A proactive student from Harrow College maximised his opportunity during a college careers event to secure work experience with a global advertising agency which has 140 offices in 76 countries and employs over 6,500 staff.
It was during a speed networking event organised by the careers team at Harrow College that Michael Fadare, 18, took his opportunity. The event, as part of National Careers Week, saw professionals visit Harrow College from a breadth of organisations including Google, BT, Home Office, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Saatchi & Saatchi, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, IBM, Carlyle Group, NHS, and many more.
During the event, groups of students had 10 minutes with each employer to ask questions, learn more about their profession and attain as much career advice as possible. As the 10 minute buzzer rang, the professionals rotated from group to group, taking quick-fire questions from the eager students.
Michael was inspired when his group met Amy Steyaert, a Junior Digital Designer from Saatchi & Saatchi. Having already had some insight into Saatchi & Saatchi when the company featured in Lord Sugar’s Apprentice competition on TV, Michael has keen to learn more. He made a point of speaking with Amy after the event had finished and asked if he could do some work experience with the company.
Amy, impressed by Michael’s enthusiasm, advised him to email a CV and cover letter. Back at the office, Amy made the introduction to the companies HR and Accounts departments and before long, Michael was invited to spend a few days working with the global advertiser.
During his work experience, Michael was taken on a tour of the building and introduced to people across departments, given his own desk and Mac to work on, and then assigned his own project – to design an overtime availability tracker – to be used by management to keep a track of employee overtime. Michael applied knowledge acquired from his Harrow College BTEC Business course to plan and deliver the tracker which included colour coding, a timer, an approval process, accounts management functionality and business strategy. The tracker was a hit and is now live and used by the firm.
Speaking about his experience, Michael said “The Saatchi ethos of ‘nothing is impossible’ really opened my eyes and boosted my confidence. I learnt so much about new ways of working and thinking, applying my skills and having a positive attitude. With the support of the careers team at Harrow College, I’ve now worked for one of the world’s biggest companies. I plan to keep in touch with Saatchi and I’m already in talks with them about more work experience”.
Looking ahead, Michael plans to do an apprenticeship based within an estate agency with the aim of fulfilling his wider career goal of working in the property market.
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