At the end of a unique autumn term, last December Sixth Formers spent a Tuesday afternoon pausing to reflect on the shape of their futures with a virtual Careers Conference. Generously supported by the Friends of RHS, 'Picturing your Pathway' began with inspiration from work happiness expert and author of 'The Radical Sabbatical', millennial Emma Rosen.

Seated together in their year group bubbles, the girls joined Emma via Teams to hear how she had bravely changed tack aged 24 from her so-called 'dream pathway' when she realised it wasn't right for her. Sharing practical tips on how to go about it, Emma recounted how she had spent a year sampling the 25 jobs she'd ever considered, from farming to international security, journalism to landscaping, to find where her skills met her aspirations. She encouraged the girls to flip their approach to considering their career paths on its head, and to focus on the process rather than a pre-determined end result. The all-important skill of networking, using social media to productive advantage, was a theme that would emerge time and again during the afternoon.

Energised by Emma's refreshing approach and new possibilities, the girls then dispersed to attend a virtual break-out discussion with professionals from a sector of their choice. With delegates joining from as far away as Chicago and Hong Kong, and featuring over 30 guest speakers - many of them alumnae - from a wonderfully wide range of professions. Including business leaders to sustainability consultants, animal enthusiasts to entrepreneurs, Tech specialists to a tea buyer, the afternoon gave the girls an opportunity to hear various different perspectives from a particular sector or area of work. They were able to question speakers about their work and their own pathways, impressing our guests with the thoughtfulness of their questions.

With comments like 'it was absolutely incredible, thank you for giving us such a fascinating experience' and 'everyone found all the sessions so valuable, hearing about entry routes that I knew nothing about and having my preconceptions challenged ' from the girls, Mr Hayward summarised the mood of the afternoon: 'This is the new paradigm of Careers Education. Thinking about pathways rather than just about jobs and hearing people’s stories was hugely enlightening for the girls as they consider their options beyond Sixth Form ’.

Please follow the link below for the full programme. All sessions were recorded and are available to view here.

Picturing your Pathway Programme