As part of its on-going commitment to assist students in their post-College plans, Brock’s Next Step Programme this week hosted a series of inspirational talks where students were able to find out more about potential career and training options available to them after Brock.
Physics, Maths and Engineering students had the invaluable opportunity to listen to the experiences of apprentices currently training with global defence, aerospace and security company BAE Systems. The trainees described how Apprenticeships offer an exciting alternative to doing a degree course, and are enabling them to launch their careers by taking part in world-class projects and developments, and be paid an annual salary whilst receiving comprehensive on-the job training and gaining top, industry-valued qualifications.
The college also welcomed local entrepreneur John Quinn to talk to students from a range of subject areas about starting their own business. John has helped to build and sell a number of successful companies, the most recent one for in excess of £100 million, and was previously an award winning journalist for the Mail on Sunday.
He described how becoming an entrepreneur can be both challenging and rewarding, but is a very real and obtainable route that students can take after Sixth Form. He discussed with students how natural talent, energy and passion were key to starting a business, and those that do so successfully can reap the rewards. As well as explaining the wider benefits of entrepreneurship, he also took the students through the practicalities behind starting up, such as developing a business plan, gaining support and advice from a mentor, investigating funding methods and planning promotional opportunities.
Sandy Latham, Brock’s Next Steps Employability Programme Coordinator said: “We run a number of talks by professionals from a range of different areas to share their wisdom and experience, and help current students consider the range of options that are available to them. The idea of this week’s talks was to help students realise that they don’t always have to follow the traditional route of going on to Higher Education in order to progress to an exciting and rewarding career.”