Members of Robinson Brothers recently participated in RSA Academy’s career programme.

Based in Tipton, RSA Academy hosted a careers day for local apprentices and graduates to network and discuss their careers with their Year 11 students. To make the event engaging, a countdown timer was placed on a screen, and representative were given six minutes to talk about their career paths – speed dating style! Some students had an interest in science; some in engineering; some in maths – so this was a great chance to talk about the variety of careers within a chemical manufacturing organisation.

Reece Crowhurst, QC Analyst, joined Robinson Brothers as an apprentice and is now studying BSc Chemistry at the University of Wolverhampton. “Career talks, such as this event, allows students to see a variety of careers and learn how to gain employment from those who have already done it. For example, I was able to discuss the advantages of apprenticeships as an alternative to studying at university”.

“I believe the experience was valuable both for the students and myself. Career talks gave the students the opportunity to meet graduates and apprentices in many different lines of work, who each got there through various different career channels”, said James Hazel – Chemical Engineer at Robinson Brothers.

Robinson Brothers has a history of hosting industrial placements for university students to provide valuable hands-on experience. Kiruan Ghuman took on a Undergraduate Chemist placement role in 2015/2016. After completing her BSc Chemistry degree, Kiruan subsequently joined Robinson Brothers as a Polymer Chemist. “During the career talk, students not only had the chance to learn about careers in chemistry but also got to learn about the reality of studying A-Levels and how to choose university courses. This event was very useful for students to speak to many people who have chosen difference career paths”.