On Thursday, we left 24 fingers Towers and ventured to Dulwich to attend The Charter School‘s annual careers fair.
The Charter School in South East London is a non-selective community school with students from a diverse range of backgrounds. It is in the top 100 state schools nationally for its GCSE results and recently won a local award for the high level of attainment of its disadvantaged pupils.
The careers fair was designed to give Year 9-13 students the opportunity to be able to speak to expert advisers who work in their fields of interest (in the case of 24 fingers, digital marketing), with a view on understanding what they will need to do to in order to pursue a successful career in their chosen industry.
The Charter School were especially keen to have more representatives from the digital industries to speak to the students, as it is estimated that over 46,000 new jobs will be created in the digital sector in London alone over the next decade. That’s where we came in.
Awaiting the talented youth of @TCSDulwich 🙌🏻 #careersfair #generationsocial pic.twitter.com/yfkVP9suhN
— 24 fingers (@24_fingers) December 1, 2016
We showed the pupils what it is like to tweet all day for a living, and what else goes on behind the scenes (trust us, it’s a lot more than you might think). But it wasn’t just the kids getting schooled – they taught us a thing or two as well.
According to a study conducted last year, 71% of teens use more than one social media site on a regular basis – no wonder they have been named #GenerationSocial. With this in mind, we had the pupils take over our Twitter for the day to share their opinions on social media.
We've asked the @TCSDulwich pupils to do a #twittertakeover. First up: Q1: what social platform excites you the most? #socmedia
— 24 fingers (@24_fingers) December 1, 2016
Q2 from @TCSDulwich "Who's your favourite social media influencer?" #GenerationSocial
— 24 fingers (@24_fingers) December 1, 2016
Q3 from @TCSDulwich: Which brand is rocking #socialmedia? pic.twitter.com/wjFqErhwbd
— 24 fingers (@24_fingers) December 1, 2016
Q4 from @TCSDulwich: What do you think the next big thing in #socialmedia will be?…. pic.twitter.com/MBu90OYTVR
— 24 fingers (@24_fingers) December 1, 2016
Their answers were incredibly insightful. They confirmed Snapchat was the most popular platform amongst teens, we were introduced to some up-and-coming social influencers and discovered which brands make teens reach for the like button.
Q1 I like @Snapchat, creative and unique. Zeel @TCSDulwich
— 24 fingers (@24_fingers) December 1, 2016
Q2: My favourite beauty blogger is @emilytheunic0rn because she's different and original, Bella @TCSDulwich #GenerationSocial
— 24 fingers (@24_fingers) December 1, 2016
Q3: @VSPINK because their photos are 😍 and their flash discounts on @Snapchat are👌, Sofia & Maria @TCSDulwich #GenerationSocial
— 24 fingers (@24_fingers) December 1, 2016
Q4: Social media platforms must continue to evolve or they'll become extinct (like #Vine), Esme @TCSDulwich #GenerationSocial pic.twitter.com/5xQRi6rY7u
— 24 fingers (@24_fingers) December 1, 2016
It got us very excited, seeing the talent of tomorrow emerging with such interesting thoughts and ideas. Not only were we able to show them the opportunities available in the digital world, but they also showed us how much knowledge and enthusiasm they already have for such careers.
And that's a wrap! Thanks to everyone @TCSDulwich for letting us run our School of Social today – you rock 🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/xq5sgCcegm
— 24 fingers (@24_fingers) December 1, 2016
We can’t wait to see what the future brings for social media and we look forward to welcoming the social media superstars of tomorrow to 24 fingers Towers very soon.