Inspiring young people for National Careers Week

National Careers Week (NCW) is a celebration of careers guidance and free resources in education across the UK. The aim is to provide a focus for careers guidance activity at an important stage in the academic calendar to help support young people leaving education.

National Careers Week 2022

Throughout National Careers Week 2022 we have been busier than ever. From Buckinghamshire to West Sussex, we’ve been engaging with young people looking to inspire them to look seriously at a career in the construction industry. We also spoke to Buckinghamshire Council Leader, Cllr Martin Tett, about the specific work we are doing to create career opportunities in his region.

We are proud to be able to make a positive contribution to NCW, but for Thakeham, career advice, guidance and opportunities is more than just a week a year. Whether it’s returning service men and women, those looking for a change in their life, students or graduates – we work with groups and individuals across the south-east providing support and guidance; including funding for charities and outreach groups. Our commitments to developing similar opportunities for others in the wider community is driven through our Social Value strategy.

Nurturing future talent – opening up opportunities

In February, our CEO, Rob Boughton attended the HBF Future Talent Conference. A diverse audience of over 150 young people all set for careers in the construction industry. Rob was able to share Thakeham’s vision that will see modern methods of construction deliver the Net Zero Carbon homes of the future in  bio-diverse communities.

At the beginning of the year students from Warlingham Sixth Form visited our site, Woodgate at Pease Pottage – the opportunity allowed the students to discover more about the diverse range of career opportunities available on a construction site. The visit was even more special than normal – due to the pandemic, last October’s ‘site visit’ had to be done virtually!

One of our apprentices, Amy Sharp, held an ‘Ask an Apprentice’ workshop last month with students from the Weald school. Amy was able to offer first hand insights into her journey to becoming an Architectural Apprentice.

More recently, we hosted two work experience students from George Abbot Sixth Form, Guildford. They spent the week with a range of departments across Thakeham to find where their future career interests might lie. The students rated their experience with us as ‘Excellent’.

Skillways, is a Godalming based charity who work with disadvantaged and disengaged young people. The charity looks to teach practical workshop skills with the aim to inspire confidence in their future. Thakeham supports Skillsways’ activities by offering site visits for both students and tutors, providing a valuable chance for the young people to ask questions and gain practical insight into the work opportunities available in the construction sector. As well as this practical support Thakeham have provided funding to ensure that Skillways can continue with their valuable work.

At the end of 2021 we became the 150th Industry Champion to join the East Sussex Careers Hub. They stated:

The work of these business volunteers, who go out to schools to help young people build their employability skills, is essential to the work we do at the Careers Hub.

Best Construction and Engineering company to work for in the UK

Thakeham were recognised in the prestigious Best Companies listing as the #1 Best Construction & Engineering companies to work for in the UK.

All the businesses placed in the Best Companies lists are acknowledged by staff as enlightened places to work – recognising highly motivated employees and inspirational leadership. We placed 11th in the ‘Best Large Companies to Work For in the UK’, and 4th in the ‘Best Companies to Work For in the South-East’.

As supporters of the ‘Tomorrows Engineers code’, we see the real value in working with organisations who can create real opportunities for young people who want become engineers.

Interested in joining us? Click here to see our current opportunities.