Sarah Murray, our future talent Manager tells us more about our work experience programme for year 12 students.
'Bright Sparks', our work experience and mentoring programme, is part of the PRIME initiative, which provides access to the legal profession for school-age students. Gaining experience of the business and legal world is known to be difficult, and is often associated with an inequality of opportunity. Many young people are not considered 'work ready' as they enter the increasingly competitive jobs market. When it comes to the world of work, we know that youngsters start to rule out particular occupations and make decisions from an early age. So the challenge is: to keep more young students switched on to learning; encourage them not to close down opportunities too early; broaden horizons and challenge inaccurate assumptions; create relevant experiences and exposure to the world of work; build employability skills, including career adaptability and resilience.
Exposure and experience
Our Bright Sparks programme was designed with all this in mind, providing students with employability skills, raising their aspirations and self-confidence, and providing them with an awareness of the expectations and steps required to enter professions such as law. The students are provided with first-hand exposure to the people, surroundings and types of work involved in a career in law, and, equally importantly, something tangible for their CVs. Highlights include 1:1 interview mentoring sessions, as well as workshops addressing topics such as presenting skills and personal branding.
Find out more about our Bright Sparks work experience programme.