giss careers night - a huge success

On the 3rd of November, Year 11, in cooperation with Mrs Parsons and Frau Miehle, had the opportunity to display months of hard work at the 2022 GISS Careers Night. In addition to informing students of career paths the evening was also part of a CAS project for year 11. CAS is a compulsory part of the IB diploma, which allows students to stay active and engaged, outside of their studies.

The planning process started 2 months prior to the event. Year 11 was informed that the Careers Night, that was cancelled for two consecutive years due to Covid, was back on. The students were placed into teams that each tackled different organisational aspects of the event.

Promptly following this, a survey was sent to students in secondary school, to ensure they had input about what careers would be represented at the event. While the evaluation committee was undergoing the survey, the marketing committee was creating a slogan and advertising the event. The slogan was: Dream Big. Shape the future the way you want!

Invited to the event were:
-   Prof. Rico Merkert, Professor at the University of   
    Sydney Business School and Founder of a
     Business consultancy firm.
-   Gabriele DeNeidels, Financial Director Volkswagen
     Group (CFO).
-   Gus Zamora, General Dentist.
-    Louise Norton, Project Director at Touchstone
       Partners.
-    Andrew Nolan, Independent Architect
-    Falko Thiele, Director Clinical and Regulatory
      Affairs at Biotronik Australia.
-    Dr Martin Krause, Medical director of the Division
      of Medicine in the Royal North Shore Hospital
      and Clinical associate professor of medicine at
      the University of Sydney.
-    Ian Campbell, CEO of Wyvern Health.
-    Amy Whiteford, Food Blogger, owner of “Healthy
      Little Foodies”.

Invited to the event were:
-   Prof. Rico Merkert, Professor at the University of Sydney Business School and Founder of a
     Business consultancy firm.
-   Gabriele DeNeidels, Financial Director Volkswagen Group (CFO).
-   Gus Zamora, General Dentist.
-    Louise Norton, Project Director at Touchstone Partners.
-    Andrew Nolan, Independent Architect
-    Falko Thiele, Director Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at Biotronik Australia.
-    Dr Martin Krause, Medical director of the Division of Medicine in the Royal North Shore Hospital
      and Clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Sydney.
-    Ian Campbell, CEO of Wyvern Health.
-    Amy Whiteford, Food Blogger, owner of “Healthy Little Foodies”.

Around 5.45 pm guests began showing up and we had the opportunity to introduce the panelists to one another. At 6 pm Herr Giesler and Mrs Parsons welcomed all. The panelists were then introduced to our audience of students and parents. As one of our panelists, Prof. Rico Merkert stated “I suppose we [universities] are slightly responsible for parents having such an important role in the education of their children, since in Australia it [university] is expensive”. For the following hour the audience enjoyed a lively discussion between the panelists, which touched upon the characteristics of the modern workspace, how important engaging in culture is for expanding horizons, and what the first steps are to shaping your future.

This discussion was followed by live music by Lara and Ida (Year 11), during a thirty-minute intermission, in which food was sold, with profits going to the school charity a Girl and her world. The following hour allowed students to have an individual Q&A session with the panelists. This allowed students to pick the brains of their favourite panelists, following up on aspects that weren’t expanded on during the discussion. 

The event has received considerable positive feedback and hopefully it will be repeated next year.      -  Felix Scholle