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Alumna of the Month - July 2016

Sandy Omeally
PgDip Career Guidance, 2016

Sandy in story

 Sandy is a Lead Learning Mentor at the Mulberry School for Girls, where she continues to develop the careers guidance programme provided to current students. 

“When I was younger I was sure that I was not going on to study in higher education; university was for other people not me”.

Studying Careers Guidance at LSBU gave me the confidence to pursue other projects outside of my job. For example while studying, our course director asked a former student who manages Work Space at St Martins-in-the-Field, a charitable organisation, to speak to us about the work they do: I now volunteer for this charity providing careers guidance to the homeless in my spare time. 

Volunteering provides a completely different perspective because of the range of people I deliver careers advice to and how they respond. I help people think about their personal development and I encourage them to apply for roles they would enjoy and suit their skills set, as opposed to simply applying to a role that will land them a job. I tend to work with these people on a one to one basis and I love sharing their journey with them.

Careers guidance has come such a long way since I was at school; careers related sessions are now planned in to the school’s personal, health, social and economic (PHSEE) curriculum. As Lead Learning Mentor I organise sessions so that the girls identify a range of routes into their careers, from apprenticeships and post education employment opportunities to the more traditional academic routes.

Part of my role is working with student’s families to ensure they have an understanding of the huge range career paths that can be taken by young people today. Some families do lean towards the more traditional professions and academic pathways into industries they perceive as “successful”. Instead of providing a “one size fits all” service I try to showcase a variety of opportunities, this way our hope is students feel supported by their family whatever they decide to go on to do.

 I also work with companies such as BP and Merrill Lynch to deliver Head to Head Starter Days to talk about the current job market, what employers are looking for and the importance of being resilient.  Our students love these days as they really build their skills. Companies are keen to build relationships with schools that provide impartial advice to students; I can see this demand increasing in the future.

“My life consists of supporting young people and removing barriers to their learning, the most rewarding part is motivating these people to see their lives differently.”