Employability Week attracts inspirational individuals to give career advice

Date 26.10.2016

Inspiring individuals, such as a former contestant from The Apprentice and the Chief Executive of the Scottish Professional Football League visited the University of Northampton to talk to students about how to exceed in their careers as part of this year’s Employability Week.

The aim of Employability Week was to give students the opportunity to find out more about their career options and how to prepare themselves after graduation.

Bianca Miller, who was runner up on The Apprentice in 2014 and now the proud owner of a successful hosiery business and Managing Director of The Be Group, was one of the guest speakers invited in to share her experience in the world of business and the key skills required to succeed.  Joining her throughout the week were actor, director and screen writer, Rikki Beadle Blair, who gave an overview of his impressive career and Neil Doncaster, Chief Executive of the Scottish Professional Football League who presented seminars on negotiation skills and crisis management.

Events, such as Network and Chill, allowed students the chance to meet and talk to business owners and learn the essential skill of networking, and the Create Your Brand conference gave advice on how to find and manage your professional brand and how to market yourself successfully either face-to-face or in a job application.

The flagship events of the week were the Graduate Fair, which featured over 50 employers, such as the Army and Coventry Building Society and enabled students to find out more about graduate roles and schemes. The Employability Fair, which again featured over 50 companies looking for candidates for part-time jobs, placements and internships.

Mark Blaber, Employability and Enterprise Manager, said: “It was a great week and we had over 1,100 students attend the different sessions, talks and activities. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from both the students and the companies involved. I’d like to thank the team and all our volunteers for their hard work in what has proven to be a very successful Employability Week.”