Looking back

[icomefromalanddownunder]

I await with interest to read if anyone at any time recalls being groomed as a prospective companion to a lady of means!


My immediate reaction was 'Oh for youknowwhat's sake'. You really don't get what Hertford was all about do you?



The principal "grooming" in the V1 Form was of the elite set most likely to achieve Oxford or Cambridge entrance.

One of the funniest things I read in HTR was that DR considered a CH girl (not of the elite set) to be ready prepared for nursing training, as she would already have been used to strict discipline and making beds with hospital corners. It takes maybe five minutes to learn hospital corners - so that CH advantage didn't last long!

They were infirmary corners Marsh, INFIRMARY corners . One of my few accomplishments: and now, of course, I have fitted sheets

Although I absolutely do not agree that we were being groomed as companions, I don't have any idea of what was expected of us, other than DR telling me that I would never make a Vet (because I am female). She was correct on both counts, but the logic was faulty. Yes, I'm female, and yes, I would never make a Vet (because. Oh, for so many reasons, but none of them dependent on my gender.

[Angela Woodford]

You actually had a career discussion with DR, Caroline? I don't remember any career advice being available to us!

Did DR advise anybody else on their eventual career?

This is interesting!

[MaryB]

She definitely didn't. I didn't look further than university. As for what you might do if you didn't go, I only recall teaching, nursing or secretarial work as possible destinations.

[englishangel]

Likem Kim I wanted to do medicine and was told (I think I said this about 4 years ago on here) that I wasn't 'caring' enough. so I became a midwife instead. (eventually). I would have loved to rub DR's nose in that one.

[fra828]

No careers advice at all. Certainly nothing from DR, the only vague snippet from Miss Wilson -or was it Betty Jukes?... said it wouldn't be a bad career to work in M&S, which seemed unambitious by Hertford standards, but probably realistic for the 'less bright' (!) amongst us. I had no idea what I wanted to do, ended up in hotel and catering after college course.

[midget]

We had "careers" interviews with DR,of which I remember nothing except she told me I should do medicine rather than nursing. I know of one girl who wanted to be a hairdressern,and in fact her mother had already arranged an apprenticeship for her. She was terrified when it came to the career interview, and astonished that DR heartily agreed with her!

[icomefromalanddownunder]

You actually had a career discussion with DR, Caroline? I don't remember any career advice being available to us!

I think it was probably part of my exit talk, which concluded with her telling me that I would never make anything of myself when people read, from my cv, that I left CH at the end of UV. I wanted to photocopy my A level certificate, scrawl bo!!ocks across the copy and send it to DR, but Mum convinced me not to.

Since it appears that I, and other St Martin's students, did considerably better than CH science candidates in 72, I now believe that Mum was wrong

[Alexandra Thrift]

Likem Kim I wanted to do medicine and was told (I think I said this about 4 years ago on here) that I wasn't 'caring' enough. so I became a midwife instead. (eventually). I would have loved to rub DR's nose in that one.

Angela, DR's advice was so like -well- as my teenage son would say...RANDOM !

Caroline, you may come from the land down under... but you are far too dignified to savour putting your arm up a cow's a**e.

[englishangel]

Not just CH, I got no careers advice at Uni either. Gerrie, As I was copnming to the end of of my degree I was very interested an a career in retail., and I applied to M & S. Their graduate scheme was (probably still is) fantastic. There was free healthcare, pension and all sorts.

[Angela Woodford]

I am mortified to admit this, but here goes.

I was in despair, as all my friends made their University plans. What on earth would I be able to do for a living? I looked up a few addresses in the Library and made an appointment for an interview at a College of Journalism in Stevenage (I think).

Hauled again before DR for some crime, I blurted out my ambition. Her grim impassive face showed no sign of encouragement. She didn't say stop, she didn't say go.

The interview was a disaster. Before a panel interview, we all met as a group to exchange our past pro-journalistic experiences. Everybody else had edited their school undergound magazine/wangled days with their local breathless boy reporter/sent despatches from the Seven Day War/already achieved record speeds in shorthand in preparation. I had only the experience of having my instutionalised education reported on by the Hertford Mercury, and had never actually coped with the outside world at all. Disaster!

I reported this to DR eventually. She shrugged, and made no encouraging "something else maybe?" suggestion, apart from her final comment before Leaving Day that I would be a good shop girl.

I've never admitted before that I had had that awful interview. Too humiliating.

[Jo]

I think most of us has a humiliating interview tucked away somewhere. I did the Civil Service graduate entry - I was the only person out of several in my year/course at uni who passed the entrance exam and got through to the assessment centre stage. It was a complete disaster! Everyone else seemed so worldly wise, whereas I, even after four years out of CH in London, was still pretty innocent. I still shudder when I think of how I answered some of the questions. One interviewer even told me he thought my views were "if I may say so, rather simplistic"

Still, with hindsight I don't think I would have been cut out to be a career civil servant so sometimes these things happen for a good reason

[dinahcat]

In the early 80s Miss Tucker maybe introduced a more up to date careers system which involved a question and answer survey. My sister tells me that one of her friends was sincerely urged by the careers officer in charge of the event to become a Shepherdess .
CH now runs a very sophisticated careers service which involves VR and NVR tests and a set of questions. My son recently took part in this and told me that the questions involved things like 'Do you like animals?' or ' Do you like looking after people?' He quite reasonably considered that if he answered yes, the suggestions for careers would come back as Vet or Doctor which are not careers he would consider so he answered no to these types of questions even though in his every day life he would have answered yes.He is now worried that the career suggestions will come back as Psychopath or similar..

[englishangel]

My son did one of those and it came back with 'beautician'. I think he would be very good at this, he gives a superb back/foot massage.

[Pixie]

I don't remember having a careers interview anywhere including CH. I decided at the age of 8 what I wanted to do so maybe that's why I didn't have one. When I didn't get into medicine after repeating my A levels I had to go through clearing and chose 2 courses that also required biology, chemistry and physics - Biochemistry and Pharmacy. There wasn't any advice offered. I ended up studying Pharmacy at Manchester University and just got on with it.

[Katharine]

Another with no career advice at school. At university we all had an interview at some stage - I knew what I wanted to do - Aid Administration (Oxfam or similar). I was advised by various people to get field experience did VSO, met OH and the rest is history! Not much Aid Administration but a lot of Maths teaching around the world!