Inspiring the Future Workforce
On the 1st of December, Cratus was invited to return to partner with Bristol Works at an employers’ workshop at Ashton Park School in Bristol. The workshop was an opportunity for pupils to engage with diverse professions from the army to architects, opening them up to a wide range of future opportunities.
At Cratus, we are passionate about engaging with young people, particularly within the world of development, where there is something of a closed eye to the broad opportunities it offers. Bristol Works runs a variety of events like these, aimed at removing the barriers between employers and the future workforce and allowing the world of development to be brought to young people.
Cratus was invited to be involved in the workshops as Bristol Works were hoping to introduce pupils to some more creative aspects of the industry. At Cratus, hosting events and organising third party events is second nature to us. This involves several skills, from project management through to producing marketing collaterals such as flyers and leaflets. There is a heavy reliance on communication within development, where communication must be both accurate and eye-catching. To build on this concept, I ran three workshops throughout the morning with the pupils, building them up to design and produce their own flyers for an upcoming event.
I had spent four months at Cratus when I was asked to run this workshop, so it was an exciting opportunity to showcase my knowledge of the company’s vision, with a fresh understanding what job seekers would like to ask their employers.
As the pupils were being tasked with finding work experience as part of their studies this year, I outlined some of the duties our summer work experience were assigned; how they spent their weeks and the positive interaction they had across the wide variety of projects they were involved in.
The pupils discussed their upcoming Careers Day as a group and agreed the key points they would need to convey on a flyer to gather the audience’s attention. They then moved on to design, deciding on colour schemes and accessibility requirements. During the morning I had 1 to 1 conversation with the pupils, helping them with the tasks but also answering their questions about Cratus, while offering them advice from my own experience at Cratus.
As each session came to an end, all the flyers were collected by the school, of which one would be chosen by the school to use as part of their marketing for the Careers Day event. For many of these 14 year old students, it is difficult and sometimes overwhelming to envision your future and I would hope that this workshop helped broaden their horizons of the options available to them in an industry that they may not have previously considered.
Communication is an essential skill. It empowers you with the knowledge of how to be adaptive and flexible within your approach and how to be clear and concise while achieving your objective, be it to inform, attract, entertain, or educate. Developing this skill earlier, amongst the younger generation will only make a more intuitive workforce for our future.
This is just one example of our youth engagement initiatives. To find out more, contact Morven
