Day 1: June 10th 2015: Careers’ Day
This will include sessions to develop an awareness of careers in certain sectors and sessions looking at the skills needed to find a job.
Day 2: June 11th 2015: University Fair
For the first time a number of the top universities in the UK are visiting to set up their stalls. We will also be inviting some of our recent leavers, currently studying at these institutions, to come back to share their experiences.
Day 3: June 12th 2015: UCAS Day
As in previous years we will be giving a thorough briefing on the process for applying to universities.
The days will be primarily for our existing Upper 5th and Lower 6th pupils (age 15-17).
The purpose of the Careers’ Day is firstly to broaden awareness of opportunities that exist in a variety of sectors and secondly to develop specific skills they will need to secure positions in their preferred career. The value of the day will be greatly determined by the quality of our contributors. It will be held on Wednesday June 10th, 2015, from 11am until 4.15pm, and will be made up of a number of sessions that pupils will be able to select for themselves. We expect them to attend between three and four sessions. Some of these sessions will be practical skills workshops looking at, inter alia:
- Identifying job opportunities including through networking and the effective use of media such as LinkedIn
- Writing an effective CV and job application cover letter
- Interview skills and what to expect at job assessment days
Other sessions will be industry-specific and designed to give pupils a flavour of what careers in that sector are like. For this we will pull together a small panel of people who work in particular sectors. As well as giving an overview of their industry, there will be a Q&A session and an opportunity to talk to the panel members informally over refreshments.
For each industry session we would like 2 to 3 volunteers who represent an aspect of that sector to give a brief overview of what they do. Then as a panel we would like them to take questions from the pupils. Each session will last 50 minutes and be repeated to accommodate pupil numbers. This time we are focusing on the following six sectors:
- Science and Technology
- Teaching
- Marketing, including PR, Advertising and Communications
- Finance
- Engineering
- Property, including Architecture and Quantity Surveying
As well as these industry and skills sessions we will also be offering the pupils the chance to practise their interview skills and we would again ask for any volunteers experienced in interviewing who can help with this to sign up to help us.
If you think you could contribute on the day, or would be willing to act as a mentor to individual pupils seeking advice subsequently, please could you contact Christine Brotherston at cbrotherston@brightoncollege.net. Please provide an email address and phone number that you can be contacted on. She will then provide more detail about what is involved and gather from you some information about the sector and role you work in.
We believe this will be a valuable addition to the career advice we already offer in school and we intend to make it a regular event each year. We hope it will be an enjoyable and informative day!
Yours faithfully,
Katie Jones
Head of Careers
RSVP: cbrotherston@brightoncollege.net