A local rugby club has been helping its junior members with their careers by hosting a unique Employability Day where the players were able to meet representatives from some major employers in the region, many of whom sponsor the club.
Bishop Auckland Rugby Club, a leading sports club in the region for women and men of all ages, organised the event with the help of Petrus Communications, a new sponsor this season who are specialists in this field. Speakers joined from several key local employers including T Manners, Gestamp Talent Limited, Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd, Learning Curve Group, Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and Petrus Communications themselves.
The event included workshops where the junior players were given a chance to hone their various life skills to set them up for the world of work and interviews. They were also given some tips and insights from those already in industry about finding jobs and preparing themselves for the transition from education.
“Having some workplace skills really does make a difference to academic results” said Hannah Potter, UK Training & Development Coordinator at Gestamp Tallent Limited in Newton Aycliffe, who led one of the workshops and saw a significant improvement to her academic results following a year in industry.
“My message to the participants was clear – use all the resources around you, ask lots of questions to family, teachers, coaches, friends, and you’ll find out that many different options are open to you”.
The day ended with a networking session where participants to put into practice some of the new skills they learnt at the event.
Mark Macnair, Club Chairman said: “We are proud of the wide range of companies involved with the club, and it’s great to be able to facilitate this kind of exchange. It helps our junior players understand that values they develop by playing rugby such as teamwork and respect, are also valuable workplace skills.”
