We also welcomed a degree apprentice from PWC who talked through her experiences of being on the ‘Flying Start’ programme and working in finance.
We were challenged to think about the broad range of careers that degrees could lead to. Speakers encouraged students to widely research and explore the hundreds of options available to them before they start narrowing down their choices. There are new degrees being offered every year that respond to emerging needs, such as UoB’s ‘Global Environmental Change and Sustainability’ BSc and an ‘AI and Public Policy’ BSc. Dr Ting Luo, who is a leading Associate Professor on the latter, focussed her presentation on the question, ‘What degree would set me up best for an AI driven future?’. She encouraged students to think across the AI/Human skills divide and to identify courses that bridge both skill sets.
Subject talks were wide ranging, including psychology, PPE, maths, geography and robotics. We heard about various career pathways and career opportunities being built into different degree programmes, for example how Maths undergraduates at UoB collaborate with Jaguar Land Rover and other industry leaders on real-world problems, and the opportunities for geographers in Town Planning, Urban Development and Global Sustainability.
We were grateful to Emma, a fantastic Student Ambassador from Nottingham University who helped students think through the transition to university with an enlightening session entitled ‘Student Life: What to expect’. Ms Bishop coached students through what makes a competitive application, describing what it means to engage with one’s subject interests at a super-curricular level.
Thinking about future life choices is never easy, but it can be exciting. Taking an incremental, ‘one-step-at-a-time’ approach is much better than doing nothing and then having to take a big leap into the unknown! We hope that the event will encourage students to keep exploring and moving forward with their careers and higher education thinking.
Mrs Cuthbert
