25 of our Y9 students were lucky enough to be offered an opportunity to hear about careers at McLaren this month. They went down to the offices in Catcliffe to hear from staff who work for the company about the diverse range of careers on offer at the company. They learned about all the parts that go into the making and distributing of these supercars, and how the work being done at McLaren includes more than just what people assume of the company.
Our students arrived at 9.30 am and started off with an icebreaker. They were introduced to a few members of the team who work at McLaren, and a few of the many job roles that are on offer. As they were there to learn about careers and the skills necessary to work at McLaren, our students were put into a mock assessment centre and tested on all the soft skills that employers look for in potential employees. Their task was to work as a team to create a twirling bird out of paper. Students had to nominate a project manager who oversaw the operation, ordered the correct amount of materials, and encouraged the other team members to be as efficient as possible in making the amount of product they decided. By the end, their efficiency was calculated with the winning team having achieved 70% efficiency. Students were then taken through the process of marketing their product and explored the importance of how to connect with the consumer through this,
Finally, the day ended with a talk from two people who currently work at McLaren telling students about their journey to the company. Our students were surprised to hear that they’d
both not had the usual route into McLaren, but had changed their journey a few times.
The day was an eye-opening experience for our students, many of whom said they had never considered how so many aspects of STEM involved creativity like the session demonstrated, and how careers at a company like McLaren included more than just the mechanics of building the car.
Our Y9 students conducted themselves wonderfully. The session facilitators even commented on what a lovely group of students they were and said they were really impressed by how they took on the challenges that were presented to them. They should all be very proud of how they represented our school.
