1. Year 12 Work Experience & Careers support Dates: 9th – 13th July 2018

2. Grey Court is an ‘Investor in Careers School’
Careers education is an important part of the Grey Court Sixth form experience. We have been an accredited ‘Investor in Careers’ school since 2007 and we are going for a re-accreditation in 2018 showing our commitment to providing high quality careers education and guidance.
As a part of this all students will do work experience in Summer 2018
to develop their employability skills.
There are also various opportunities throughout
the year for support with thinking about their future
options including events and talks e.g. Careers fair,
Friends and Founders eve and Mock interviews.

3. Why should I do work experience
Employability skills
UCAS/Job Applications/Higher Apprenticeships
Unique Selling Point – what makes you stand out in the crowd
Boost your CV
Gain an insight into a particular industry
Helps you consider careers for the future/inspiration/new ideas
Networking/Future contacts/references
It shows passion and interest in that field of work
Try the job before you commit to anything
Develop your job searching skills
A Recent research study by Highfliers said that, "graduates who have had no previous work experience at all are unlikely to be successful during the selection process and have little or no chance of receiving a job offer for their organisations’ graduate programmes."

4. What is work experience?
Spending one week either work shadowing or doing a work placement.
Work placement – hands on practical experience of a job role.
Work shadowing - those jobs where you can’t actually do
the job until you are qualified e.g. surgeon, solicitor etc
and you are gaining an insight in to the area of work by
observing and talking to staff
Linked to your studies or future aspirations
Look for a challenging placement not nando’s!

5. Advice on finding a placement
What is the relevance to your future studies? Prospects website for ideas
Think about practicalities e.g. travel distance, cost
Ask around the school. Speak to students who completed work experience last year & look at the list on the WEX board
Discuss your ideas with your tutors, teachers, parents & careers adviser
Use your contacts!!!

6. Start early, research and be proactive
It is the students responsibility to find a placement
Identify the areas of work you are interested in and start to contact relevant organisations
Start contacting people now – you are competing with other students in other schools for placements
Contact the companies with a CV and cover letter/
Look for opportunities to network – Careers events, F&F Evening

7. Timeline 2017-18 Key dates for your diary
October 18th Student briefing on Work Experience
October-December Students work on CV and researching companies
December 7th Friends & Founders evening – networking and CV review
February 9th Deadline for own job finds – WEX Placement form completed
February – April Work experience clinics for students with no placement
May-June Year 12 exams
Early July Briefing on work experience week
July 9th - 13th Work experience week
July 16th Work experience feedback & debrief
Bernie Corrighan (Careers Adviser) is in the Sixth Form every
Wednesday if anyone has any questions. Bernie is also
available on if you have any questions.

8. Year 13 feedback

9. Information we need from ALL students -
WEX Placement form
Information on the Work experience page on the website under ‘Sixth form’

10. Future events Wednesday 11th October Way Ahead Careers Fair 6.30-8.00
Wednesday 18th October Student Work experience launch
Thursday 7h December pm- Networking opportunities for possible work experience links

11. Mock interviews
Summer 2017 we had Goldman Sachs staff in doing mock interviews with all year 12 students
Students had to be dressed smartly and have their CV ready for an interview and then receiving feedback
Students feedback on the event:
‘ The session went brilliantly. I got tips on how to improve in an interview and be sure to be passionate about what I do’
‘It was extremely helpful as it made me realise I do have the confidence to speak to an employer and they gave me useful feedback for my next interview’

12. UCAS time-line Year 12 July Personal statement workshop June/July
October/Nov
Students partake in “centigrade” workshops and are guided around the UCAS website
*Key event*
March
Parents higher education evening
February
Visit to a University during enrichment
May/June
Studying abroad presentation
September – UCAS overview by Ms McNicol during induction day
July
Personal statement workshop 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
11th October:
University & Careers stalls at the Way Ahead Careers Fair in school
December:
Students informed about the range of spring/summer schools run by universities.
February/ March:
1 to 1 student interviews with Ms McNicol plus UCAS Uni fair at Richmond College
April
University admission’s officer talk in assembly
June/July
Student visits to university open days
July/August
GC students attend university summer schools
Gemma
On-going: monthly UCAS/careers/opportunities newsletter produced by Ms McNicol

13. OXBRIDGE - Miss Fincham/Mr Clements
SUPPORT PROGRAMMES
OXBRIDGE - Miss Fincham/Mr Clements
MEDICS/VET/DENTISTRY – Mr Mohammad (Biology)
Grey Court Students on the Cambridge Residential
Millie at Kingston Hospital for work experience

14. Any questions?