The Careers Live event in October focused on the construction and engineering industries.
A free careers education series organised by Tower Hamlets Council and its partners came to an end on 13 July after successfully introducing over 1,268 pupils to a range of potential careers.
The series, Careers Live, delivered five events between October 2022 and July 2023. Each event focused on a different industry and aimed to inform students on how they can kickstart their dream career.
Secondary schools across the borough attended and students were able to have face-to-face discussions with professionals about their career ambitions.
A total of 91 stalls were hosted by businesses and training providers from the construction, creative, health and social care, professional services and virtual reality and artificial intelligence, industries.
Students attended the events with their appointed careers lead.
Kawtar El Ouaraini, Careers Education and Guidance Manager at St Paul's Way School, said:
“We chose to provide this opportunity to our Year 10 cohort of 240 students, taking up to 60 students to each Careers Live event. Our students chose the industry theme they were most intrigued to attend, making it a personalised and meaningful experience. The cohort saw this opportunity as a unique way to explore and understand the range of career pathways available to them at their own pace.
“The Careers Live series was well planned, with a strong variety of exhibitors and at a range of fantastic locations. Notably, the speaker sessions were engaging, and I found that students left the room feeling inspired. Thank you to Tower Hamlets Careers and Social Mobility Team for yet another successful career opportunity.”
The Council hosted the events in partnership with the University of East London, Queen Mary University London, London Metropolitan University, New City College and Canary Wharf Group.
Rob McCargow, Technology Impact Leader at PwC UK hosted a stall at the series and said:
“It is vitally important for students to have access to inspiring role models; I recall from my own upbringing that I struggled to identify my career purpose because I never had the opportunity to meet anyone from the world of business.
“I'm incredibly proud of my team of technologists, I knew that several of them would jump at the chance to talk about how they have flourished in their careers; they take great pride in applying their skills to solve important problems in society. The event was absolutely fantastic with huge energy in the room, excellent questions from the students, and was professionally and thoughtfully delivered by the Careers Live team. We are looking forward to getting involved in future events!”
The Council’s Careers and Social Mobility team sit within the Employment and Skills Service and focus on developing and delivering excellent careers education and personal development for young residents in the borough, managed the series.
Councillor Abdul Wahid, Lead Member for Jobs, Skills and Growth, said:
“As always, we want to do everything we can to support our local schools and equip our young people with the skills and knowledge they need to start enriching careers. We organised Careers Live with the aim to support this mission and help secondary schools across Tower Hamlets deliver outstanding careers education and meet the eight Gatsby Benchmarks.
“I want to say a huge thank you to our partners who supported us, and to all the career leads’ that brough their students and made sure they could access this opportunity.”
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Posted on Monday 24th July 2023