Careers fair at Magdalen College School Our stand at Magdalen College School and Headington School careers fair on Tuesday 4 March was a great success, with huge interest and masses of questions from students about career opportunities at MRC Harwell. Choosing your career path can be a daunting prospect. With so many possible careers out there, students must decide which subjects to take to reach their dream job. Yet few people know exactly what they want to do from an early age, and for most there comes a time when they must find out what options there are and decide which they will pursue. We spent an evening at a careers fair to offer guidance and inspiration to pupils of Headington School and Magdalen College School in Oxford to help them find their way through the maze of careers. Our stall was run by Dr Nanda Rodrigues, Head of Scientific Business and Administration. She has worked as a research assistant, studied as a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University and has an MBA. As part of her current role she also organises outreach events. This meant she was perfectly placed to answer questions and offer advice, based on her own experiences, for almost every career we offer at Harwell. The stall was decorated with our MRC banner and a tablecloth depicting our spread of possible careers. We wanted to not just make students aware of careers in science such as a technician, postdoctoral researcher and senior scientist, but also others they might not previously have considered. We spoke about our team of bioinformaticians and roles in business, administration and communications. In addition, we mentioned our vibrant community of PhD students and range of apprenticeships. The stand was very popular, with a continual stream of students coming to find out more about the opportunities we offer and discuss what they need to follow their chosen career, and we had very positive feedback from the schools. It was a rewarding experience that we hope helped the students to make one of the most important decisions of their life.
