Year 12 Careers Talk: Sort Out Your Summer

Before the end of school year, Year 12 had the opportunity to join a session on elevating their summer and the benefits of using their spare time to make intentional movements toward their future. Mrs. Visram, Alleyn’s Head of Careers, led the session, which was based on how to, and why students need to make themselves as appealing as possible when applying for universities or employment. 

Summers are incredibly important for students and their development. The time is not only a chance to relax and reset, which is key for setting the right tone for the next chapter; summers are also a time when students typically find they have more spare time to explore their interests and passions and work on their own projects or skills.  

Through July and August, students have 8 weeks to gain more of the employability skills that school is designed to develop. While students aren’t going to be at school, they have 8 weeks to engage in experiences that will help them with their future and any applications they will be completing.  

Mrs. Visram addressed feedback from employers, who find that some students and graduates just aren’t yet ready for the world of work. Life can be more complicated and competitive than students may think, and often, new graduates are unable to articulate what they can do, or what they are interested in doing, which creates barriers to future opportunities. 

Owning and communicating interests is not about knowing exactly what you want to do, as careers are more dynamic, and often change over the course of a lifetime. However, in having an idea of the things they are interested in, and being able to communicate this, students can place themselves in a better position to secure interesting opportunities. If people know that students are interested in specific things, the students will more likely come to mind when relevant opportunities come across the table. 

On top of defining their interests, it is important for students to take intentional steps toward their futures where they can. Intentional steps don’t necessarily need to take the form of traditional part time employment. There are a variety of activities students can engage in to support skill development; whether that be personal projects, sports, volunteering, faith or work experience, every time they apply themselves into a project, they are stacking up the learnings, growth and skill development that come with. Every little bit counts.  

Mrs. Visram encourages students to take on projects, be curious and explore different careers, stating: ‘If your list (of relevant experiences) is short, don’t see that as a stressor but as a motivator. Use this summer as an opportunity to make a difference to your future. We want you to be driven by fun and optimism rather than fear and overwhelm.’. 

Thinking about the future can be a mix of exciting and daunting, and we are very blessed to have the dedicated efforts of Mrs. Visram and the careers department to support our students in their next steps and life beyond school.  

We look forward to catching up with Year 12 after the summer to see what learnings they collected in their time away from school.