Work Experience with Action Sustainability July 2022

Over the month of July, Action Sustainability hosted two work experience placements, organised through the Inspire! Education Business Partnership initiative. Both students were involved on several projects that introduced them to their chosen area of specialisation.

Mateo & Action Sustainability

The beginning of July saw Mateo, a Year 10 student from a local school, spend a week learning about sustainability consultancy and the sustainability challenges that exist within the construction industry. Several of the consultancy team were involved over the week, introducing Mateo to topics including Social Value, Modern Slavery, Carbon and Biodiversity.

Here’s what Mateo said:

“I think that my experience at Action Sustainability was a positive one because everyone was very friendly and approachable – I felt I could ask for help when I needed it.

Another great thing about my time at Action Sustainability was that I learnt a lot about many issues linked to the industry, including the process of how the daily materials that we use are created and the negative consequences of them. I also had the opportunity to practice my speaking skills as the tasks I did consisted of communicating with other employees.

Overall, I think my time at Action Sustainability gave me a wider perspective on how the office life functions.”     

Here’s what Consultant Researcher, Sam Walker said:

“It was a pleasure to have Mateo join the Consultancy Team for the week. Mateo was always really engaged when learning about the different sustainability topics that we work with and did a great job on the tasks that were outlined. It was great for Mateo to be able to develop his understanding of important challenges including climate change and poor human rights, and then for him to use this knowledge to contribute to the projects that we’re working on.

One of these projects included the review of an E-Learning pathway that we are currently developing for schools on sustainability. Mateo went through the whole E-Learning module and provided us with valuable feedback which we hope will make the E-Learning module more engaging for students interested in a career in sustainability.

Overall, it was great to have Mateo working with us and to be able to support him with his potential career path in sustainable consultancy.”

Saarah & Marketing

The last week of July saw Saarah, a year 12 student from City Academy, experience a week of working within our marketing team. Saarah was guided by our Events & Marketing team to gain an understanding of various marketing tools and techniques and how to apply them.

Here’s what Saarah said:

“Spending the week in the Action Sustainability office was an extremely positive experience for me. The team made me feel welcome and was always checking in to see if I needed anything.

Being in an office allowed me to have independence as well as see how it is being in a working environment. I particularly enjoyed using Google Analytics and creating image designs on Canva while working with the marketing team at Action Sustainability.

Overall, this work experience placement has really helped me to have an idea of what I would like to do in the future. Having experience using different websites and applications has increased my skills and my ability to work quickly and effectively using time management. It has also allowed me to become more organized with my work and be smarter with my decisions.

Finally, I would recommend that anyone with an interest in areas such as marketing and sustainability to look into careers or work experience placements with Action Sustainability”

Here’s what Rosie Watts, Events & Marketing Officer Said:

“It was great to have Saarah as a member of the team during her week with us. Saarah completed tasks effectively and efficiently, and was always keen to learn more. Developing and creating marketing plans is fundamental within marketing so it was great to provide Saarah with guidance on how to do this as well as providing tips which can be used and transferred in the future.

Saarah expressed an interest in marketing and finance so it was great to provide her with knowledge & skills within this area.

Action Sustainability is committed to delivering Social Value and we are happy to provide opportunities such as these to local students to help them gain the experience they need to get into their chosen industry.”