Meeting with future engineers

We’re always looking to the future here, and what better way to do that than by attending a careers fair to engage with a selection of undergraduates – the next generation of engineers? Last week, such an event took place at the University of Southampton and our very own Alec Ovens and Emily Murray went along to fly the Ground and Water Flag. Here’s how they got on: 

On the 10th February 2022, the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton was the venue for a careers fair specifically aimed at Ocean and Earth Sciences students. This meant that everyone in attendance would have some passion and/or knowledge about how the physical world around us works – preferably a combination of both, of course. 

The whole point of events like this is to be mutually beneficial for all involved. Companies like us get to meet with and talk to undergraduates, perhaps find a couple of people who would make excellent employees in the near future. The students get to meet with businesses and ask practical questions, get a better idea of what the world of work is like – it needn’t be the big scary place that it often seems, particularly if you’re with the right company. Obviously, these things hopefully combine to mean the University has some great statistics on postgraduate employment to share with future cohorts. Everybody wins. 

That certainly appeared to be how it went – some fantastic conversations were had and some potentially important connections made by all parties. The fact that there were students of non-geology subjects meant that a wide range of subjects got covered. Many were pleased to know that there are an awful lot of transferable skills with any Earth Sciences degree and employers- certainly this employer- can be quite flexible on degree subjects, especially when it comes to graduate schemes. Our business cards with wildflower seeds in went down extremely well, as you’d expect from a group who clearly care for the planet. 

One of the highlights from a G&W point of view was meeting with individuals who had clearly done their research; being able to quote case studies and blogs from our website demonstrated the sort of enthusiasm and preparedness that will make them a huge asset to any future employer. It also goes some way towards explaining the jump in our social media figures in the last month or so – there was us thinking we’d just been putting some extra good content out there! 

Overall, the day could hopefully be deemed a success for all involved. Ground and Water met with some extremely promising soon-to-be-graduates, and they were able to network, ask questions, and generally get a feel for what life after university may entail with any of the companies present. Speaking of which, it was a perfect opportunity to catch up with some friends from “rival companies” – no animosity here, we’re all working together really. 

A conversation which stood out was one with a lecturer regarding a potential relationship between companies, SoBRA (and the funding from their bursaries), and the university itself in order to help masters students find projects in the industry to study and gain experience within. This could be a part of a larger drive by the university to develop increased understanding of what it’s like to be employed within our industry – which makes a lot of sense given the rising number of graduates flocking to it. 

This proved to be an enjoyable and enlightening experience for us and, we hope, all others in attendance as well. Looking forward to our next careers event in Plymouth in March! 

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