Careers

II Senior Team Building Event Monday 6th June

ON MONDAY 6TH JUNE, II SENIOR TOOK PART IN A TEAM BUILDING EVENT. THEIR TASK WAS TO PRODUCE, MARKET AND PITCH A PLATINUM JUBILEE TOTE BAG. AS WELL AS DESIGNING AND CREATING THE BAG, THE TEAMS WERE TASKED WITH DISPLAYING THEIR DESIGN ON A STALL USING A THEME OF THEIR CHOICE TO MARK THE QUEEN’S JUBILEE.

The girls were asked to think about their target audience and then try to convince the judges of their company’s design in terms of being the best value for money, the best looking product, and having the most professionally presented display. They were also encouraged to think about other benefits that may entice the judges such as supporting a charity or using sustainably sourced materials.

Each of the teams were enthusiastic and focussed on doing their very best. They all succeeded in producing some excellent designs and delivered some fantastic presentations. Guest judge Kyla Almeida (VS) commented, “The teams displayed their knowledge of business to promote their tote bags discussing a range of pricing strategies, target markets, cash budgets and many more, which all led to very persuasive pitches. It was a great event and well done to all the pupils who took part.”

Becky Milne Teacher of Modern Studies

The teams displayed their knowledge of business to promote their tote bags

UCAS Day Wed 8th June

NESCol – Lauren MacAskill

V Senior were delighted to be treated to the opportunity to hear from Lauren MacAskill, a member of the recruitment team from NESCol. She shared the many interesting pathways you can access in higher education, taking the time to inform us on students’ positive experiences and the application process.

As fifth years, we are moving into our final year of school therefore it was inspiring and encouraging to hear of alternate but rewarding pathways we could take to enter the next chapter of our lives. She opened our eyes and showed us how there are more ways to get to where we want to in life than through traditional means, like university, stressing that it is important that we can go our own way.

Lauren mentioned the many interactive facilities at the college and the wide range of subject choices, which would allow anyone to indulge in a previous interest or passion, developing their knowledge and expanding their skill sets. She explained that for some courses you are able to start the first two years with extra support from the college that you wouldn’t get in university. You are later able to join your third year of university and finish off your course. Some of their partner universities, such as Robert Gordon’s University, intentionally leave spaces for NESCol students, allowing them to have both the college and university experience. This way they can obtain a meaningful degree with added support that allows them to become more confident and independent. Lauren mentioned that those who would have attended college beforehand have a visible advantage of being ahead of their peers when it comes to practical work, as they have been given more opportunities for more ‘hands-on learning’. Not everybody learns the same way, so this would be very beneficial for visual learners and allows them to have a level playing field with those who thrive in a lecture theatre.

The college offers plenty of opportunities for the more physically demanding courses, especially engineering, as they have a separate facility just for developing, constructing, building and more there which can be accessed by a college bus that takes you there and back once a day. We were shown that there isn’t a simple one direct path to university and if that door closes NESCol offers the chance to find another way.

Aimee Anderton and Ayo Atti VS

CV writing and interview skills

TMM Recruitment – Emma Rutherford and Craig Low

It was really interesting to learn about the ins and outs of the interview process.

Emma and Craig discussed how to deliver a good interview, what to expect, how to answer questions without being too boastful and how to present yourself and your surroundings. It was especially useful when they talked about the virtual interviews as these have become extremely relevant in recent years.

Georgina Elson VS

How to choose a uni and how to write a personal statement

University of Aberdeen – Helena Ziegler

This year, the fifth years were very lucky to finally have our UCAS day back in person.

Helena Ziegler from Aberdeen University came to teach us how to write a personal statement and inform us of the wide range of flexible degree programmes that many universities – and specifically the University of Aberdeen – has to offer. This was extremely insightful to all of us to see just how many options and paths we could take and what a personal statement actually entails. The talk really helped to set us on the right path and showed us the steps we need to take for the months to come.

Adefolami Olawuyi and Womano Odu VS

International Opportunities

University of Aberdeen – Louisa Stratton

Listening to the talk given by Louisa Stratton helped us gain a deeper knowledge of the possibility of studying abroad, and helped us to appreciate the skills you can gain as well as other benefits from this experience.

Louisa gave us examples of these benefits, telling us of possibilities such as making new friends, growing your network, getting to know a new culture and so much more. We also learnt that this experience gives us many opportunities in study and work through having access to a wider range of resources and a different view of the material in the courses and of life in general. Louisa also highlighted to us how the experience can be very beneficial as it can make us more independent and capable in the real world.

Jamila Akchurina VIS

University of Stirling

Amy Shimmin

As part of our UCAS day, Amy Shimmin from the University of Stirling kindly came to talk to us about student life, accommodation and range of opportunities within the University.

She took us through what we felt was important to us in our daily lives aside from our school life, and how this may be provided at the University. We gained a great insight into Stirling’s unique campus set up and the many fantastic extra curricular opportunities, with a particular emphasis on the University’s world class sporting facilities. We got to see the amazing history that the University of Stirling is surrounded by, and we were also shown examples of university accommodation, as well as the help and support that may be provided to students. Overall, it was a highly informative talk that really provided us with a lot of valuable information, not only about the University of Stirling, but also student life as a whole.

Ellen MacDonald and Samly Koshy VS

IVS Careers Days Thursday 9th & Friday 10th June RGU – How to Choose a Uni

The fourth years were fortunate enough to have Careers Days on 9th and 10th June, where we had lots of guest speakers, one of them being Ilona Noreikaite from the Robert Gordon University.

She held a workshop where she gave us advice on how to choose a university and what the UCAS process entails. We learnt a lot and we’ll keep it as useful information for the coming years.

Charlie Bricknell and Joy Olanrewaju IVS

Jeanette Forbes

We also had a talk from Jeanette Forbes OBE who is a local businesswoman and founder of PCL Group and owner of Grape and Grain.

She spoke about what it is like to run your own business, one of the key points being leadership. She also shared how the pandemic had affected her and her business. Jeanette gave us lots of advice to take away with us, where she mentioned the quote, “Strive for progress, not perfection”. This felt like a very good quote as it teaches us to not think about always being the best but making progress within yourself.

Charlie Bricknell and Joy Olanrewaju IVS

Anthropology

University of Aberdeen

On Thursday the 9th June the anthropology department from the University of Aberdeen came to talk to us about their experiences working in the field of anthropology.

Dr Tatiana Argounova-Low started the discussion by giving a short talk on what anthropology is and how closely related it is to all of our lives. The speakers also discussed fieldwork they had carried out in Nepal and Vanuatu, which was very interesting. We then heard about the work of anthropologists undertaken in a museum environment. Many of us did not know what anthropology entailed before the talk so it was both educational and enlightening to hear from the speakers.

AKE International

Claire Fleming

Claire Fleming who is Associate Director of AKE International came in to speak to the IVS pupils about job opportunities outside of the traditional political environment which are available to those who have studied a politics degree.

Claire’s own company is a security and risk consultancy firm based in London and she talked about her own route from university studying politics, international relations and Middle East security at the University of Aberdeen to where she is today. The talk was insightful and interesting, giving a full flavour of what opportunities exist for those who wish to study in those areas.

STEM Renewables/Wood

On Thursday 9th June, as part of our careers day we were lucky enough to have the Wood Group come and talk to us about engineering and stem renewables.

There were three different stations showing the different sides of engineering. We got the opportunity to try out their VR set where we were able to virtually look around an oil rig as well as the sea bed. We were also able to make a battery out of a salt solution and coins. Their presentation gave us an insight of what engineering is really like especially in a woman’s role and made us consider a career in engineering.

Charlie Bricknell, Rachael Law and Blessed McDonald IVS

Computing Workshop University of Glasgow

Matt Barr

In the afternoon, Dr Matthew Barr from The University of Glasgow came to speak to us about graduate apprenticeships.

He spoke about how The University of Glasgow’s Graduate Apprenticeships in Software Engineering offers the students the opportunity to obtain a university degree while earning a salary. It was interesting to hear an alternative to full time studying at university and he explained how the programme works, how to apply and what to expect in the programme.

Charlie Bricknell and Joy Olanrewaju IVS

Army Workshop

On Friday 10th June Robbie, John, Mojo, Tegan and Alannah came in to talk to the IVS pupils about careers in the army.

They came from all different backgrounds working in HR, the postal service, mechanics and artillery. We started the morning with a team building task where we were split into 4 teams and had to build a wheelbarrow with resources given to us which could carry a ball without it falling off. We then moved to the hall where they spoke about the different entry options into the army and the careers available. It was a fun and informative morning.

Sustainability Workshop

On Friday afternoon we came together in the hall to consider careers linked to sustainability.

The purpose of the workshop was to get pupils thinking about the issues of sustainability which exist in our world and the impacts they are having. We then thought about what the solutions to these issues were and what careers which might exist now and in the future to tackle them. With all of this information we had to build our own careers websites which aimed to inform readers about an issue, its impact, the solutions and therefore jobs and qualifications needed for those to help meet the 17 sustainable development goals. The topics we focused on were Fashion, Construction, Ocean Plastics, Fairtrade and E-waste.

Law Talks

Professor Rebecca Wallace

On Friday 10th June, 15 girls had an extremely insightful talk from former pupil Professor Wallace, a human rights judge as well as university researcher who has had a varied, interesting career all over the world.

Her stories regarding her work in countries such as Malawi, Canada and the Bahamas provided us with knowledge regarding the vast opportunities a law career can provide you and the experiences you can gain worldwide. Professor Wallace has taken on roles women have never previously had in the law world which showed us what you can achieve through drive and passion for what you are doing as well as the major barriers that have been broken with regards to women in law.

Erin Gibson VS

Medic Talks

Steph Walker and Ansu Saji Ryen Crabb and Jemima Curran

The medic talks in June were very informative and gave us an insight into the training pathway involved to becoming a doctor. The talk by medical students Steph Walker and Ansu Saji developed our understanding of the preparation process for the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT), an exam that all medicine or dentistry applicants are required to sit. Following the talk, it allowed us to plan our time effectively when practising for the UCAT. The talk by Ryen Crabb and Jemima Curran showed us the realities of life as a medical student and junior doctor. We really enjoyed these talks as they gave us a deeper understanding into a career in medicine.