The Social Mobility Careers Fair

Young people take charge of their careers at Making The Leap’s Career Fair

By Olivia Bascombe, Fellow

I recently had the pleasure of attending Making The Leap’s Social Mobility Career Fair at Central Hall Westminster. Founded in 1911, Central Hall has been the home of the first United Nations meeting and has since been a place of conference for social, religious, scientific, and humanitarian issues. As such, it was the perfect ambience for our fair which saw young people network with a variety of employers. It was brilliant to see young people taking the initiative and being proactive about their career. While the venue was prestigious, the fair maintained a lively, relaxed, but professional atmosphere. The career fair added a personal touch with their stalls and seminars, providing a discussion of what employers looked for. There was no divide between employers and potential employees, only a conversation in which the two mutually benefited.

I had the opportunity to talk to a Fellow about her experience at the fair.

Cecilia says: ‘Today was nice. The seminars as well were very informative. Overall I had a good experience.’ I also asked her how she felt after the fair and she was delighted that she had options and was open to pursuing them.

I would recommend any future career fairs with Making The Leap for both friends and colleagues. It was and wonderful, diverse event which truly inspired young people to look at, not their limitations, but their vast potential.

My expectations were shattered by Making The Leap’s Careers Fair

By Matthew Harwood, Fellow

On Wednesday 30th Making The Leap hosted a Social Mobility Careers Fair which took place in Westminster, it was aimed at those aged between 16 to 25. The purpose of the fair was to help those find work opportunities and offer advice through seminars.

The Careers Fair hosted a wide range of employers for those who attended, from corporate to practical work with a variety of schemes such as apprenticeships, school leavers and graduates. For example, some of the companies which attended were Telegraph Media Group, Barclays, Bank of England and the R.A.F. There was something there for everyone, and while there might have been a company you desired but wasn’t present, each one offered a wide-variety of roles and offered great detail with each question asked.

At the Careers Fair there were also several seminars which you could attend, such as Interview techniques and how to use social media properly and the importance of networking. The companies which presented them were very informative and were interesting to listen to. Most offered detailed recaps for those who attended the Making The Leap workshops.

Attending the event, I found it very helpful as the event targets people such as myself. I was able to gain invaluable insight to each employer, such as advice to applying to their current roles and I wasn’t even aware of some opportunities that some employers offer; such as the Civil Service apprenticeship scheme.

Many of the employers enjoyed their time attending also, each of them allowed for friendly rapport which made everything feel a lot more at ease. My expectations were shattered when I attended; I believe a lot of people expected the employers to be quite intimidating but were quite the opposite. The representatives from Metro Bank how much they were enjoying talking to a wide variety of people. So it was great to hear that they were enjoying it too. Most importantly I never felt rushed, each employer took a great deal of time to answer questions and explain to me their particular schemes and what their company is all about, you were never just booted off so they could get rid of you and I was able to walk away from each employer with a plethora of information that I never would have known before.

In the end, I was glad I attended as I managed to network with other employers and got a few contacts to prod with my CV. I would argue that the event was extremely successful for everyone that attended, as Making The Leap staff was there to give advice on how to approach employers and some things to say. The turnout was huge, some stands had groups of people standing by and were having discussions about that particular company. I felt like it was extremely well organised, having enough time to attend all seminars while being able to have enough time to talk to employers.