Young Chamber and Bournemouth University joined forces in May to present the first in a new series of free, subject-focused events; Introduction to Careers in Media and Introduction to Careers in Law.
Joan Senior, Young Chamber Coordinator at Dorset Chamber, whose role it is to engage businesses, bringing them into schools to share careers experiences, said: “In our roles, we are well aware of the work schools are doing to address the career needs of students. We wanted to supplement the ‘central’ approach of having lots of companies at a single careers event with ‘vertical sector’ events where students – and their parents – are invited from schools across Dorset to attend if they have an interest in that sector.”
As well as presenting its degree courses, Bournemouth University, which hosted the events, opened its doors to other training opportunities including Bournemouth & Poole College, CILEX and apprenticeship opportunities to give students a broad introduction to the post-16 and post-18 routes into these sectors. The audience also heard from speakers who work in those sectors about their personal experiences and different routes to success – for the Media event these were Digital Storm, Intergage Ltd and Liz Lean PR, while representatives from law firms Lester Aldridge and Coles Miller, as well apprentices from the RNLI, spoke at the Law event.
Having education providers and professionals sharing their routes into the careers in these sectors is a first for Young Chamber, and the response from students and their parents has been overwhelmingly positive. Feedback from attendees and businesses found that the presentations and the opportunity for attendees to engage informally with the speakers during the exhibition session – as opposed to a static Q&A session – was particularly useful.
Helen Stevenson, Schools Liaison Officer at Bournemouth University sponsor of Dorset Chamber’s Young Chamber programme, said: “These events are all about getting people thinking about their careers. If you’re interested in a sector, we encourage you to talk to FE and HE providers to explore your post-16 and 18 options; we see these events as the start of that journey. Thank you to all the speakers who gave up their personal time to make the first events so successful.”
Young Chamber and Bournemouth University are planning further events on different sectors during the next academic year. To find out when and where follow:
Twitter @YoungChamberDT / @BUSchools
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/young-chamber-dorset/
“I wanted to reiterate how impressed we were with the speakers and the opportunities provided to talk to them. My daughter isn’t sure what path she wants to take after A levels so we are investigating all options and careers.”
“Thank you for the event. Your speakers were well chosen and spoke clearly about their different career paths. Really good.”
“The personal stories of speakers were fantastic, authentic, interesting, even inspiring. Your talks were short, funny at times, interesting, real and I haven’t got to tell you, inspiring young people is key …..9/10 for the night.”
“It was a good event with plenty of opportunity for discussion after the presentations.”