The St John’s Careers Convention took place on Monday 2 October, and saw over eighty representatives in attendance to meet pupils from Lower Fifth through to Upper Sixth.
The main purpose of the evening was for pupils to find out more about a wide range of careers and to network confidently with those representing a variety of different professions.
Alongside the St John’s community, we were thrilled to invite and warmly welcome pupils from other local schools
We were incredibly grateful to the wonderful range of eighty representatives who participated and provided invaluable contributions to pupils’ research into their next steps. Several visiting representatives were former pupils (OJs), parents and members of our local community. It was amazing to see so many career paths represented, from science, technology, medicine, healthcare, business, finance, project management, law, people management, education, and the creative industries.
All pupils were encouraged to find out more about what working in certain careers involve, and network for future opportunities such as work experience. Pupils were polite and inquisitive, and we are pleased that they found the evening informative, and meeting with industry experts inspiring. They will use their newly gained knowledge of the careers market to inform their decisions about their future choices.
We were thrilled to receive their positive feedback after the event:
I felt very privileged to be able to speak to a designer as I hope to work in automotive design one day. It was also amazing to speak face to face with the CEO of Kia! I appreciated the representation of the automotive sector at the event.
There was a really good selection of people in all possible areas of work. For me specifically I was interested in careers to do with psychology; there were several different types of psychologists at the event.
I found the careers representatives very good at explaining what they do and how they got there. I am choosing a career which work experience is difficult to obtain, and they gave me good advice on how to navigate that.
I really liked how helpful and kind the representatives were.
I now have lots of helpful information on what path would be best for me, and what kind of things I might be doing in the future!
The representatives were highly positive about their interactions with our pupils, with several positive comments on their confident, impressive, and polite conversations.
I had such a great time last night speaking with all the pupils. They were all curious, engaged and open-minded which made our job much easier! I was particularly impressed with their communication and question delivery, which showed great maturity in thinking about their futures. They were fantastic ambassadors for the school. It was great that the students were all confident enough to approach the different desks independently and initiate the conversations.
I met some very well-rounded, polite and bright children, and really enjoyed talking to them about careers in technology.
The Careers Convention was well organised, with interested, motivated and confident students asking relevant yet challenging questions.
Fantastic event, full of energetic and enthusiastic pupils keen to find out more about their opportunities beyond St John’s. The wide range of representatives from different career sectors provides a great chance for pupils and parents to ask questions first hand.
It was great to be back at the school after thirty years and even better to meet the pupils and some of their parents.
It was great to speak to such engaged pupils and they were asking the sort of questions that I wish more people in my sector asked! I hope they found it helpful and valuable.
We would love to hear from Old Johnians, and anybody amongst the St John’s School community who may wish to support and inspire pupils within our careers programme. Please complete the form below if you would like to get involved!
Click here to register your interest in supporting the St John’s Careers Network
