After a successful inaugural ALET Industry Insight talk with IT professionals and graduates from Thames Water on 4 May, we were delighted to welcome them back – this time with apprentices and engineers.
Their second Industry Insight talk, which took place on Thursday 21 May, invited students from across the Activate Learning Education Trust (ALET) to hear from Katherine Whatley, who has completed an ICA and Electrical Apprenticeship at Thames Water and is now their ICA Technician.
Alongside Daniel Rubio, Learning and Development Specialist at Thames Water, who supports all staff with their development within the company, the pair gave an invaluable insight into working at Thames Water and the different options for joining the company.
Students were also lucky to hear from Deena McKinney, Education Executive at Thames Water, about her tips for students wanting to join the industry.
Deena has been working at Thames Water for over thirty years in a variety of roles, so offers a great perspective on what a ‘career’ these days looks like! They were also joined by Liz Banks, Education Manager, who moderated the session.
The Thames Water team said: “We were really pleased to be a part of the Industry Insights talk focusing on engineering and apprenticeships at Thames Water. While we would normally be out and about talking to students, this virtual talk was a great way to show how innovation in technology has helped us all to stay connected during lockdown.
“We’re looking forward to more events like this with Activate Learning Education Trust and taking the opportunity to have online discussions with students about the work we do, and for them to ‘meet’ our employees!”
Jo Bayes, Careers Adviser for 4YPUK, who listened into the talk said: “It was really interesting to find out more about Thames Water Early Careers. Being able to hear about the different routes into roles will certainly help to inspire students moving into the workplace.”
Thanks to our great audience for the talk, who asked interesting and useful questions of the panel and of course, to our fantastic speakers from Thames Water for taking the time to speak with our students.
You can watch the recording back here: