On 29th November FreshMinds was delighted to welcome 20 students and 2 teachers from Career Academies UK to share what’s involved in our various roles at FreshMinds, and inform and inspire them about options for developing their careers.
We organised a 3 hour workshop, which kicked off with a team-building challenge: a competition to build the highest free-standing tower with only newspaper, sellotape and an orange. It didn’t take long for the students’ competitive instincts to kick in (nor indeed the FreshMinders’!). Before long, towers were literally going through the ceiling.
Next the students heard from FreshMinders about what’s involved in a career in market research and branding, and the best ways to get into the industry.
Then there was a CV clinic session, where we reviewed the students’ CVs and gave them tips on how they could improve them.
The workshop went really smoothly and the students seemed to have benefitted from the advice and inspiration.
Career Academies UK leads and supports a movement of over 1000 employers and over 120 schools & colleges, working together to raise the aspirations of 16 to 19-year-olds.
Our group was part of a day-long event, ‘A Capital Experience’, organised by aspiration-raising business-education charity Career Academies UK. The day involved over 100 leading UK employers, and around 1300 young people attended.
Career Academies UK is actually a FreshMinds client, and we have been involved with the programme for several years and provide mentoring and internships to young people on the programme.
James McCreary, Chief Executive of Career Academies UK, said: “With the need for excellent workplace skills high on the Government agenda at the moment, this kind of event is more relevant than ever. The day will be a fantastic introduction to the Career Academy programme, designed to offer unique work-related learning experiences and inspire students to aim high. We hope that by visiting some of the UK’s largest employers, the students will realise that anything is possible.”