Plashet School, a secondary girls school in East Ham, hosts an annual Careers Day for their Year 9 students. 15billionebp recruited and trained volunteers from a variety of sectors and job roles to deliver engaging and informative seminars to group of students.
Attending the event were representatives from the RAF, transport, retail, law, engineering, the police force, and technology. Each student attended five sessions throughout the day, where they had the chance to find out about how the volunteers got to where they are, and what their jobs are like.
Plashet School Careers Day was a brilliant way for the students to open their minds to new opportunities and to gain and insight into what it means to work!
The job market is continuously changing; with jobs ceasing to exist as well as new jobs being created. The range of jobs available is vast, but experience and knowledge of these different opportunities can be limited. As students become increasingly aware of the competition for jobs, the usefulness of understanding what their options are and precisely what these options entail cannot be underestimated.
Our Careers Day at Plashet not only introduces students to potential career paths, some of which they may not yet have considered, but it also sheds some light onto what it means to have a job and what day-to-day working life can look like. The students had the unique opportunity to find out how to find out further information about certain careers or sectors, which can support them in future choices. Our volunteers are trained to be as open and honest about their experiences as possible, which meant that students not only hear about the triumphs and achievements of the business volunteers, but also the challenges that they have faced and how they have overcome these. The Careers Day at Plashet school raised awareness, opened doors, and built confidence.
It was very engaging and a lot of information was given.
Year 9 studentsAt the end of the Careers Day, we asked students to what extent they agreed with a series of statements relating to awareness and understanding of careers.
Over 93% of students agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, ‘the business seminars have made me more aware of different career options available to me’. Some 85% of students agreed or strongly agreed that they ‘found the business seminars engaging and interesting’ and 82% of the students agreed that the Careers Day had helped to inform their future progression/career choices.We received some extremely positive and encouraging comments from both students and volunteers.
The event was a success and I would happily participate again. It provided students with a great platform for finding out about careers that you may not even think about in school. Great work by all.
Business VolunteerThe variety of volunteers that attended the day is what made the event so successful. With students each attending five sessions, they were able to gain an insight into a real variety of job roles and organisations. This is certainly something that we hope to continue to provide at future Careers Days.The other positive aspect of the day is that the volunteers are given full control of how they run their sessions. This allows for flexibility to the needs and interests of the students in that specific group and ensures that their questionsand queries are fully explored.