Professional dreams start to form at Careers Expo

Career paths for students ahead of graduation were formed and business relationships were strengthened at University of Northampton’s (UON) main careers showcase.

The annual Careers Expo – sponsored by Weatherbys Banking Group – was held on Tuesday 15 October and saw more than 100 employers, including Barclays and DHL Supply Chain, come to Waterside campus to showcase what they offer to UON’s current students and graduates.

The Expo is part of the University’s commitment to helping students and graduates develop their employability skills and attributes to help them succeed in today’s competitive market.

One of the 1,599 students who attended and was keen to network was Ryan Gichuru, also one of the University’s recently announced Careers Coaches.

Ryan says: “This is a huge event, not just for Northampton but also the University. The reason why it’s here is to give students, first-hand, the time to speak with employers, you can go to them with your CV and see if they like it or if they think there are things the student can change. It was very busy with students asking questions about planning careers; no one seemed to be missing out, even if they came here directly from their last lecture.

“For my role as a Careers Coach, I have had training in areas like CV writing and networking, but even I see the benefit of this event. I’m studying computing and would like to work with Augmented and Virtual Reality and printed out my own CV before I spoke with employers I want to work with.”

Our headline sponsor, Weatherbys Banking Group, whose headquarters are based in Wellingborough, employ around 500 members of staff across various locations in the UK. Vania Murphy, Talent Acquisition Specialist at Weatherbys, adds: “Some students and graduates will know what they want to do but some won’t, so by attending the Expo we were able to speak with them and discuss the various opportunities we offer, including our graduate and internship programmes.

“Students at the University have a strong reputation as being ‘ready to work’ so by being here, we and other employers get ‘out there’ to meet these future professionals and work more collaboratively with our closest university.”

If you are a business and want to know more about supporting or attending the next UON Careers Expo, please get in touch: jordan.russell@northampton.ac.uk