An event to showcase the variety of careers connected to the Heritage sector was held at Kirkwall Grammar School recently as part of Heritage Careers Week.
 
Heritage Careers Week is an annual week of activity held in October, which aims to raise awareness of the variety of heritage careers and pathways into the workforce.  It also aims to inspire young people to consider a career in the historic environment.

School pupils undertaking a Skills for Work Construction course were recently visited by two local employers who spoke to them about their businesses and the opportunities that exist locally in the construction industry.

Stephen Kemp from Orkney Builders (Contractors) Ltd. and Martin Flett from Alfred Flett Ltd. both came to UHI Orkney to speak to pupils from local secondary schools.  Pupils were given an overview of the businesses, the variety of work they undertake, some of the different roles within the business and the opportunities to undertake work experience to get a taste of working in the construction industry.  They also spoke about apprenticeship opportunities and explained how young people would be supported to become fully qualified tradespeople.

Alfred Flett Ltd. are currently recruiting for apprenticeship vacancies in their business, including for an Apprentice Joiner.  If anyone is interested in this opportunity they can contact Colin or Magnus on (01856) 781 209, or by emailing [email protected] or [email protected]. 

A programme of free numeracy classes for adults will start at UHI Orkney later this month, and anyone looking to improve their numeracy skills is encouraged to sign up.
 
The Adult Numeracy Classes will boost people’s ability to use maths in their everyday life, at home and at work.  Improving numeracy skills can help people become more confident and improve career prospects, or help with preparation for further study.

Earlier this week, as part of the employability inputs we are currently delivering at Kirkwall Grammar School, we welcomed Sheetal Revis from the Hospitality Department at UHI Orkney.

This session was arranged to give pupils an insight into the range of careers available in the hospitality industry, highlight the transferrable skills that can be developed and some of the opportunities that working in this industry can offer.

Sheetal spoke about her own career journey from school in Orkney, to moving away to attend university then working for international hotel chain Hilton and setting up her own business. Working in hospitality has enabled her to travel and work all over the world, developing skills she has been able to take with her on her career journey.

Many of the pupils attending the session work in local hotels, restaurants and cafes, so they are already playing an important role in a sector that is important to our local economy.

Giving the pupils her top tips for skills to learn while working in hospitality, Sheetal advised them to learn how to: make good coffee; carry a tray of drinks and, talk to people.

Pupils took part in the discussion by speaking about the jobs they currently do in hospitality and explaining why they did or did not want to work in the industry when they left school. Those who didn’t want to work in the industry were asked the reasons why, and Sheetal did some myth busting about perceptions of working in hospitality.

This was a great session which helped pupils to see the opportunities working in hospitality could offer them.