World of Work’s Insight with Local School Students

Osborne recently attended Ascot Racecourse to support a career event for students from St Joseph’s Catholic School in Slough.

The programme, designed by Learning to Work, prioritises how to become work-ready and is aimed to inform students aged between sixteen and seventeen years old. Engagement with this age group around exploring career pathways comes at a time in their life when pivotal decisions are being made surrounding career prospects and job opportunities.

There was a Career Speed Networking session on the day, which included our Account Manager, Steve Wakefield and Trainee Social Value Manager, Sairah Ghallib, who teamed up with other local businesses. Business volunteers answered questions from students relating to their job roles, key skills and capabilities required for employment, and how to choose a career path. From this, students were able to gain valuable insight into an array of different industry roles, including those that are available within our property services sector.

We shared advice from our experience, the value interpersonal and soft skills we look for in potential employees, how to make a lasting first impression, and the positive impact volunteering has on future job prospects. The young people were surprised to learn of the range of job opportunities Osborne has to offer from trade to customer support to surveying to bid writing.

Nancy Lalor, Operations Director at Learning to Work, said: “Having business volunteers on board to support the events we deliver in schools is really important if we are to give students a true perspective of what is possible and the multitude of jobs and opportunities available. Interaction with ambassadors from the working environment brings careers to life, highlights the importance of transferrable skills, and allows students to hear first-hand how highly valued personal skills and qualities are regarded in the workplace. Team Osborne is always supportive and more importantly adds true value to the events we deliver to students from Year 7 to Year 13 and they are a great example of what “making a difference” really stands for.”