Big-name brands have backed the careers fairs that are to take place next year, to encourage young people to choose a career within the UK glazing and fenestration industry. The fairs are being organised by the campaigning organisation ‘Building Our Skills – Making Fenestration, Glass and Glazing a Career of Choice’.
Launch partners for the initiative include Rehau, Schuco, the Glass and Glazing Federation, Bohle, Fit Show, GQA Qualifications, Liniar, CNC Recycling, Corgi Fenestration and Veka. Through the careers fairs, representatives of Building Our Skills hope to engage directly with young people and educators, to show school children the vast array of career opportunities that our sector can offer. The Building Our Skills team aims to showcase 50 careers at each of its fairs.
Two pilot events are to be held in March 2024 as a part of National Careers Week in South Yorkshire. These are to take place at the Oakwell Stadium, home of Barnsley FC, and in Manchester at the Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City Football Club.
“People tend to associate the industry only with manufacturing and installation, but really there are so many more career pathways in the industry, from marketing, IT and customer services through to finance, sales, social media and much more,” said advocates of the initiative. “Building Our Skills’ idea to introduce a series of bespoke careers fairs is a great idea so that youngsters can find out more about what the industry is all about and hopefully be inspired to join it.”
Mark Handley, Building Our Skills’ partnerships manager, added: “Our aim is to show the industry to over 1,000 school children and their teachers over the course of the two events. If the two pilots are successful, these will become annual events, enabling us to keep in touch with those who attend as they get closer to thinking about their careers. It is also our intention to expand the number of events into other areas of the country where we are working with other local education authorities.”
For more information about the careers fairs, and to complete an expression of interest form, visit buildingourskills.co.uk or email sayhello@buildingourskills.co.uk.
