1

“A job is temporary; a career is progressive and something to aspire to.”

Autumn 2014

On Wednesday 8th October, two very nervous Year 12 students interviewed Mrs Brennan.

Mrs Brennan’s initial career aspiration was to study law and become a barrister but this did not happen. She completed her A levels and, although Leeds University was her first choice, she stayed in Birmingham and decided on secondary school teaching as a career. This shows that not every plan you make regarding your career always works out and that it is okay to change your mind, but an idea of a career pathway is preferable. Mrs Brennan explained that she was the first woman in her family to go to university and complete a degree.

The discussion then focused on the subject of careers at Barr Beacon. She said “Beacon has an excellent advantage of knowledge about careers. Nevertheless, one cannot ever have enough information or know enough about a subject. Especially in today’s society as things change rapidly in the

technologically focused economy.”

Finally Mrs. Brennan left us with the most inspirational words: “A job is temporary; a career is progressive and something to aspire to.”

Mrs Brennan gave us three ideas on how to achieve the best that we can:

1. Recognise what you are good at and exploit this in the right manner for your own benefit.

2. Practise talking in the mirror to improve your confidence.

3. Believe in yourself.

We are grateful to Mrs Brennan for finding the time for us to interview her. Mrs Brennan, your words were inspirational and eye opening. As Career Champions we have developed our skills and found out information about our Headteacher and ways to improve the career service at school for pupils’ benefit.

2

Career Champions

All About Me My name is Ross Martin, but people just call me Ross. I joined Barr Beacon School in 2009. The jump between primary school to secondary was frightening, but people at school, both pupils and teachers, helped me through this transition. In what feels like a blink of an eye, I now find myself in Barr Beacon School’s Sixth Form, the best decision I’ve ever made, and I look forward to a successful year.

I am an avid sports fan and in my free time I enjoy playing a variety of sports, including basketball, football, cycling and, my personal favourite, golf. Golf is a sport that I find relaxing and satisfying, especially when I hit a clean shot and the ball flies for miles. However there are downsides to this sport - it is a very expensive sport and can be an extremely frustrating game (I know this through personal experience).

Another interest I have is gaming; when I just want to relax I enjoy playing video games with my friends and I have had several memorable funny moments with them. I love everything gaming wise, and I follow the development of many games and technology associated with games.

I have recently finished some paid work experience where I spent 10 weeks working in an office environment . Now that I have finished my work experience, I have been lucky to acquire a weekend job at my local Nisa. This is helping to boost my confidence and gives me a sense of independence and responsibility.

My subject choices for A-Level are History, English Literature, Media Studies and Film Studies and my work experience has helped me to decide my chosen career path of journalism. Barr Beacon School has given me so much help in guiding me towards this career - I am writing for our very own sixth form magazine (which I helped to create) and, more recently, I have been made a Careers Champion.

You can see what I look like on the back page - don’t be afraid to say hello.

Midwife Talk By Toni Ann Whitehouse Year 13

I found the talk really useful. It was beneficial to know the alternative routes you can go down with midwifery and being informed of the course content from someone who has actually experienced it. Another thing that was beneficial was the midwife telling us about things that universities look for in a Personal Statement; this was great because it’s made me rethink certain aspects of my own Statement.

Finally we had a discussion about interviews and ways to impress your interviewer. Overall it was a useful talk and I have taken away a lot of useful tips.

Year 11 visit the Skills Show On Thursday 13th November, all Year 11 pupils visited the Skills Show at the NEC in Birmingham, where they found out about opportunities for further education, jobs, skills and apprenticeships. During the visit, the pupils took part in the following events: Have a Go: over 50 hands-on activities to try (including media make-up, robotics, animal management, music production … and much more!). Competitions and Demonstrations: welding, floristry, nail art, mechatronics. Spotlight Speakers: hearing from real people doing real jobs. Talks this year included speakers from Mac, JP Morgan, Next, Volvo and the NHS. Job Shop: browsing live apprenticeship vacancies and trying out the Universal Jobmatch Service. National Careers Service Advisers: on hand to provide expert impartial advice to parents and young people.

3

RAF Brize Norton

On 16th September 16 students visited Brize Norton. During the day they were able to visit the air traffic control, fire station, gymnasium and dog control. They were then given a tour by two pilots, of

the aircraft in the base hangar.

At the end of the day they were given a brief presentation on how to become a RAF reserve. A

busy but fabulous day.

Future IT Trends The UK IT industry has grown over the last decade and is still growing. This growth means that in the next few years over 125,000 additional jobs will be

made available in the computer services.

Currently there is a shortage of qualified professionals with knowledge of security and forensics. In the future, companies will have many jobs available in computer security and larger organisations, like banks, are now also employing

forensic computer analysts.

Typical jobs for IT graduates are: Software Engineer, Systems Analyst, Business Analyst, Technical Support, Network Engineer, Technical Consultant, Technical Sales, Project Manager, Web Developer,

Software Tester.

People need to be multi-skilled with a mixture of technical skills combined with strong business and

communication skills.

For more information on future jobs, go to pages 6-7.

“Speak Proper”

On Wednesday 1st October, Pam, Pam Collins, President of the Sutton Speakers Club, gave a presentation to the Sixth Form on how to improve their public speaking when taking part in presentations and interviews. She suggested that when you introduce yourself, you repeat your first name. ”Hello, I am Pam, Pam Collins.” Her other advice was: Pronounce and exaggerate what you are saying,

as this comes across better in a professional environment.

If you come across as being confident, then you gain a presence whilst speaking.

Before you speak, smile and take a deep breath, as this makes sure you are relaxed and that the interviewer is with you.

Practise, practise, practise, so you are prepared for any question they might ask you.

Use gestures to keep the interviewer/audience engaged.

Vary your voice (not monotone). All Sixth Form students are now preparing to take part in a Sixth Form Public Speaking Completion, with the winners participating in a Rotary competition.

By Ross Martin, Year 12

4

Sixth Form Workshops

On 9th October, Sixth Form students chose to attend one of

three workshops that were on offer:

1. Performance Through People - the availability of

apprenticeships.

2. How to Select the Correct University Course - a presentation by a representative from Birmingham

University.

3. Interview Skills - Rachel Richardson from Coventry joined Mr Till to talk to students about how to improve their

chances at interviews.

The workshops helped students to think about the different

options that they have at the end of Year 13.

Entrepreneurs of the Future Louis Dowd (13C1) and Tom Harrison (13W1) have set up their own business customising trainers. The idea developed a few

months ago when Tom decided to paint his own trainers.

Louis manages the money and orders and Tom creates the art work and meets the customer. Through social media, customers discuss ideas with Tom and then a price is agreed.

Payment is up front and the job begins. A pair of trainers takes

one week to pefect.

They have already received orders from League 1 football

teams!

Rapping Your Career

My KindaCrowd visited Barr Beacon on Thursday 20th November and gave a fun-filled, action-packed workshop to over 70 Year 11 pupils. Supported by a range of partners, including the National Careers Service and the National Apprenticeship Service, the aim of the workshop was to get pupils to discuss their future careers and make informed

decisions about their life after school.

The workshop, led by the inspiring ‘Kingpin’ Tijan Sallah, encouraged Year 11 to debate, in a rap format, in how to achieve their chosen careers. Apprenticeships, university, starting a business and full time work were all topics up for discussion. Working in teams of six, the pupils debated the pros and cons of each route into a variety of careers by using

interactive voting devices and the power of rap.

Jordan Wright (11M2) said: “This morning I was lucky enough to take part in the presentation. King Pin recommended that we research the careers that we are interested in and talk to people about what they do. If you do not enjoy the job, it is pointless just working for a payslip and not enjoying your career. We considered options such as aiming for university or apprenticeships, looking at the positives and negatives for

each, then made up our own raps.”

Mr Gubby, a Year 11 form tutor said “All pupils were very engaged; the language used was perfect and the presentation was very useful. It has certainly helped me to support the

pupils in my form group.”

5

6

Administration This includes local government and civil service officers, payroll

administrators, records clerks and office supervisors.

The sector is one of the largest in the country and employs over two million people. However forecasts appear to show this number will decline over the coming years.

Business Includes people who work in insurance, property, advertising

and marketing, recruitment and training.

One of the largest employment sectors in the country, with over two million people.

This is set to increase over the next few years.

Caring Services One of the largest occupational sectors, providing work for just

under two million people.

With an ageing population, opportunities to work in caring services are set to grow.

Includes those who look after the sick, elderly and infirm, and those who work with children like nursery workers, child-minders and teaching assistants.

This sector is set to grow steadily in the next few years.

Construction The construction sector covers skilled building trades. Typical

careers include bricklayers, roofers, plumbers, joiners and central heating installers.

There are almost a million qualified tradespeople in this sector and this is set to grow.

However, the share of vacancies in this sector that proves hard to fill due to skills shortages stands at nearly a third.

This sector is set to grow steadily in the next few years.

Customer Care Careers in this sector include call centre operators, supervisors

and telephonists. It also covers emergency medical dispatchers, call handlers and market researchers.

As telephony and IT systems become more integrated, jobs in this sector increasingly combine call handling skills with computer use.

This sector is set to grow steadily in the next few years.

Education Professionals working in education include early years, primary

and secondary school teachers, lecturers in further and higher education, and nursery and school business managers.

Numbers of teaching and education professionals are predicted to grow over the next few years.

Healthcare This is a large sector and includes doctors, nurses and

midwives, and other health professionals like psychologists, radiographers, dentists and therapists.

The sector employs over a million people and is set to grow further over the coming years as the country gears up to deal with an ageing population.

Health Support This sector includes people working in the health service, in

complementary therapies and those supporting communities like charity and welfare workers.

As with the health professions sector, numbers of support staff are expected to grow.

Land Based Includes workers in horticulture, for example gardeners,

landscapers and grounds people.

It is one of the smaller occupational sectors in the economy, employing around 260,000 people.

Almost two fifths of workers are self-employed.

This sector is set to grow steadily in the next few years.

Leisure and Travel This sector covers staff who work in sports centres, travel

agencies, tourist information and railway stations.

It also includes people providing personal services like hairdressing, beauty therapy and tattoos.

This sector is set to grow steadily in the next few years.

Management This sector includes managers, proprietors and business owners

in all parts of the economy.

This sector includes hotel and restaurant owners, shopkeepers, leisure managers, farm managers and management staff in customer service centres.

The sector is set to grow steadily in the next few years.

Manufacturing Job titles include food and drinks manufacturing workers,

chemical plant operators, and paper and plastics production workers.

It also covers people like wood machinists, road workers and demolition operatives.

This sector is set to decline in the next few years.

Miscellaneous Services Over two million people work in this sector.

Careers range from postal work and van deliveries to cleaning, warehousing, kitchens and recycling.

This sector is set to decline to start with and then grow steadily in the next few years.

Local Market Information The local job market is continually changing and some sectors are in decline. You need to be aware of this when selecting your career path.

7

Production The production sector covers basic jobs such as agricultural

labouring, forestry work and fishing. It can also include jobs in packaging, bottling and canning.

There has been a slight fall in the number of people employed in this sector, although numbers are expected to increase again and remain constant for the next few years.

Apprenticeships can be a helpful way of getting into this sector.

Public and Media This sector involves people providing professional services to

businesses in both the public and private sectors.

This sector involves many different careers including accountancy, finance, law, social work, broadcasting, journalism and PR. Numbers are expected to increase.

Around one fifth of the people who work in this sector are self-employed.

Sales People who are employed in the sales sector sell a range of

goods and services.

When working in this sector, you may be found in retail settings, vehicles sale centres, telesales companies, petrol stations and pharmacies.

Sales jobs tend to be mainly part-time due to the nature of them, so the number of people employed full time in this sector is decreasing.

Science and Engineering Professions Professions in science and engineering include aerospace,

energy engineering and biomedical research.

Professionals from this sector include chartered engineers, scientists, IT analysts, programmers and software developers.

You are well paid if you have a job in this sector but employers find it hard to fill roles due to the amount of skills required.

There is a skills shortage in two fifths of vacancies – almost double the national average.

Science and Engineering Technicians When working within this sector, you could find yourself in a

wide range of industries, such as aerospace, manufacturing and construction.

Technicians are in high demand across this industry, as employers have reported a higher than average number of vacancies, which are hard to fill due to skills shortages.

Secretarial People who are employed in this sector may provide reception,

clerical and PA support to supervisors and managers in both public and private sector organisations.

You can work a secretarial role in education, health, legal services and hospitality.

There is an even amount of employees who work full-time and employees who work part-time, although almost all of these employees are female with a ratio of 9:1. An increase is expected in this sector.

Security The security sector includes people who are employed in the

armed forces, police and prison services, fire brigades and the

immigration service.

Careers in this sector are well paid, and on average an employee will earn around £10,000 more than the national average.

The number of people opting for careers in this sector seems to be declining.

Senior Management People who work in this sector include corporate managers,

directors and senior managers of companies and organisations across all parts of the economy.

Working in senior management means that you are responsible for the overall management, policy development and co-ordination of operations, within your company.

The number of people employed in these types of jobs is said to increase in the coming years.

Skilled Crafts This sector includes a wide range of careers including textiles,

garment workers, chefs, butchers and bakers.

It also includes printers, footwear manufacturers, florists and furniture restorers.

Vacancies in this sector are proving hard to fill, so there are now opening where you can gain the skills that are required.

The number of people with careers in this sector is set to fall over the coming years.

Skilled Trades This sector involves skilled craftspeople who work in electrical,

electronic, vehicle and metal trades.

Examples of jobs in this sector are engineering fitters, machinists, electricians, vehicle mechanics, welders and foundry workers.

The number of people employed in this sector seems to be gradually declining.

Sport and Culture This sector includes sports professionals like coaches and

instructors, through to those working in creative careers, such as artists, writers and musicians.

These creative occupations are one of the fastest growing areas of the economy.

Almost half of the people working in this sector are self-employed, so there hours are very flexible.

Transport This sector involves driving jobs in both road and rail, and also

jobs where people operate mobile machinery and cranes, such as forklift trucks and high-access platforms (cherry pickers) – it also includes those who work on deck in the merchant navy and at airports in cargo handling.

The number of people employed in these sectors seems to be decreasing until around 2016, when it will gradually increase once again.

Research completed by Lucy Dugmore and Ross Martin. For more detailed information, go to: www.wowbc.co.uk https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/ E CLIPS

8

3 of the Year 12 Careers Champions: Lucy Dugmore, Ravina Sidhu and Ross Martin