During your time at Strode’s, there is a dedicated focus on careers and university information and guidance delivered through sessions in studies, enrichment and activities and discussion in tutor time. As well as guest speakers, we run workshops and group activities on employability and presentation skills, giving students an insight into which skills you need to develop in order to pursue your next steps.
Careers and Employability
Our accredited team is always on hand to offer impartial and confidential advice and guidance on courses, careers and training. Our college also has a dedicated careers and placements team to support students with finding a suitable work placement.
Careers Guidance and Support
Shaping Your Future
We also offer extensive guidance on choosing a university, looking at open days, student finance and money management. We run several sessions on filling in UCAS forms and writing personal statement. Students applying to Oxford or Cambridge university or courses in Medicine, Veterinary Science or Dentistry also receive dedicated support at the end of their first year.
For those students considering an alternative pathway, we provide support with finding apprenticeship opportunities from Level 3- Level 6, completing the application process and preparation for interviews and assessment centres.
Events and workshops
Events and advice we offer students:
- How to Choose Your University
- How to Write Your Personal Statement
- Applying to Oxford and Cambridge
- How to Prepare for Open Days
- Introduction to Student Finance
- Careers Seminars
- Creating your CV
Work Placement
Use work placements to get a real feel and understanding of your chosen industry or sector. Adding this valuable experience to your UCAS and job applications can make you standout amongst your peers.
Enhance your applications with work placements
Work experience is a great way to get ahead and gain the edge with employers and admissions tutors in your college interview. It shows that you have taken the time to gain experience in your chosen career area and it’s a good way to check that your dream job in your chosen industry is really what you think it is.
Work placements (traditionally known as work experience) refer to a specified period of time that you will spend working within a business to learn directly about working life and the work environment.
Some work placements will offer you the chance to try particular tasks, while others provide the opportunity to watch and learn first-hand. The nature and length of the work placement can vary, but these arrangements can be agreed in advance via the College.
Work placements are vitally important for both young people and employers. The experience can help you make an informed decision about your future. The more first-hand knowledge you can gain about a job role, the work environment and what is expected of you in the workplace, the more successful you will be in finding employment and fitting into your new role. Equally, work placements can provide a business with a potential pipeline of new talent, the chance to ‘try before they buy’ and the reassurance that a potential new recruit has already gained some understanding of the work environment, either through experience with them or another organisation.
There is no legal requirement for a business to pay a student for their work placement as you are there to learn as part of your continuing programme of study. However, in some cases employers do offer to contribute to your travel expenses, pay for lunches or extend an employee benefit.
Work placements offer you the following benefits:
- enable you to develop vital employability skills
- provide an insight into the real work environment
- help you gain confidence in the workplace
- increase your knowledge of a job role or industry and the skills it requires
- increase your chance of finding employment on completion of your course
- improve your communication skills, particularly in dealing with people of all ages
- help you build your CV
- help you understand how skills you are learning in college relate to the workplace
Our college has a dedicated careers and placements team to support students with finding a suitable work placement.
For more information please contact us on 01753 443853 or email placements.sixthform@windsor-forest.ac.uk