Career talk inspires travel plans
Reaseheath alumnus Adrian Dunn returned to the College to share his experiences of working and travelling abroad.
The former agriculture student addressed our final year Level 3 Extended Diploma in Agriculture cohort and discussed how he spent two years building his industry knowledge on a range of farms across New Zealand and Australia. Adrian began his travels in 2002, working on a 580 dairy herd farm in New Zealand and proceeded on to the Australian Outback where he achieved a role as a maintenance assistant on a five million hectare farm.
Adrian addresses agriculture students
Said Adrian, “Working on the other side of the world was an amazing experience, it gave me a whole new perspective on work and my career. I made the decision to go to New Zealand after listening to an ex-student’s talk when I was at college myself and I wanted to ‘give something back’ to the current students. I hope the talk gave students a little inspiration to help them take the plunge and travel too.”
Adrian offered students his tips on organising placements, how to get the best out of work experience and guidance on utilising their time effectively whilst travelling.
Combining work placements with travel, Adrian took the opportunity to embark on the famous ‘Kiwi Experience’ tour of New Zealand and spent time exploring some of Australia’s hotspots. On returning to the UK at the end of 2003, Adrian went on to work on farms across Cheshire, whilst also pursuing a part-time role as a youth worker. He now runs his own children’s sports coaching business, A-Star Sports.
Adrian studied at Reaseheath from 1996 to 1999. He initially completed a foundation course and NVQ Level 2 in mechanics, before moving on to complete his National Certificate in Agriculture (NCA).
If you would like to give our final year students your top tips on how to make that all-important transition from study to work through delivering a career talk or workshop, please contact Alumni Officer Katie Burt on alumni@reaseheath.ac.uk
