The event was held in two separate rooms with a choice of which discussions to listen to depending on their personal career path. The participating alumnae had a range of experiences in different fields such as clinical research, psychodynamic counselling and product development to name a few. The Sixth Form eagerly listened to the experiences and advice given by our alumnae and asked some challenging and insightful questions.

Some of the key takeaways from this event included encouraging the girls to not be too disheartened with rejection from job applications. They were encouraged to keep applying to vacancies even when the process is a challenge as an opportunity will always present itself. A key piece of advice was to create a LinkedIn account and use this resource during their career search.

Alumnae gave insights into their university experiences and recommended aspects such as a year in industry as it has the potential to accelerate a career in a chosen field.

In one of the rooms, there was discussion of the benefits of coding as a transferrable skill. This could allow you to move between industries and work from anywhere in the world. A software-based workplace is dynamic and susceptible to change. 

The sixth form were encouraged to demonstrate real world experience in their job applications. This could be a year in industry or generalised work experience. They were also asked to consider answering questions such as why are you applying to that company? What are you interested in? What do you want to learn about?

One of the sessions focused on the importance of self-care, asking what makes you happy in your life and how this can be applied to your career. One of the alumnae, the psychodynamic counsellor, was asked how her previous career in the arts has helped her in her present role. She keenly explained how the arts has helped her understand people, relationships and interactions.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to the alumnae for giving their valuable time to this event. The sixth form greatly enjoyed these sessions, which have given them a lot of information and advice to consider over the Christmas break.

Keep your eyes on our social channels for the career events happening in the New Year.

-Emily Jennings