What happened on the day?

In May, Bramhall High School delivered an employer encounter careers event with over 30 employers for their Y9 students. This was a fantastic opportunity for students to interact with employers and ask any questions to people working in the sectors they are potentially interested in building a career in and understanding life beyond school.

A parent governor said:

“As a Parent Governor at Bramhall High School I was very impressed with the careers morning organised for the year 9 students. The speakers who gave their time were able to provide a real-life insight into their respective roles and inspire the next generation. 

The children were engaged and curious. The roles were varied and this sort of event allows children from all backgrounds to find out about careers that they might be interested in and to question people currently working in those roles. 

This sort of event can be pivotal to students in determining future careers and steering them in choosing the best suited GCSE options.”

Students were asked what they learnt from attending the event and how it has helped them to make an informed decision about their next best step:

Angharad Pearce, Senior Animator and Multimedia Designer at DJS Research – my journey to becoming an animator

“Attending the careers event at Bramhall High School was an exciting opportunity for me to tell Year 9 students about my career in animation. I still pinch myself that I have a job doing what I love (and it’s something I’ve loved since I was really little). When I was at school it would have been great to learn about careers first hand from people working in those jobs – it means so much more coming from someone who is actually doing it!

I told the students about my day-to-day role at DJS Research – making videos for our wide range of clients. I start with storyboarding concepts and work right through to the full production of an animated video. I create and produce all the video content for our organisation and no two weeks are the same; one day I could be filming new content for our website, the next I could be turning a script into a video for a client to bring their research findings to life – I love the variety. As an animator in the research industry, the content you have to work with is constantly new and fresh, which I also love. You can watch a showreel which brings to life the different styles of animation that I have produced below and watch more on our website here.

I always wanted to be an animator – even when I was a small child I remember knowing it was what I wanted to do. Not being very academic at school I went down the creative route and took a range of creative courses at college which led me to my animation degree at Manchester Metropolitan University and then onto training at Aardman studios. I worked at several different animation studios before making the move into the research industry, becoming an inhouse animator and designer at DJS.

I was asked some really interesting questions too including “which is your favourite to work in, 2D or 3D?”. In reply they are both good and as you are consistently learning new techniques, it is never boring. Another question was, “what shows have you worked on” – I mentioned Bob the Builder, Pingu and an animated short film that won a BAFTA which were all fantastic experiences.

Overall going to the careers event – although a little nerve wracking if I’m honest – was really rewarding. It was great to pass on some of my knowledge about what I love to do and to share an insight into how I’ve made animation my career. My hope is that just one student takes something away from the talk and goes for a creative career in animation or something similar – if they do, they definitely won’t regret it.”