Cardiff and Vale College has celebrated National Careers Week with a packed programme of careers advice and guidance from leading employers.
National Careers Week is a celebration of careers education across the UK. The aim is to provide a focus for careers guidance activity at an important stage in the academic calendar to help support young people leaving education.
Alongside its usual focus on real, not realistic experiences for students such as work placements and live briefs from industry, CAVC embraced this opportunity to develop a skilled and employable workforce that will add instant value to any employer. Its Careers and Ideas team put together a packed programme of more than 25 employers – including TikTok, L’Oréal, the NHS and the Royal Air Force – who spoke directly with learners in innovative online sessions.
Other sessions included CV writing hints and tips, an exploration of work experience possibilities, inspirational speakers, careers in media, and advice on job interviews.
Members of the Careers and Ideas team were also on campuses throughout the College during the week, offering careers advice with cake and arrange fun competitions.
The team engaged with more than 300 learners through the week’s sessions, either through watching them individually, as part of in-class sessions or via the big screen in the City Centre Campus Atrium.
Cardiff and Vale College Deputy Principal Sharon James said: “At CAVC we don’t want to be a qualifications factory that churns out people with the right pieces of paper but no idea of the world of work. We prefer to be a skills machine, producing skilled and employable people with the initiative and entrepreneurial talent to add instant value to any employer.
“That is why we work with thousands of employers large and small to ensure what we offer is relevant to the current and future needs of labour markets. Taking part in National Careers Week and holding these innovative online sessions with some high-profile employers provides us with an exciting opportunity to further build on that work.”