Birkbeck, University of London: Birkbeck’s Careers Summer Bootcamp Attracts Hundreds Of Students
Now in its in third year of running, the Careers Summer Bootcamp has become a staple offering from Birkbeck’s in-house careers service, Birkbeck Futures. The event spanned across three days, with each day dedicated to ‘talent’, ‘career’, and ‘enterprise’. The series of events showcased Birkbeck’s impressive employer network, with representatives from Google, BAFTA, Huel, PensionBee and many more in attendance giving their career tips and insights to students.
The first themed day, ‘Talent’, designed to enable attendees to gain a better understanding of what is needed to do to secure the next step in a career journey, featured a current Birkbeck student, and representatives from both the 10,000 Black Interns programme and Cyber Resilience Centre for London, providing inside scoops on industry expertise and current recruitment opportunities.
Hannah Khoo, who manages client relationships at the Cyber Resilience Centre for London, commented: “It was a pleasure talking with the students about careers in cyber. My interactive Q&A session was designed to engage the students and provide resources for them to take away. There is a huge skills gap in the technology industry and we can fill this by bringing in fresh talent straight out of education. I would encourage other employers to get involved in careers events, to signpost students to opportunities and guide them towards a successful career.”
The second day, ‘Enterprise’, explored skills and experience necessary for students looking to establish a career in entrepreneurship, freelancing, or self-employment. Workshops explored the various aspects of getting started as an entrepreneur, such as innovative thinking, problem-solving, networking and narrative storytelling. Hearing from established entrepreneurs and industry specialists, students were given key insights on how to make ventures a success. Brian Parkinson, Global Head of Retail Sales for Huel, shared his story and the lessons he has learnt.
The final and third day, themed around ‘Career’, focused on how to elevate and boost career skills to stand out in the modern workplace to become a top performer, secure a new promotion or gain a better understanding of the world of work. Sessions covered a wide range of topics such as ‘Careers in Business and Financial Services’ and ‘Virtual Careers’, with Google representatives speaking about their respective journeys into Google and the tech field in general.
Eleanor Martin, Head of Career Services at Birkbeck said: “We were delighted to welcome such a high-calibre of employers and industry experts to deliver our Summer Bootcamp this year. Feedback from students consistently tell us that these events are highly valuable and really help demystify the career landscape. These bootcamp events have been so successful that we will be incorporating them into our credit bearing careers module in 2023.”