An evening with our alumni

On Wednesday, 5 March current students met with alumni for an insight into their careers as part of the Creative Cultural Careers Festival 2014.

The School welcomed a group of former students back to talk to current students about their career journeys following graduation.

A breadth of careers

Alumni working in heritage, publishing, policy work and journalism entertained the student audience with tales about their degrees, work experience and their journey to where they are today.

The speakers reflected on the contribution their degrees made; the skills they had acquired and the experiences they had at the University of Edinburgh.

Valuable advice

Valuable advice was offered to the audience. Despite coming from a wide array of professions, a number of common themes were uncovered throughout the evening; do what you enjoy, don’t be afraid to try things and make mistakes along the way, be prepared and proactive.

Students were encouraged to take part in writing competitions, University societies and newspapers and take advantage of scholarship opportunities available to them.

The relaxed reception that followed gave plenty opportunity for students to find out more about the varied and fascinating career paths of the alumni visitors.

Well received

The event, part of the Careers Service’s Creative Cultural Careers Festival, was well received by those who attended. Response from the audience was exceptionally positive; one attendee was reassured that many of the successful alumni speakers had in fact been unsure of their own career plans following their degree.

Creative Cultural Careers Festival

The careers festival continues until Friday, 7 March and is aimed at students and recent graduates interested in finding out more about working in the creative industries, media or cultural institutions.