Dubai in June and in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh in early July. The programme is designed to help students explore various career paths, build essential skills like leadership, analytical reasoning, and risk analysis, and gain hands-on experience. For aspiring technology leaders, the Cambridge Tech Lead Bootcamp will be hosted in Qatar, Jeddah and Kuwait in July, providing an interactive program that blends leadership principles with cutting-edge AI, data-driven decision-making, and agile methodologies to prepare participants for real-world challenges.
Alongside the leadership development programs, A Learning Lab has pioneered a range of virtual courses, where high school students can explore specific career paths such as business consulting, medicine, law and entrepreneurship. Building on these courses, A Learning Lab also offers students the opportunity to step into the real-world practice of these professions, with seven virtual shadowing programmes delivered in collaboration with leading UK businesses and organisations. The platform also enables students to go beyond their comfort zone to get first-hand global experiences through overseas tours to explore top universities, engage in community service, and immerse themselves in diverse cultures.
Speaking about the value of engaging in different experiences to help with career planning, Varun Jain, founder of UniHawk and A Learning Lab, said, "We know from our years of counselling young people that it is never too soon for high school students to start preparing for university. The opportunity to explore different career paths through courses and work shadowing helps to empower them to identify their interests early on, so they can start to prepare their route into higher education. Through the various youth development conferences, which we have staged for the past three years, we have seen how students can build their confidence, discard any self-doubt, and develop the skills to succeed. We are delighted to be bringing these programs to new locations across the GCC this Summer, to give more students the opportunity to benefit from this transformational experience."