On Thursday 15 November, the Careers team held its biennial Careers Convention – an important event in the School calendar.

The last time we met Joel he was on the football pitch playing with the First XI; now he’s on an apprentice scheme with EY. Talking to one of our Year 11 about the value of apprenticeships, it’s amazing how far he’s come.
 
At the Careers Convention, the School welcomed over 68 representatives from 56 organisations on site; they offered advice on a wide variety of professions. Boys and their families were invited to learn about careers as diverse as finance, law, medicine, dentistry, scientific research, technology, journalism and PR. Organisations represented included: BBC World News, IBM, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Encore Capital, Chelsea Football Club, National Health Service, Jaguar Land Rover, Brand Champions, Frank PR and Shiva Hotels, amongst others.

The evening comprised an exhibition in the Medburn Centre, as well as interactive panel sessions on a range of career areas with speakers outlining their careers so far and answering questions from boys and parents. Panellists included Professor Peter Childs – Head of the Dyson School of Engineering; Huw Gott – Co-Founder of Hawksmoor Restaurants; Simon Duffy – Bulldog Skincare for Men, and Jyotin Sethi – Co-Founder of JKS Restaurants.
 
We went to speak to Chinmay – an Old Haberdasher now working in finance – to learn more about his career path after school.

Chinmay

 
Chinmay was adamant he wanted to work with technology, and when he went to Imperial he had his heart set on working for one of the big tech companies. After a third-year internship, he started to think differently. During his placement in Winton, he decided the problem-solving skills he so enjoyed with computing could also apply to the world of finance.

‘Anybody can pick up the tools to do this job. We want to hire people who are good at solving problems,’ Chinmay explained.

Chinmay traces his initial interest in problem-solving back to his school days, particularly to his Maths lessons with Mr Ward and Mr Barnes. Studying A-Level Mathematics gave him the foundational skills he would later need in finance.

It was after meeting a chief operating officer at the company – another Old Haberdasher – that Chinmay began to work in a team on the technology side of the company. Having worked hard during his internship, they decided to hire him. One year later, he’s re-structuring the systems used for trading.

Across the way from Chinmay, another old boy, Marc, had quite a different story.

Marc
 

  

At school, Marc always had a passion for modern languages. It was no surprise then that following Habs, he went on to study French and Spanish at University of Birmingham. In fact, he loved his degree so much, he even took up night classes in Portuguese.

‘I wanted to be out there speaking languages, travelling and using languages in my career’.

Following his graduation, he spent two years teaching English as part of the British Council Language Assistant Program, in Madrid and France.  But it was after a chance encounter with a Spanish pundit at Luton airport that he was offered his first job. The brief? To translate Lionel Messi’s autobiography into English.

‘He said send me your CV and I’ll be in touch. Three months later on a Thursday evening, I got a call. “Marc, are you free to translate 12,000 words in four days?” ’

Since then, he’s worked for various agencies, collaborating with Premier League clubs to help players not familiar with the English language.

Looking back on the past few years, he comments ‘I’ve been pretty lucky. I’ve met Dmitry Payet, I was on stage with him as he was named player of the year. I’ve also worked with Diego Costa. I’m also an Arsenal fan, and I’ve particularly enjoyed events with Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal’.

But after we mention last weekend’s Wolves score, Marc turns away to talk to a representative for PR, so we head back to catch up with Joel.

Joel

 
 
‘Well, I recieved four offers but thought an apprenticeship would be right for me.’ Joel is mid-conversation with another Habs boy, outlining the reasons he chose an apprenticeship over a university degree.
 
Having looked into accountancy at the big four firms, he applied for apprenticeship schemes at PWC and EY. Getting offers from both of them, he decided to go with EY. After an exam, a group interview and an individual interview, he heard he had a job secured.
  
When we ask him about the nerves of treading a different path to his friends, he comments:
‘I decided to give something new a go – and I’m really enjoying myself.’
 
As he talks about the highlights of the role, he mentions the opportunity to work in the beautiful Leadenhall building in London, as well as getting the opportunity to look into the curious world of payroll. We thank Joel wish him the very best for the year ahead. 
 
Nurturing Excellence

As the hall empties, boys full of excitement discuss what the future could hold, their parents listening attentively. Whether it is problem-solving, language skills or simply the courage to tread a different path, you can be assured that Habs will nurture the wider skills that boys need to succeed in life. This is surely down to the very best well-rounded education.

If you would like to support our Careers department, please contact Kerry Nash, Head of Careers, by emailing nash_k@habsboys.org.uk