To celebrate National Careers Week, KEHS hosted its first fully virtual Careers Week at the start of March. As well as links to great local and national online careers fairs, a plethora of resources to explore and form time activities, there were talks on Zoom during lunchtimes. Read on to learn more about what the week entailed!
On Monday 1st March, we welcomed Joy Shepheard-Walwyn (OE 2017) to talk about her work in consulting at PwC and the route she took post A levels. As a school leaver, Joy was able to gain client and project experience right from the start, whilst training and completing professional qualifications. It was fascinating to learn about the difference her consulting work makes in local government, which is something she is keen to pursue further. Joy also talked about the range of opportunities across different areas of the business, from accounting and consulting to business and technology. There are various programmes available at PwC for school leavers and graduates, and I would recommend students take a look at their ‘Insight Weeks’ and ‘Females of the Future’ programme for beneficial work experience.
On Tuesday 2nd March, KES organised a session hosted by Jag Sarai from the University of Law. He talked about the opportunities for study and gave a good overview of the main differences between working as a solicitor and a barrister. Jag also discussed the different routes to the top, from studying a law degree to undertaking a conversion, and the apprenticeship opportunities that are becoming more prevalent in the sector. He also gave some great tips for activities that aspiring legal students can get involved in.
On Wednesday 3rd March, Jaya Patel (OE 2020) who is a first year medical student at the University of Nottingham spoke to over 50 students, from both sides of the drive, about her experiences since leaving KEHS last summer. Jaya gave us a brilliant insight into starting university during a pandemic and all the wonderful things on offer at Nottingham. It’s clear that, despite lockdown restrictions, she has thrown herself into student life and taken on valuable opportunities such as volunteering with the Teddy Bear Hospital and working as a student ambassador. It was really useful to hear about the structure of the Medicine course at Nottingham and Jaya gave great practical tips for the medicine admission journey!
On Thursday 4th March, the Birmingham & Solihull Virtual Careers Fair took place, with information and guidance from a whole range of employers and sectors.
Dr Ross Wilson from the University of Nottingham also gave a talk about the value of studying the arts and humanities. He provided an overview of the different degree opportunities at Nottingham, and considered that the study of these subjects is what makes us human and, ultimately, less likely to have our job functions automated in the future.
At the beginning of the week students were sent a resource pack, which could be used for career exploration at any time. This included videos, information about particular job sectors, podcasts, workshops, online courses related to specific subject areas, and interactive activities such as trying your hand at unpicking a crime scene (perfect for aspiring forensic scientists!) Students were also signposted to the fantastic TuneUp resources available for learning more about work in the creative sector.
The site has been updated to include new videos and information on training routes.
