Bright Futures recruitment race, choosing options and teamwork!

On Thursday, all Year 9 students took part in a series of activities, delivered by the excellent Bright Futures Experiences Team. Working in non-friendship teams of six, students found out about the recruitment process and the key skills employers are looking for.

With five CV’s to chose from, the teams worked together on the ‘You’re Hired’ task, to identify strengths and weaknesses and applied these to the job specification, to determine which two candidates they would invite for an interview.

Expanding on this activity, students learnt about assessment centres and were given their own envelope with a task to complete – building a gravity defying marble run using only the limited resources provided.  They developed their teamwork skills and identified who in the team was the most creative and those who showed leadership.  Communication was also very important, and our visitors were impressed how they all worked so well together, despite there being around 120 students in the room!

A great website – LMI For All was highlighted as a very useful careers tool to compare and contrast up to three different jobs and find out about the qualifications, pathways, and salaries attached to each job. There will also be information relating to whether these sectors are growing or in decline. Using Labour Market Information is important and will help when considering choices at key stages, including when deciding which GCSE subjects to take. The key message was to make sure you do your research and check the author of any information you find, to make sure it is impartial and unbiased. Remembering also to consider your own interests and passions.

Comments from students included:

“I’ve really like being creative and it’s been fun being in a team with different people”

“I enjoyed making the marble run and have learnt more about how people can apply for a job”

We would like to extend our thanks to Stephen and Oliver from Bright Futures for providing innovative challenges and for supporting our students in discovering their own skills and qualities.  Also thank you to the staff who help to manage the event on the day.

Linda Taylor

Careers Lead