veteran educator told college students.

Progressive Labour Party backbencher Dale Butler was addressing the topic "That's not my job'' at the Bermuda College's seventh annual Career Day this week.

Mr. Butler emphasised the importance of doing jobs that may not necessarily be an individual's own.

He stressed that whether it be picking up trash or cleaning windows, each job is important and must be done to achieve the goals set by the employer.

Mr. Butler told the students that it was vital to see what needed to be done and that doing it would put them well ahead of their competition and help them make a success of their careers.

"Bermuda is the only country in the world where you are almost guaranteed to get a job, where even now, if you don't have the qualifications, people are prepared if you have the right attitude to give you the training,'' Mr. Butler said.

He told the students about when Bermuda and other Caribbean island slaves received their freedom in 1834.

Some went back to their former masters for handouts while others went ahead and made their own way.

"They saw at the bottom of the mountain, all the challenges, all the opportunities as well as all of the difficulties, all the obstacles in front of them and they were trying to move ahead,'' he said.

"If it wasn't for that group of people, we would not have the society that we have today.'' Those people built schools and churches when there were none, he pointed out.

"Those obstacles were turned into challenges, those challenges were turned into opportunities,'' Mr. Butler stressed.

And he cited how top US television talk show host Oprah Winfrey could have used her background, race and her gender as an excuse not to move ahead in her chosen field.

But, he stressed, she is where she is today by making obstacles into opportunities.

"If you have high expectations, if you have standards, there are rewards for excellence,'' Mr. Butler said. "We are constantly looking for excellence.

Your grandparents and parents also had high standards of excellence bar none.'' And those standards were being passed down, he pointed out.

"No other country in the world sends its young people to school with clean faces and in neatly pressed clothing as we see here on a daily basis,'' the former principal said.

Mr. Butler also spoke about the rewards for those who have good ideas and follow up on them and stressed the importance of good leadership skills.

Students should take every course that is offered to them, he added, in order to broaden their experience and enhance their job marketability.

Bermuda College president George Cook opened the morning session.