Some of the country’s most prestigious organisations have agreed to give backing to this year’s Breaking the Mould careers conference helping to ensure that it will be our biggest and best yet.
Involvement from the Intercontinental Hotels group means we have secured their glittering Park Lane venue which will provide a stunning backdrop for the conference making the day for the 350 or so women students and their teachers truly memorable.
NatWest was quick to support the conference which aims to broaden the career horizons of young women – more necessary than ever in the current economic downturn. I am hoping to persuade this banking giant to fling open its door to allow the girls a peak inside at the ‘secret’ and unlikely jobs to be found within a big organisation.
Another arm of the state-controlled RBS – MoneySense – which already works closely with schools to improve financial literacy among the young is sponsoring our Apprentice challenge where we have asked teams of girls to devise a game that will make teaching personal finance in the classroom more appealing and fun.
We have also secured the support of the Serious Fraud Office whose chief executive, Phillippa Williamson, will lead a panel looking at the business of ‘sleuthing’ while Danuta Gray, O2‘s Irish CEO, will talk about the world of telecoms – the emphasis being on providing the service rather than consuming it with gay abandon as most youngsters do with their mobiles.
The mighty IBM will head a panel looking more broadly at jobs in the technology sector while the Food and Drink Federation will be the sponsor of an exciting set of talks involving careers to do with our senses: there will be a perfume ‘nose’, a wine taster, an optometrist, a musician, a massage therapist and – we hope – someone who will be able to give the girls an insight into the exciting world of inventing new products to eat.
As the theme of our conference this year is apprenticeships we will be looking at some of the major apprenticeship schemes in the country and the merits, for some, of entering the workforce and earning qualifications in this way rather than going to university with the prospect of leaving with huge debts to repay.
We will have one off speakers – the FMWF supporter and model-turned-entrepreneur Caprice has promised to drop in to say a few words – and a host of interesting exhibition stands for the delegates to visit and where future school visits, work experience and other talks can be arranged.
The live final of our £5,000 Apprentice Challenge promises to be a highlight this year with our three shortlisted teams pitching in front of delegates and an additional invited audience to take the trophy.
You can find more details of the Apprentice Challenge on the FMWF.com website (click here) and we will keep you updated as the contest heads towards its nail biting finale.
And if you would like to be involved with this year’s Breaking the Mould or would like to join us in future endeavours then just let us know by emailing Women@financialmail.co.uk.
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February 8th, 2010 at 5:23 pmBreaking the Mould agenda « FMWF says:
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