All Saints and Sheffield Young Professionals

Volunteers and young people sat around a table talking

In March 2023, the See It Be It in Sheffield team arranged a networking session at All Saints Catholic High School for members of Sheffield Young Professionals (SYP) to speak with sixth form students currently evaluating their options upon leaving school.

SYP is a space for local young people to connect, share ideas and advice and develop within their roles, established with the aim of keeping talented, young people in Sheffield. All Saints was chosen due to its proximity to the city centre, providing an easy location for the volunteers to take some time out during the day to visit.

All Saint’s Careers Leader, Phil Richardson, coordinated students from years 12 and 13 whom showed interest in speaking to young professionals who would help direct their ambitions for the future and offer advice based on their own journeys into work. In small groups, students spoke with two professionals at a time on a rotational basis to hear about everyone’s careers and professional journeys to dispel myths around working and highlight the positive aspects.

Hannah Ellis from SYP said “Taking part in events such as this and being able to showcase not only the range of career roles, but also the range of amazing companies willing to support young people in the city feels like a great way to achieve this. We loved chatting to the students and hearing about the steps they're taking towards their careers, and we hope that the knowledge we were able to share was helpful. We look forward to welcoming anyone who'd like to join our network once they enter the world of work and supporting them in any way we can.”

Reflecting on the value of the experience for his students, Phil Richardson said “The networking opportunity with Sheffield Young Professionals was a brilliant way for our students to meet with people in different careers as well as the pathways they took to enable them to do the job they are currently in. Our students enjoyed the visit and have since been in contact to obtain more information from some of the visitors. I would welcome Sheffield Young Professionals back into our school to help inform more students about alternative pathways and inspire them to look at jobs or sectors that they might not have considered previously.

Volunteers and young people sat around a table talking

Thank you again to See It Be It for setting this up and to the inspirational volunteers. The students I have spoken to really enjoyed it and found it beneficial.”

See It Be It is keen to work more closely with SYP in the future to provide similar employer encounters and networking opportunities to more schools across Sheffield.