HUNDREDS of St Mark’s students attended their annual job fair on Thursday reports Charlotte Pedroz.

Students in Years 8 to 13 were allocated an hour throughout the school day to discover the variety of local companies, businesses and further education schools providing an insight to different careers and a chance to meet employers from companies and schools they’re interested in.

The event had 26 stalls and organisations were kept very busy as students came armed with excellent questions.

The event was organised by the excellent careers department at St Mark’s.

Your Harlow had its own stall and enjoyed meeting and speaking to the students.

Teachers seemed very fond of the fair as it provided inquisitive students with the opportunity to develop their communications skills which will be essential when applying to jobs and schools in the future.

To encourage students to do this, they used their “achievement point scheme” as an incentive for students to make conversation with a stall: if a student reached out to take an interest in one of the companies that attended, and they received a piece of merchandise from the stall, such as a logoed tote or pen, they received a point which goes towards different rewards over time like pizza with friends or an item of St Mark’s stationary.

Students made it their mission to have a discussion, get some merch and present it to their teachers, making sure their names for a point were noted down.

There was a vast variety of stalls in the West Essex school’s sports hall including the Anglia Ruskin Uni , HTS, Harlow Council and more.

Julie Galvin working for Harlow Council as their legal services manager, attended the fair for a second year, hoping to aid the councils goals of listening and serving their community by getting to know the younger generation and hopes the students of St Mark’s will have gotten something out of their being at the school today.

Alongside Julie were some of the council’s current apprentices. The event benefits the new apprentices as it builds their confidence and acts as a bonding experience between staff and potential future employees.

Harlow Council has some very big plans for the town this year including ambitious regeneration projects, revamping of the towns services and current assets including the centre Bus Station and Harlow Playhouse.

It was clear when speaking to Julie that she is devoted and passionate about the community, referencing to Harlow’s 5 dinner scheme and providing services and their contacts to locals such as HTS, who work closely with Harlow Council and also attended today.

Moving away from Harlow to Chelmsford to Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) one of the three universities that visited St Mark’s students.

Jon Morrison, URA’s Development Officer, was there advising students towards courses and apprenticeships the university offers of which Law was very popular.

ARU thinks itself to be very inclusive and diverse with between 80-90% of students coming from a variety of different backgrounds that stereotypically are seen as not fit for University and it’s expenses.

Many schools likewise believe in bonding with students pre-Uni to benefit student’s experience if they attend the school and so Jon and other advisors can feedback to their managers at post event meetings to make ARU life as best as it can be for everyone.

Jon Morrison’s previous work as a teacher and “people person” attitude aids his ability to connect with students relying on the theory respect for results, which makes attending the faire more of an equal trade between business and future potential employee/student than it is a one-sided transaction- Harlow Council also commented on the importance of this idea.

The fair turned out to be a fantastic opportunity for students and companies which I’m sure many will return for next year! An overall success!