One hundred and eighty 6th form students from Pates Grammar School in Cheltenham took part in a lively speed networking event with local Gloucestershire businesses recently.
The aim of the event, organised by Gloucestershire Chamber of Commerce with Chamber Patrons Gloucester Rugby, was to showcase what local Gloucestershire businesses have to offer to young people and the wide variety of career opportunities available for school leavers and graduates.
Prior to the event the students were given a brochure about each of the companies taking part with the opportunity to speak to those they were particularly interested in as well as find out more about a range of local businesses. On the day each student, had 5 minutes to find out about the company, to ask them what they look for when recruiting and they also had the chance to ask the business representative how they had progressed in their career.
Commenting on the event, Suzanne Hall-Gibbins, Director of Gloucestershire Chamber of Commerce said: “This is the first event of this kind that we’ve organised and it was a huge success. There was a real buzz in the room and we’ve received really positive feedback from the businesses, the school and the students alike. We were very pleased by the commitment of local companies to join in such an event, we had companies like Renishaw; Spirax Sarco; Soho Coffee; Barclays; HSBC; BPE; Fabric Architecture; Crowe Clark Whitehill; Nelson Thornes; Converge Networks & SSL.
And, as a result of the event, all the schools work experience placements have been fulfilled by the local businesses!”