Getting Involved Getting Involved

Thursday, 6/9/2022

Help today's students on their career paths - and maybe help yourself too!

All of us who were at CLS share a common set of experiences. Not every experience will necessarily have been happy, memorable or comfortable. And, of course, each of us has subsequently acquired other diverse experiences and allegiances - through university, college, work, sport, professional body etc. But undoubtedly an important part of what makes us who we now are is what we did and who we met during our years overlooking the Thames.

Staying in touch with your peers can be fun - the ones you get on with, anyway. It can also be useful and rewarding. CLS boys through the generations go on to occupy interesting positions in a whole range of professions.

The JCC offers you a route to extend your contact base. Working together with the School, we've developed a number of professional groups, including lawyers, medics and engineers. These groups are an efficient - and sociable - focal point and meeting place (both actual and virtual) for Citizens who share professional and career interests. Each group has a get-together at the School, and obviously we have a database of people in each sector.

Careers Workshops are also a route for current and recent pupils at CLS to meet professionals from a wide range of careers. Today's students, even with the advantages of attending a school like CLS, face a real challenge in launching their careers. Old Citizens can help enormously in contributing advice, contacts and work experience. 

Offering work experience placements to CLS Sixth Form boys and undergraduate Old Citizens, is another way in which you can help boys and younger Old Cits make informed choices about which career path to follow. We have successfully placed students in a variety of sectors, including medicine, engineering, IT, finance and law. 

Or maybe you're looking for the next thing to do yourself - what the Americans imaginatively call an 'encore career'. Maybe a new direction or involvement in the voluntary sector. You could well find guidance from another Old Cit. 

If you're interested in networking with others, whatever your interest or field of activity, and/or in talking to CLS students about their career choices, do contact our Alumni Engagement Officer.  LinkedIn professional groups have been set up for OCs in the finance, legal, medical/dentistry, military, creative , politcal, public sector and engineering professions, which you are most welcome to join.