ROK first virtual Career Carousel
30 April 2021
ROK hosts Careers Carousel for 180 students
On 30 April, ROK hosted its first Careers Carousel of the year, an online event which aims to give students an insight into a variety of career options.
Around 180 students from Clapton Girls Academy attended the event, alongside industry representatives from software company Optimizely (formerly Episerver); production company Jelly; innovative apprenticeship provider Multiverse; healthcare specialist Bupa; marketing and talent management company Wasserman; and student-led access project Inside Uni.
The event commenced with a panel Q&A session of a mixture of senior and junior professionals, each giving a snippet into their industries and roles and answering questions from ROK on their career paths. We then commenced the ‘Carousel’ where a further 6 professionals moved into one of six virtual classrooms to give an ‘elevator pitch’ insight into their career journey, followed by a more detailed Q&A session where the students had the chance to raise as many questions as they could in the time remaining.
The event revealed that while salaries are very much still a consideration for young people when considering a potential career path, job satisfaction also ranks highly. The young people attending made it clear that although they are prepared to work hard, they may not be willing to give up their lives or work-life balance to keep a job. Ultimately, the students were clear that doing something that gives them purpose and makes them happy is a higher priority than big titles or salary. Employers be warned!
Commenting, Denise Stephenson, founder and director of ROK, said: “This morning's ROK Career Carousel for Clapton Girls Academy was fast, fun and hopefully very informative! Our objective was once again to open up the world of work and industry to our young people, enabling them to hear directly from people in those industries.
“Our speakers delivered a great panel Q&A and a carousel/speed dating-type session which saw speakers cover 6 classrooms in 30 minutes.
“We reached 180 students today and we hope they were able to take something significant from the session.”
Nikki Storey, CEAG (Careers Education Advisory and Guidance) Lead at Clapton Girls Academy, said: “The event went really well and the students seemed really engaged!”
ROK is appreciative to all who took part and hopes that the students reached were able to learn something new and acquire information about an industry or job they previously were not aware of!