A Habs Girls, education is designed to prepare you for the career of your choice. Our fantastic careers programme will help you think about what you might like to do, so you can make informed university choices and prepare for an exciting future.
Our careers programme is designed around the Gatsby good practice benchmarks, which recognise the importance of identifying your unique abilities and qualities.
Unifrog
All our students have access to the online Careers and Higher Education platform, Unifrog. Here, you can research a wealth of careers and university courses, complete a careers profile, assess your skills and keep a record of your achievements.
CV writing
In Year 10, you are encouraged to both write and submit a CV. This is good practice, and encourages you to think about how to present yourself positively, truthfully and professionally to others.
It can be all too easy to underplay your strengths, or to include the wrong sort of content. There is a specific format which employers expect, and a good CV will help you secure the career interviews you want.
Our Careers Team will guide you through the entire process, also offering lunchtime CV workshops in Year 11.
Work experience
In Year 11, you are expected to complete one or more periods of work experience. You will benefit by:
- Learning to work as a member of a workplace team
- Understanding how to relate to supervisors and managers
- Learning some processes, rules and laws connected with employment
- Comparing your experience to what you want from your future career
- Developing contacts which could be useful in future
In Sixth Form, you will be strongly encouraged to do more work placements, especially during the school holidays. You can arrange these yourself, using your own or family contacts. The Careers Team will also publicise any opportunities that come in.
Networking breakfasts
In Year 12, you can take part in a series of networking breakfasts throughout the year. Each breakfast focuses on a different industry sector. In a friendly and informal setting, you can hear from – and network with – contacts in your field of interest.
Networking will be an important way of moving your career forward throughout your life, but not everyone finds it easy. These breakfasts offer a gentle introduction, helping you build the skills you will need.
The Careers Convention
The Habs Careers Convention is an evening event open to students in Years 10 and 11. It is attended by employers from a wide range of sectors, as well as organisations which arrange gap year opportunities. You can meet representatives from different sectors, and find out more about different pathways you could take. There is also a keynote speaker and panel for Q&As.
This event can help you to think about the sort of paths which might be open to you. At school, for example, you might know that you want to do Chemistry at university. But what sort of careers might be open to you afterwards? You may be surprised to learn that Chemistry can take you from designing medicines to journalism, developing cosmetics, and even patent law.
Habs Dragons’ Den
Our Dragons’ Den competition is just like the one on TV – almost. It is open to students in Years 10 and 11, where you pitch a business idea to a panel of high-profile ‘dragons’. In 2024, these included:
- Tim Campbell MBE, aide to Lord Sugar on The Apprentice
- Harpreet Kaur, winner of BBC Apprentice 2022 and co-founder of Oh So Yum desserts
- Khilan Dodhia, Encore Capital
The competition will enhance your entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, confidence, and presentation skills. The contest is hugely popular, running across both Habs Girls and Habs Boys.
The Old Habs network
Anyone who used to be a student at Habs automatically becomes an Old Haberdasher (Old Habs or OH for short). This means becoming part of a career and social network of thousands of alumni around the world.
Of course, many of our graduates go on to do amazing things – in business, the arts and philanthropy to name a few. The knowledge they can pass on to current students is invaluable, so we work hard to connect the OH network with our sixth formers.
We organise talks and workshops with Old Habs throughout the year, and publicise any apprenticeships or gap year opportunities they may offer. They might also offer advice on choosing a university or career, along with other kinds of support.
Our careers team
The team is led by our Head of Careers and you are very welcome to drop by with any questions. They are also happy to hear from any parents who have questions, ideas or offers of support with things like work placements.
