Newsletter - November 2018

Welcome to the Quest Professional Newsletter! Scroll down for all of our latest news, trips, pictures and upcoming events...

A word from our Principal, Claire

Lots of our students are now preparing for presentations which form part of the assessment at Quest and lead to the ILM (Institute of Leadership & Management) Level 3 qualification. This month I’d like to share my top tips for giving a fabulous and memorable presentation:

1. A Solid Structure

Incorporate a welcoming and informative introduction, a coherent series of main points presented in a logical sequence and a lucid and purposeful conclusion.

2. Knowledge

Make sure your content is accurate, factual and well-organised before you start adding bells and whistles along with it. Ensure you have a thorough knowledge of your subject matter before you start to present.

3. Keep to any Time Limit

Practise your presentation integrating all the elements of your talk, and time the whole thing. Simply running through the words in your head is not enough to accommodate all aspects of the performance.

4. Good Quality Slides

Use a large, clear font, with minimal text – a maximum of 5 lines per slide. Make good use of images and graphics to convey your message.

5. Body Language

Open your chest and arms, stand up straight and smile! Avoid standing with your back to your audience or in front of the screen so they can’t see it.

For more tips and tricks follow us on Facebook to receive Claire's infographics.

Sky News Interview

Parent & Fee-Payer Evenings

This month we hosted parent and fee-payer evenings for the Professional Diploma, Business Apprentice and Executive PA Programmes. These events allowed parents and fee-payers to come in and meet the Quest team including the Principal, trainers and careers team. Each parent was also invited to attend a one-to-one meeting with their son/daughter's personal mentor to be given an update on their progress.

Thank you to everyone who came along to the events and we hope you found them useful! 

Activities this month:

The Wise House Guest Presentation

Earlier this month owner and 'guvnor' of The Wise House, Lucy Taylor came in to speak to the Graduate Training Programme students. Lucy shared her tips on running a small business 'warts'n'all', and talked through her journey to becoming the go-to shop for all things eco friendly.

As students, commuters and office workers, we can all do our bit to make our workplace greener. Her top tips were: 

• Swap from plastic bottles to reusable bottles, preferably stainless steel
• Use a reusable coffee cup for takeaway coffee - disposable coffee cups take hundreds of years to biodegrade and can't be recycled
• Bring in packed lunch with a reusable lunch box, sandwich bags and beeswax wrap for your snacks. If you regularly buy takeaway lunch, then consider bringing in your own tin (preferably stainless steel) and asking them to fill for you

With Christmas around the corner, consider giving your gifts a green theme these this year... To help give us a nudge in the right direction, Lucy is offering a 10% discount to all Quest students and staff. Just use code WISEQ10 at the checkout. Feel free to share your code with friends and family.

Mock Interviews and Recruitment Fair

The mock interviews for the Graduate Students have taken place this term. This involves the Graduates going out to recruitment agencies across London where they are given a practice competency-based interview.  The students have also received feedback on these interviews to help prepare them for entering the workplace. 

We also held the recruitment fair for our Graduates. For this, we invited 10 London recruitment agencies to Quest to meet our students. We look forward to seeing the students secure their first job and hope the rest of the groups are looking forward to this next term.

Careers Team

Last month we introduced you to our trainers and their areas of expertise. This month it is time to introduce you to our wonderfully dynamic careers team, which is made up of Emma Colville, Natalie Wood and Alice Short.

Emma Colville

Emma graduated from Bath Spa with a degree in Media Studies before going on to study on the Graduate Training Programme here at Quest. It was during the course that she fell in love with the organisation. After this, Emma spent two years working within secretarial and administration positions and then embarked on a successful recruitment career. Now, she works at Quest advising students and alumni on different career moves, along with liaising with clients who want to recruit directly from us.

Natalie Wood

After graduating from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Geography & Psychology, Natalie came to study on the Graduate Training Programme at Quest Professional. After graduating from Quest, she spent 5 years working at Marsh & Parsons in a secretarial and managerial position, and then within HR and Recruitment. After this, Natalie got her CIPD qualification in HR and decided to join Quest as a trainer in August 2015 to teach Careers and HR to the students. She really enjoys mentoring and guiding the students to get them their first job and seeing them develop in the workplace!

Alice Short

After graduating from the University of East Anglia with a degree in English Literature, Alice came to Quest Professional to study on the Graduate Training Programme. She really enjoyed her time and was pleased to be offered a position here upon finishing the course. Her role is incredibly varied from developing new career opportunities to offering careers guidance to the students. Alice says she really enjoys working with the students and alumni, as well as working within the Quest team!

Career Fairs

November is a busy month in the diary as we take part in the final career fairs for the year. This month we travelled to the following schools: 

• St John's School, Epping
• Haileybury
• City of London Freemen's School
• Stowe
• Glyn School

If you are interested in Quest Professional visiting your school in 2019, or want to find out more about the services we can offer then please get in touch.

Job successes

This month congratulations are in order for Jordan Wilson, Harriet Sharma, Rachel Turner, Katherine Stacey, Emma-Louise Sheehan, Isobel Sprules, Cloudia Legg and Ava James who have all recently secured new opportunities in the workplace.

In need of help and advice regarding a career change? Please do get in touch with Emma Colville who will be happy to help! 

Make 2019 your year

January spaces are filling up... To avoid disappointment, please get in touch with us on 020 7233 5957 or email us to arrange an appointment to visit Quest and reserve a place on one of our programmes.

If January is too early, why not look to join one of our other programmes that run throughout the year? 

Remember, it is never too late to plan your future! 

Please feel free to share this newsletter with anyone that it may be of interest to and ask them to get in touch with us should they wish to be added to our mailing list.