Fairs, Fields and Researchers

This week I was out at our first careers fair of the Autumn. With thanks to Rhondda Cynon Taff (RCT) council who organised, and our hosts at Sobell Leisure Centre in Aberdare for the venue, not to mention the cakes and food and caffeine for all of us manning the stands for companies across the South Wales valleys area.

I have been to a lot of careers fairs over the last decade. This fair was a bit different for me though, it was a first chance to get out and about and see our fantastic Field Interviewers and Research Officers at work. We doubled up on our reason for attending the RCT fair, and whilst I was busy talking to potential future ONSers about our range of careers and opportunities, my colleagues Alice, Alysha and Megan were talking to the public about our surveys, gathering information useful to understanding who fills in our surveys, their preferences for participating and why some may not want to participate.

My work has generally been more focussed on out Digital and Tech roles, so it was good to see our analytical and Field teams in action first hand, and despite some initial concerns that it might drive people away from our stand, in fact it seemed to do the opposite and we felt like we were busy for most of the 6hrs, with a great team collaboration effort to hand people between the recruitment element and the research element.

Our stand looks a bit bare here, but it was the end of the day and we were running very low on supplies.

I'm sure the Tote bags for participating and the Cadburys chocolate bribes helped, but I like to think it was our great teamwork that meant that it was a very successful day of raising awareness of the Office for National Statistics , both the work we do and why participating in our research is so important, and also as a potential employer with a range of opportunities.

And we realised whilst we were there that we could help each other as well, I was able to chat campaigns and #successProfiles with my colleagues that will hopefully help them and their colleagues, and the research conducted gave some really interesting insights that will help support our Employer Brand and recruitment teams in ensuring ONS is in the minds of a diverse workforce as a potential employer of choice. Everyone wins!!