Year 13 “Young Professionals Conference”

20 Nov Year 13 “Young Professionals Conference”

Year 13 students had the opportunity to opt into an amazing day conference hosted by Dan Miller through his company Young Professionals.  The school has already benefited from several opportunities from the company since last March, including several students going on a virtual work experience.

The company provide an annual conference where they bring together speakers from top employment companies across a range of employment pathways but particularly from the business and technology sectors. This year it had to be virtual due to the current situation.

However, we made it as professional as possible by using the lecture theatre room and streaming the event live.  Those students who opted in should be additionally commended as this was in the middle of their VIMA internal exams so a few changes to exam timings had to be overcome.

Through the day students had 11 “TedTalk” style presentations from top companies including PwC, GSK, Capgemini and CGI to name just four, they explained their sector, their personal journey to the job they are currently in and the options they have for school leavers and graduates (taking into account that some students will want to go straight into an apprenticeship/job whilst others may wish to go to university first).  Dan Miller also presented a segment about setting up a professional LinkedIn account and the day was completed with a recruitment panel consisting of a representative from each company giving hints and tips on applications, interviews employment pathways and responding to questions that were sent in from those attending.

There was something for everyone, a couple of interesting options linked to degree apprenticeships were introduced, opening dates for applications and opportunities were highlighted.  The scope of pathways into the different companies was interesting to see and showed that there really is more than one way to get to a career dream.

My thanks to not only Dan Miller and the companies that made the day informative and beneficial, but also to the Year 13 students who opted in and the way they engaged.  Hopefully, many will benefit from the information and maybe specific opportunities that they now know about.  Who knows in a few years’ time – they may be the presenter for a company for the future Year 13s!

Miss Campbell

Deputy Director of Sixth Form

Head of Year 13