Oxford High School Careers Event 2021: Set Sail for Your Future – Opportunities & Taking the Lead

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Oxford High School Careers Event 2021: Set Sail for your Future – opportunities & taking the lead

Thursday, 21st January, 6-8 p.m. Links for this virtual event will be shared via Careers Google Classroom, for Years 9 to 13

Welcome Whilst our Careers Fair in 2019 aimed to help students make informed decisions about their future by encouraging them to seek out information regarding courses and career paths, which interest them, our event in 2020 was of a rather different nature. Over 40 alumnae were hoping to open your minds to what lies beyond your chosen university degrees and to open your minds to career paths which you had not yet considered. This year, we are grateful to over 35 parents and alumnae - with the support of some external speakers - who would like to share their experiences and stories about their professional journeys with you. There is an array of linear and non-linear career paths on offer and now more than ever, it is important to be open-minded, ready for challenges, and fearless in taking leadership opportunities. Never expect to know what lies ahead, but always be prepared to make well informed decisions.

Thank you We would like to thank all panellists for joining us virtually this evening. Your valuable insight and advice to our students is very much appreciated, and we hope to welcome you back to Oxford High School soon. We would also like to thank our current students and parents for joining us for the event tonight!

Internet safety and technical information It is always easier to speak to people face to face and our panellists would appreciate seeing some face on the screen. However, please do ensure an appropriate background and attire. If your connection fails, try to log out and in again. Should we encounter technical difficulties at our end, we will update the google links via the Google Careers Classrooms and will email out the backup google meet links in advance to our panellists as a precaution. We will endeavor to record most sessions and will share recordings via the Google Careers Classrooms in the week after the event. Do however try and tune in to the panels that appeal most to you. In advance, thank you for your patience and understanding!

Welcome Talks: 6:00-6:30 p.m.

After a short welcome from our Headmistress, Marina Gardiner Legge, we welcome Floyd Woodrow MBE CDM

Floyd Woodrow is a former Special Forces Soldier who had a full career with 22 Special Air Service Regiment (SAS). In regimental surveys he ranked in the top 1% of SAS officers. He received a DCM, the second highest gallantry award for work in Iraq, and an MBE for his work in Afghanistan. He has an international reputation for running leadership and elite performance training programmes. Sectors include sports, business, government, police, not-for-profit and education. https://floydwoodrow.com/

Closing Talk: 8 p.m. At the end of the evening, please take the time to listen to Aduke Onafowokan talk about opportunities and where from here:

Following careers in law and project management, Aduke Onafowokan launched Inclusivitii to plug the gap between DEI aspirations and tangible DEI change in organisations. As a public speaker, Aduke has delivered two TEDx Talks on Diversity and Inclusion, spoken at global events including BRANDMINDS and Sustainable Brands as well as at organisations including British American Tobacco, Amazon, Shell, Royal Mencap Society and many more. Aduke is also an award-winning social- entrepreneur through her work as the founder of The Sister Sister Global Network, a registered social-enterprise contributing to women's empowerment through the provision of accessible and empowering leadership and personal development capacity-building programmes curated for women at different stages of their leadership journeys. In 2020, Aduke was appointed Head of Women’s Empowerment at The International Youth Federation to oversee global gender programmes. Aduke is currently writing her first book, The Act of Inclusion, and writes regular columns for Business Insider on Inclusion and Leadership.

Panel Session: 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Timings/access Google Meet Google Meet Google Meet Google Meet Link A Link B Link C Link D

Admission 6.30pm Panel A.1 Panel B.1 Panel C.1 Panel D.1 Start 6.40pm Jenner Institute Business/Entrep Law/Psychology Cyber Security Finish 7.10pm (vaccine reneurship /Psychiatry research)

Admission 7.15pm Panel A.2 Panel B.2 Panel C.2 Panel D.2 Start 7.25pm Physics/Engine Consulting Humanities/Lan Opportunities Finish 7.55pm ering/Material guages Last person to leave the google meet at Science 8pm

Links for all talks/panel sessions will be on your Careers Google Classroom. Should we encounter any technical difficulties, we will announce alternative arrangements via your Careers Google Classrooms. You might need to refresh your classroom to see updates.

● Panellists will each introduce themselves for ca 3 minutes before offering the audience to ask questions for ca 15 minutes. ● Please keep your questions brief and ask them via the chat function in the meet. ● Start your question by giving the name of the panellist to whom you would like to address your question.

Should you have a question which does not get answered, please post this on the google classroom or email it to [email protected]. Your questions will be collated and forwarded to the panellists after the event.

Panellists

A1 Jenner Institute (vaccine research)

Dr Alex Spencer, Jenner Institute, University of Oxford

Dr Alex Spencer is an Australian born immunologist working on vaccine development at the University of Oxford. Having always been interested in science with a human focus, she undertook a Bachelor of Medical Science with an additional 1 year honours research project, at the University of Sydney. This was followed directly by a PhD in experimental medicine (Immunology) at the Centenary Institute, in the same laboratory as her honours research project. Dr Spencer moved to Oxford in 2006 taking a position as a junior post-doctoral researcher, which over the many years has progressed into a senior scientist position as she took on more supervision, teaching and management roles within the Jenner Institute and wider University environment.

Dr Amy Flaxman, Jenner Institute, University of Oxford

Dr Amy Flaxman’s research involves assessing immune responses to the Oxford ChAdOx1-nCoV vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 currently in Phase III clinical trials. She leads the lab team carrying out antibody testing post-vaccination. Here, Dr Amy Flaxman is interested in the differences in antibody responses induced over time with different doses of vaccine, in different age groups and how this changes with administration of a booster vaccine.

Hannah Sharpe, The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford

Hannah Sharpe is a final-year PhD student at the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford. She works in the Emerging Pathogens vaccine development lab and has been involved with the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trial.

Hannah’s undergraduate degree was in Biological Sciences at Oxford University. She then did a Masters in Immunology before starting her PhD.

Helen Sanders, Jenner Institute, University of Oxford

Helen Sanders is a Research Assistant in outbreak pathogen vaccine trials at the Jenner Institute. Helen graduated with a BSc in Biology and has worked on clinical trials for vaccines against Malaria, Ebola, Rabies and MERS coronavirus. Now Helen Sanders primarily works on the COVID-19 vaccine trial looking at T-cell immunology.

A2 Physics/Engineering Material

Prof. David Lucas, Dept. of Physics, University of Oxford

Prof. David Lucas studied Physics at Oxford University, and stayed to do research in experimental atomic and laser physics. After his D.Phil., he did post-doctoral research in ultracold atoms at the University of Paris, before returning to Oxford to work on quantum computing experiments. (This basically involves doing experiments with single atoms, and single photons of light, which he finds fascinating!) His research group recently built the UK’s first “quantum network” experiment. He is a tutor at Balliol College, where he teaches courses in electromagnetism, special relativity, and quantum & atomic physics. He is joined by one of his DPhil students, Ms Beth Nichol.

Prof. James Marrow, Department of Materials, Oxford University

Professor James Marrow studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge, thinking he would be a theoretical physicist. He found Materials Science much more interesting and continued to PhD. Professor James Marrow completed his Postdoctoral research (at Oxford and Birmingham) then became a lecturer at Manchester. He has been 'James Martin' Professor of Energy Materials at Oxford since 2010 (Mansfield College). Prof James Marrow has mostly worked on experimental research into how things break, from aerospace to nuclear reactors, including bone and the next generation of Lithium batteries. He particularly likes working with large scientific facilities such as the Diamond Light Source synchrotron at Harwell. Why Materials Science? - it is at the intersection between physics, chemistry, biology and engineering and it is about making and understanding the materials that society needs to function. Prof James Marrow is happy to talk about university courses in Materials Science, careers in research and also 'James Martin'.

Jill Faure, Ofcom

Jill Faure was a student at OHS between 1992 and 2001, after which she went to Oxford University to study Engineering and Materials Science. After her degree, Jill Faure joined Ofcom on its graduate scheme, as a technical specialist. She is now a Principal Technology Advisor, working with colleagues from different specialisms to develop policies on fixed and mobile broadband technologies.

Dr. Robin Tuluie, PhysicsX

Dr. Robin Tuluie is the founder of PhysicsX, which is a team of scientists and engineers borne out of Formula One, who help companies solve their most difficult problems using simulation, artificial intelligence and 3D printing. Robin is a theoretical physicist, having had the good fortune to be taught by Nobel prize winners at Berkeley, which gave him the best possible capabilities to understand how things really work, from gravitation to racing cars to artificial hearts. Robin has worked as an Engineering Director for Bentley cars, as Chief Scientist for Mercedes Formula One and as a postdoctoral Fellow researching, by computer simulation, how the universe evolved from the Big Bang until now. Robin loves all things Science and many things Engineering, but most of all mentoring and bringing up bright young minds who will surpass all of us.

B1 Business/Entrepreneurship

Jonathan Patrick, Consultant Connect

Jonathan Patrick read Biological Sciences at Oxford, before converting to law and qualifying as a solicitor with city firm Freshfields. After a stint as a management consultant, Jonathan started setting up and running companies focused on healthcare. His first startup, JPen Medical, sent engineers to GP surgeries to test and calibrate all their medical equipment. He sold that to a big corporation before establishing eSupplies Medical, an "Amazon of Healthcare", which was sold to a listed company in 2016. He is currently CEO of Consultant Connect, a communications company that covers over 29 million patients in the NHS.

Charlie Maynard, BDA Partners

Charlie Maynard studied Geography at Oxford University. He founded BDA in 1996 to focus on Asian M&A, i.e. advising on large companies and investors on buying and selling businesses. The company has nine offices globally, including seven in Asia.

Floyd Woodrow, Compass For Life

Chris West, Nokia

Chris West is currently the Head of the Next Generation ERP programme for Nokia, but spent over 20 years as a management consultant, specialising in SAP implementations. He has worked for a number of organisations including EY, Logica and HCL as well as smaller consultancies. Chris West was also part of the team that created a consultancy organisation. His first degree was a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry, and he has an MBA.

B2 Consulting: Management/Strategy

Dr Keith Stewart, Cap Gemini

Keith Stewart is a Vice President in Capgemini Invent where he leads the healthcare consulting team, supporting clients design and implement their strategies and on their operational improvements initiatives and digital transformations. A career consultant, he has worked in several firms (both large and small) in the professional services industry and with clients in the NHS, higher education and academic research and the pharmaceutical/life sciences sector.

Keith Stewart studied Biological Sciences at the University of Oxford and moved to consulting following his DPhil in Molecular Plant Pathology.

June Davis, Allied Health Solutions

June Davis has been a Director of Allied Health Solutions, a company focussed on working in health and care strategy and workforce developments, for the past 9 years. June is also Allied Health Professions Advisor (part time) for Macmillan Cancer Support and a specialist advisor to the Care Quality Commission.

June Davis's first degree was a BSc in Nutrition with dietetics gained in 1992 followed by a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in 2004. June Davis has 27 years experience working in and with the NHS as a Dietitian, service and professional lead, general manager for a number of service areas within the acute setting and senior project lead for several large scale change projects across London.

Philip Norstrand, Galderma

When Philip Norstrand grew up, he was very interested in technology, so chose to study electrical engineering. After a year or two, Philip Norstrand realised that he didn't want to focus his career on R&D, so he also studied economics. When he graduated (in 1999, at the height of the first dotcom boom), all of the consulting firms were hiring engineers, and he was offered a job at McKinsey. The four years spent in consulting was a very good way to start his career, a very good learning experience, and it enabled him to move into the pharma industry. Today he leads a global aesthetic medicine franchise at Galderma in Switzerland.

Rob Kenny, Communications Chambers

Rob Kenny is a consultant advising clients such as Facebook, Netflix, Google, BT and the BBC on issues of strategy and regulation. He has 20 years of consulting experience, and has also worked for large telcos, running strategy and corporate development.

He has lived and worked in the UK, Hong Kong, and the US. He studied Mathematics and Management at Cambridge.

C1 Law & Psychiatry/Psychology

Gilly Bloom, Ofsted

Gilly Bloom is a government lawyer currently working at Ofsted, advising across most of their remits - schools (both maintained and independent), further education and skills and social care. She studied law (jurisprudence) at Lincoln College Oxford, trained as a solicitor at Slaughter and May in the City and then qualified and worked as a corporate finance lawyer in New York before returning to the UK to work as a government lawyer (and start a family). Gilly has worked for a number of different government departments drafting legislation and advising ministers and policy colleagues across a range of policy areas. While her children were small, she took a sabbatical from government legal work to set up a film and TV practice with her husband.

Alice Vickers, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Alice Vickers, OHS alumna, has been a senior lawyer and diplomat at the Foreign Office since 2017, currently posted to the UK Mission to the EU. Prior to that she worked at BEIS and the Home Office. Alice started her legal career with 8 years as a legal aid family lawyer, specialising in domestic abuse. Her degree was in American History, subsequently she did a law conversion and an LLM in Human Rights (part time while working).

Helen Lamprell, Vodafone

Helen Lamprell read Law at Cambridge and qualified at Linklaters. She moved to Vodafone after 7 years. At Vodafone Helen worked initially on international deals including in India, Turkey and the US. She is now a director for Vodafone in the UK dealing with everything from crisis management to public relations, sustainability and government affairs, not forgetting legal and regulatory.

Pepita Torbrand, Bounce-Coaching

Pepita Torbrand is a Chartered Psychologist (BSc, MSc, CPsychol), Registered Coaching Psychologist, Educational Consultant and Performance Coach (MISCP). She is the Director of Bounce-Coaching, offering 121 online coaching to increase students’ wellbeing, motivation, and academic success by reducing unhelpful thinking habits, self-sabotaging, procrastination, maladaptive perfectionism, and self-doubt. Her coaching practice helps students develop resilience and increase confidence; optimising their academic performance, as evidenced by her academic research. Her company is an Education Partner with Dulwich College International. https://bounce- coaching.com/

Professor Seena Fazel, University of Oxford

Professor Seena Fazel trained as a medical doctor, and then as a psychiatrist. His particular area of specialism is in the area of forensic psychiatry, which involves the assessment and treatment of people with mental health problems who have committed serious crimes. He has been conducting research in this area for many years and lead a research team studying the mental health of prisoners and the risk of adverse outcomes (including violence and suicide) in people with severe mental illness. He has given evidence in his capacity as a forensic psychiatrist in some high profile cases, including in the UN-sponsored Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

C2 Careers with a degree in Humanities/Languages

Jenny Butterworth, Mandarin Chinese and Business, Newcastle University

Since graduating from OHS, Jenny Butterworth has now also graduated from Newcastle University, where she studied a joint honours degree in Mandarin Chinese & Business. Jenny spent a year abroad in Haikou, on Hainan Island in China, where she studied Mandarin at a partner University. Jenny is currently working at HelloFresh, a company that has grown rapidly throughout 2020, where she is exploring a career in Human Resource Management, with plans to relocate to Shanghai at some point in the future.

Lizzie Westley, Geography, University of Exeter

After leaving OHS, Lizzie Westley quickly discovered that her course at UCL was not the right environment and in her second year changed to the University of Exeter. She is now in her final year of her BSc in Geography with Spanish and is looking forward to pursuing a career prospect in sustainable engineering, consulting or finance.

Prof David Rueda, Politics, University of Oxford

Professor David Rueda was born in Sevilla and grew up in San Fernando, Cádiz. At the age of 17, he left Spain to do the International Baccalaureate at the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West. He did his BA at Franklin and Marshall College, an MSc at the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), and his PhD at Cornell University.

He is Professor of Comparative Politics at the Department of Politics and IR and Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford University. He is the author of Social Democracy Inside Out (Oxford University Press, 2007) and, with Daniel Stegmueller, of Who Wants What? Redistribution Preferences in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2019). Dr Rueda’s current research focuses on the causes and consequences of inequality, the determinants of redistribution preferences, the role of the welfare state in times of crisis, and insider-outsider politics.

Alice Murray, Christie's

After her time at OHS and following a degree in French and Spanish at Edinburgh university, Alice Murray joined Christie’s auction house 10 years ago. She is an Associate Director and Specialist in Modern British Art where she undertakes valuations and sources business for the five annual auctions in the category. She was responsible for setting up and launching the inaugural online auctions of 20th century British Art, making Christie’s the first major auction house to hold e-commerce sales in this area. She headed the Impressionist and Modern art online sales for the company, but now focuses her expertise in developing the market for British artists at auction from 1900 to now.

Nick Thomas, Writer and Journalist

Nick Thomas was at MCS and went on to read English at Pembroke, Oxford, where he worked for Cherwell, the OU student newspaper. As a freelance journalist Nick Thomas has worked for a number of national papers, in Arts, Politics, Humour, and Comment. Along the way he has also been a playwright, theatre director, novelist, and screenwriter.

D1 Cyber security and Data Analysis

Dr Arlen Anderson, Ab Initio

Dr Arlen Anderson did a PhD in Theoretical Physics specializing in quantum theory and general relativity. After many years as a post-doc and research professor at universities in the US, UK and Canada, he left physics to work for Ab Initio Software. Ab Initio is a multi-national software vendor who supplies high-performance parallel computing software to business, with customers in a wide range of industries, including telecoms, banking, retail, and the internet. Arlen is a "field consultant" who does pre- and post-sales work with customers around the world on large, bespoke applications, using algorithms he and his group have developed for "fuzzy matching" and other analytics. Arlen was recently made co-lead of a group developing Ab Initio capabilities for data scientists doing AI/machine learning.

Rebekah Davidson, Synopsys

Rebekah Davidson, OHS alumna, completed a BSc Mathematics at Queens University in Belfast, and then completed a graduate academy in order to upskill in Cyber Security. She has recently graduated from a Masters in Applied Cyber Security and now works as a vulnerability analyst at Synopsys in Belfast. Here she helps to explore any vulnerabilities within Open Source applications and assists clients in identifying where they are vulnerable to cyber-attack, and how they can mitigate these risks.

Cindy Hau, Ofcom

Cindy Hau is a current cyber security graduate associate at Ofcom. She has previously studied at Brunel university to gain her undergraduate degree in mathematics and statistics with management studies. Her interest in information security started after studying an encryption module at Brunel, which has later led her to studying a master’s degree at UCL in Information security.

Emma Smith, Vodafone

Emma joined Vodafone in 2015 and is responsible for Cyber Security globally. She studied economics, qualified as an internal auditor before finding her passion and moving to work in Cyber Security. Before Vodafone, Emma spent 13 years at RBS/NatWest bank and 6 years at Royal Mail. Emma is passionate about security and protecting customers, employees and citizens from cyber threats. Cyber Security is so important in the digital and connected world that we live. As a profession, cyber security is exciting, still quite new and a growing field. Emma loves the blend of technology, people and behaviours, strategy and operations that her roles give. People with cyber security experience are in high demand across all sectors and this is likely to continue to grow. Emma believes that the best teams and companies are formed with a diverse mix of people. She works hard to create an inclusive culture, working to get more women into technology and cyber and is an LGBT+ sponsor in Vodafone.

Zulekha Samiullah, Mathematics and Physics, University of York Since leaving OHS, Zulekha Samiullah has gone to York to undertake a BSc in Mathematics and Physics and is now in her final year. She is a Laidlaw Research and Leadership Scholar, Digital Creativity Labs Research Scholar, has experience as Technology Director at York Community Consulting and is happy to talk about her role as University Manager with High Fliers Research in association with the Times. She is launching a set of guides focusing on student communication and professional skills and has gained experience as Research Intern with York Students in Schools. A Mathematics Student Ambassador, she still makes time for being the College Squash 19/20 captain and University Womens’ 1st Team player.

D2 Opportunites/How to Improve your CV

Anoushka Patel, Dyson

Anoushka Patel, OHS alumna, is an Undergraduate Engineer at the Dyson Institute, currently working in New Product Innovation. At Dyson, she is a member of the Global Engagement Council, and a sustainability champion for Global functions. Anoushka is also an Arkwright Undergraduate scholar, and incoming Morgan Stanley Spring intern.

Sesha Nicholson-Lailey, University of York

Sesha Nicholson-Lailey, OHS alumna, is a student of apparently discordant subjects; her checkered past involves an Art and Design Diploma. She spent two seasons at London Fashion week, has undertaken work experience across genetic engineering, archaeological interpretation, the careers service here in Oxford, and even a brief stint in the public sector as a Civil Service Fast Stream intern. She might still be known to some of you as Head Girl (2017)!

Currently a second year natural scientist at the University of York (Archaeology, Biology, Chemistry, and Environment) Sesha is someone with a passion for inclusion and diversity and making the most of opportunities in the most unlikely of places.

Jahkini Bisselink, Jahkini Consultancy

Jahkini Bisselink is both a Gen Z member (born in 1999) ánd a Gen Z expert. She founded her own consultancy firm in which she helps companies and organisations understand the world of Gen Z, aiming to promote an intergenerational dialogue. Jahkini has worked at the United Nations as a youth representative from the Netherlands (2017-2019). For this role she has spoken with more than 4000 young people and has given multiple statements at UN conferences like the General Assembly. Next to that she is studying religious and political science, finishing her master’s degree in 2021. https://www.jahkini.com/

Harry Beard, Prospect 100

Harry Beard is a co-founder of Prospect 100. Prospect 100 is on a mission to create the home of youth recruitment, aimed at 16-25 year olds via their global competitions and digital in-bound recruitment platform. Prospect 100 works with brands ranging from ViacomCBS and GUESS to Depop, Kyra and Humane Society. Previously they have hosted global competitions in fields ranging from music and fashion design through to technology and sustainability, ensuring their young winners receive mentorship from figures like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Guy Holmes the ex manager for Michael Jackson. Harry studied 'Real Estate' at The Royal Agricultural University for 1 year before pausing studies to pursue Prospect 100. https://www.prospect100.com/

Amira Harb, University of Oxford

Amira Harb, OHS alumna, is an experienced recruiter and enjoys working with people to achieve results through effective communication, building diverse relationships and providing a high level of customer service at all times. Amira has worked across several industry sectors including education, diplomatic missions, consultancy, due diligence, journalism and healthcare. Amira graduated from SOAS, University of London with BA(Hons) in Arabic & Management and is CIPD Level 5 qualified. Amira is currently working as a Senior Recruitment Consultant for the University of Oxford's Temporary Staffing Service: https://www.jobs.ox.ac.uk/temporary-staffing-service

Advice for Networking in a virtual environment

Making a good impression:

• Be well presented, choose an appropriate background • Keep your language professional – address the speaker by title via the chat function • Take notes during the talks to allow you ask questions at the end or later on in time. • Express your appreciation for their time • Don’t just ask about their current job, but about their whole career – how did they get to where they are now? What do they want to do next? If you had to do it all again…?

Enjoy!