We were delighted to welcome Old Edmundians to our annual Careers Fair in January. The benefit that our students receive from events like these, supported by Old Edmundians, is truly great and can, in some instances, be life changing.
OEs made up nearly a third of our participants this year, displaying a wealth of experience in a wide range of professionals sectors. We welcomed Victoria Pipe (08-13) who showed off her talents as a Make-Up Artist along with Sarah-Jane Platt (93-98) who was delighted to make it to the Fair this year to share her experiences as an Academic Publisher. Robert Dodds (91-02) is a regular supporter of the Fair and managed to catch up with some of his old teachers whilst here. Stefi Cuffaro (08-16), a recent leaver, now firmly established as a Science Apprentice at GSK, staffed a popular table with many students recognising her and wanting to know about her progression since leaving the College. Ramsey Barreto (82-86) saw our shout out for volunteers and ended up volunteering his wife, Tracey Hughes-Barreto, who is a Life Coach – we were delighted to welcome them both. Regulars to the Fair included Piers Chipperfield (90-97) ably promoting IT Support careers, Peter Blackman (64-72) representing Media and PR with his trusty guide dog in training companion, Watson and Matthew Campbell (87-92) representing Banking and Commodity Trading.
We are very grateful to all the OEs who took time out of their busy schedules to come and support the current students at the Fair – we hope to see you again next year. The Alumni Office is always looking for ways to connect OEs in all aspects of professional sectors with the current students, to offer them professional insights that may not be generally available to the public and give them the advantage when applying for work experience or courses. If you think you might be able to join in and support please do contact Jo on alumni@stedmundscollege.org for more information. The wider our Careers resources, the more our students stand to benefit, so please do get in touch.
 

Old Edmundians supported our inaugural Law Society Dinner.
A key aim of the Alumni Office is to bring Old Edmundians and current students together to allow OEs to share their knowledge and experience to support students in their decision making regarding future careers.
In an event, the first of its kind, arranged by the Alumni Office and kindly subsidised by the Edmundian Association, OEs turned out to support our Law Society students. We are ever grateful to John Bryant (62-71), a practising Barrister, for his time touring the students round Inner and Middle Temple in heart of London. This unique visit allowed students as insight into where they could be working and training if they continue on the path towards a Legal career. John spoke about the history of the Temples and the competition for pupillages offered. It was a fascinating tour and the students were very lucky to have John, who works there, as their expert guide. It happened that the trip took place during the ‘beast from the east’ snowy weather we experienced in February so we hurried inside to warm everyone up!
We then went on to meet a number of OEs at The Lansdowne Club for a networking dinner. We were delighted that John was able to stay with us for dinner as well as welcoming Jeremy Gillham (63-69) a retired Property Solicitor, Mark Chick (80-87) a partner in a West End firm, Yasmin Omotosho (01-08) a trainee about to embark on her pupillage placement and College parent Sarah Hunt who trained and worked in a big City law firm but eventually chose a different path.
During dinner, each guest was asked to give a brief synopsis of their path to their legal career. We learnt that it is not always as straight forward as a Law degree and then you are there. Each guest round the table had taken a different path to get where they are now. The students learnt that what suits one person might not suit everyone. Guests gave advice on the cost of training and what kind of work was needed to get into the various aspects of Law. There were several debates on the merits of Law degrees, how to begin in a legal career and the competition and hard work required. The students were incredibly lucky to be part of this dynamic legal conversation between professionals gaining insight that is not available in books and on websites.
In the week after the dinner, we were delighted to hear that one student has gained a work experience placement and another has continued the conversation about legal training with the guests. 
Our heartfelt thanks once again to all our guests who helped make this a truly special event for the Law Society. We hope to run events like this for all our societies so we ask Old Edmundians to get in touch about careers support, we are looking forward to hearing from you.