Our Annual Careers Fair

for students and parents

of our years 10, 11 & Sixth

Form students, took

place on 24th January

2018 and as in previous

years, was a hugely

successful event.

There is very strong evidence to

suggest that events like this really

motivate students and raise

aspirations which is why Canons

High School always strives to attract

some of the most affluent, well

established and respected industry

leaders and innovators to our

Careers Fairs, and this year was no

exception.

With nearly 50 exhibitors

representing a vast range of

industry sectors, apprenticeship

providers and educational

organisations there was a huge

amount of beneficial information

available to students and parents.

The event was opened by former

student and candidate on the latest

series of ‘The Apprentice’ TV show,

Sajan Shah.

He spoke about life after Canons

High School, his experience of

working with Lord Sugar, and his

own company, Talent4Tomorrow.

Rishi Solanki | Ex Canons Student &

360 Apprentice - KPMG

This was followed by an inspirational

speech from Talal Rajab, Head of the

programme for National and Cyber

Security for Tech UK, which is one of

the UKs largest tech companies.

Talal’ s speech really encouraged

students to start thinking about their

careers and in particular what a

future career in Cyber looks like.

Fired up by these words and with so

many varying stands and individuals

to see, the fair was soon in full

swing.

Later in the evening, break out talks

were held by some exhibitors

including Transport for London, SAE

Media Production and Cambridge

University.

These talks provided even more

information to our attending

students and their parents.

Beauty to Engineering and Public

Services to Hospitality; Our

exhibitors really made sure that they

provided relevant and current advice

to our guests who were really

grateful of the immeasurable

guidance they were given.

It was really lovely to be joined by

some previous students and in

particular Rishi Solanki who is

currently going through an

apprenticeship programme with

KPMG. We were also joined by Alex

Hirsh from Withers solicitors whose

connection with Canons High School

goes back a bit further to when his

mother attended.

C A N O N S H I G H S C H O O L

CAREERS FAIR - S P R I N G 2 0 1 8 -

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An event like this is only possible when people are willing to get involved so I would like to offer my thanks once again to everyone who contributed including our fantastic exhibitors for giving up their time, our speakers for taking time out of their busy schedules, our students and parents for their interest and to all the staff at Canons for their support and help during the event.

Mrs Christina Reffold Canons Careers Coordinator

Kieran Karmali-Truong | Year 11

‘It was a great evening. I would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t have a set goal on what they want to do for their futures. Whether it’s for post-16, or post-18, or even for anyone’s future careers, Careers Fair is very good way of deciding anyone’s future. Before I went to the Careers Fair, I was very unclear on what I should do for my future. After the evening, where I got to see many businesses, universities, apprentices etc. I became a lot clearer on what kind of future I would want when I grow up. Furthermore, I found this evening very inspirational because I realised I would need to work hard to get the specified qualifications in need for that place where I’d want to go in.’ Mahir Hamami | Year 12 (6th Form)

‘The evening was an amazing opportunity for me to go and meet targeted employers that I would like to hopefully one day work for, such as British Airways, who gave me an insight into different paths I could take with them.

What I learnt from the different exhibitors was that each stall had its own way of luring someone in, such as having leaflets and pens available to take, others having items to fiddle around with, and in general just looking appealing.

But the reality was that this year’s careers fair really helped me to think carefully about future choices that I am going to have to make, some of them really close and haunting me daily. However, having visited the careers fair, I feel less stress and a weight being lifted from my shoulders and I’m now actually looking forward to the choices that I will be making soon.’

Madihah Akhtar | Year 12

‘I thought the Careers Fair was a great success. It was amazing to see so many students and parents getting involved and really engaging with the exhibitors. I was also glad to have the opportunity to meet so many new people with so much to share. Although I didn't visit every stall, from the exhibitors I did speak to, I found out many things which inspired and encouraged me to

expand my horizons regarding the different career paths available.

Personally, I spoke to an exhibitor in the area I'm really interested in. This was extremely valuable as they gave me tips and advice on how to succeed in this field.’

Alisha Rathod | Year 10

‘When I first walked into the hall, I was totally clueless about what to do or in fact what I was looking for. I went in with hopes of becoming a teacher but I knew that my opinion was going to change. And it did change! I found the fair really helpful in terms of helping my view of what I wanted to do and therefore made me realise I actually wanted to go into hospitality. While there I had come across 3 different hotels which had provided outstanding information about each of their hotels and different apprenticeships and jobs which are available. I talked to The Ritz Hotel, The Berkeley as well as Royal Lancaster. They had given me various hopes and very high filling dreams of wanting to go into human

Talal Rajab, inspired our students with his motivational words,

but what did they actually think of the fair?

resources and recruitment. Overall the careers fair had amazing stalls that provided lots of information for any type of industry, I found the army, police and fashion stalls quite amazing as they had very enthusiastic speakers who knew a lot about the industry.

I now have a really wide and developed understanding of the outside world which is now helping me with what I have chosen for my new GCSEs as well as the path I want to pick ’. Ali Cherub | Year 11

“I consider the Careers Fair on that evening was a very fruitful and efficient use of time to help with deciding on further education/training and choosing a career path which needs lots of resources and information.

There were quite a few apprenticeships I was looking into with companies like British Airways, Metropolitan Police and The Royal Navy. I had positive and informative feedback which helped me to get a better understanding of the courses and apprenticeships they offer”.

Although the Careers Fair is organized for our students and their parents, what the exhibitors think about it is extremely important and their comments are one of the best indicators as to how successful it actually was. Pasqualina Puglisi | Project Manager ‘As representatives of the surveying profession we had the pleasure of meeting the aspirational students of Canons High School at their careers evening. Inquisitive students approached us from all manner of backgrounds, with

a genuine thirst to understand how roles within the construction industry could nurture their own development and future careers. We wish them every success.’

Amber Salome | Marketing Assistant ‘Thanks so much for yesterday. It was a very busy event and I spoke to some lovely students!’ Karla Jobling | Business Director ‘The careers fair at Canons High School was incredibly well organised and full

of engaged students. The majority do not know the variety of careers that are available to them and capturing the individuals who learn something new on the evening, was very rewarding. Many have successful parents, working in the corporate world and it was great to see so many parents accompanying, and encouraging their children to learn more about the workplace.

Attracting the best individuals to work for you can be challenging and capturing young people at this early stage is a crucial part of a talent attraction strategy. There were so many respected employers at the careers fair; being able to learn what they do to gain interest at this early stage, was also incredibly useful.’

Steve Prichard | Principal Branch Manager ‘Having attended a number of these events in the past I was expecting a few stalls and a handful of students… but was pleasantly surprised to see over 50 exhibitors and what felt like hundreds of students and family members. The variety of career representation was just amazing.

Students had the opportunity to speak to professionals from industries as varied as (but not limited to) banking, the armed forces, civil service, construction, engineering, recruitment, education, health and beauty, fitness and retail. Many of companies exhibiting were prestigious brands and it was great to see them supporting students career paths at such a local level. I had the opportunity to speak to some exhibitors and they all seemed so passionate about their own industries and in offering advice to students, some of which are unsure about what career path they will take. I was lucky enough to also offer some careers advice to many students. It was also inspiring for the students to be able to hear first-hand the success that the guest speakers had achieved (neither of whom had a 'defined' career path in mind when they left education!). I look forward to supporting at the next event and representing Adecco.’ Emma Adderly | Youth Engagement Manager ‘What an excellent careers fair at Canons High school. Lots of young people showing a keen interest in what every company had to offer. The students asked intelligent questions and were genuinely interested to find out about QA Apprenticeships and what they had to offer. I look forward to meeting these students in the future’

Mitchell Morris | Private Banker ‘Fantastic speech from Sajan Shah to kick things off. It was a real pleasure to represent Coutts amongst a host of other fantastic businesses on the night; we really enjoyed talking to the students and their parents about their hopes and goals for the future. It was great to see some familiars faces from previous years too.’

Rebecca Dench | Fire Fighter Attraction and Outreach Coordinator ‘We are visiting schools across London to promote firefighting as a career with lots of opportunities. The Canons careers event allowed us to meet with some amazing students with so much potential. Thank you for having us.’

A huge thank you again to

all our exhibitors for giving

their time to make our

Careers fair such a success.

Springboard

The Berkeley Hotel

The Royal Lancaster Hotel

QA

Royal Navy

EY

Department for Work & Pensions

Fashion Retail Academy

Harrow College

Uxbridge College

Oxbridge

Barnet and Southgate College

College Prospects of America

SAE

University College London

Kings College London

London School of Beauty and Make Up

CITB

Kier

MET police

London Fire Brigade

Firstco

Transport For London

Arup

Coutts

London Institute of Banking & Finance

Stuart Phillips

The Ritz

The MET Office

Withers Solicitors

WWP

Beecher Madden

Adecco

John Lewis

The Hive

RICS

Kelly Communications

Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Civil Aviation Authority

University of Hertfordshire

UAL

Champneys Beauty College

ACM

KPMG

Talent 4 Tomorrow

Tech UK

British Airways

Tech Maidens