Friday 20th May saw the first Career Insight Day run by the Entry to Work Team at the historical Cressing Temple Barns, with 60 Year 9 students from the Alec Hunter Academy in attendance.
The focus of the day was Environment and Climate, with key speakers from the Place and Public Health function at Essex County Council. Students were immersed in interactive activities, quizzes, and games which gave detailed insight into the business area, career develop opportunities, and various entry routes into the organisation, along with a CV workshop. Students also got to meet Roy the Hawthorn Horse who demonstrated how to create natural flood defences – not surprisingly he was a huge hit!
The day was a great success with 96% of students confirming that the day has made them consider how they can reduce their carbon footprint and their impact on the environment and the climate. At the end of the day, students were asked what they most enjoyed learning. Below are some of the responses we had:
“Learning about careers in the environmental sector”
“What can be recycled and what can’t was good as I realised there’s more I can do”
“What green jobs are and how they help the environment”
“I need to do my CV, so was great to know what to put on your CV”
Johanna Smith (Entry to Work Lead) tells us why Career Insight Days are so important, “research tells us that the lack of work experience due to the pandemic has left students feeling unprepared for jobs and unsure about future career choices. Therefore, we knew we need to do something that gave students an insight into career opportunities available, without being off the school’s timetable unnecessarily. The Entry to Work Team have many different pathways to employment within ECC so we’re passionate about demonstrating to students that career pathways aren’t always straight forward; sometimes we take detours which develop more knowledge and skills – which are great qualities to have!”
The day was a great opportunity to highlight all the incredible careers available within ECC, along with all the amazing work the function is doing to tackle climate change and to provide a better environment for Essex residents.
To demonstrate our continued commitment to early years recruitment and levelling up, there will be more Career Insight Days in the future, so if you’re a School/College Career Lead and keen to know more, then get in touch with the Entry to Work Team on work.placements@essex.gov.uk
