Energising future generations

 

Rhonda Miller, Societal Lead at TotalEnergies, explains how we're promoting our industry and inspiring young people.

Here at TotalEnergies, we understand how important it is to engage with young people in order to promote the energy industry as an interesting and dynamic place to work and develop careers.

In Scotland, close to our operational hubs, we work with schools across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Shetland to educate young people about the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects as well as the importance of languages.

In my role, I liaise with our HR team to attend careers fairs, mock interviews and other school-based activities. We also bring students into our offices on a regular basis, to practise their French language skills and to hear from people who work at TotalEnergies.

I am feeling really energised from some recent events I attended which show the breadth of our involvement with schools across the region.

We recently held another of our ‘Educator events’, where we invite teachers from schools across the region to come into our office and find out more about our work.

Held in our collaboration and brainstorming space known as the ‘Booster’, I gave an explanation about our transition towards cleaner energy before the 17 teachers heard from some of our staff sharing their stories of how they came into the industry.

They heard from people who had joined TotalEnergies via the graduate scheme, through internships and through traditional apprenticeships before listening to one of our HR Talent Developers explain all the ways into the industry and the huge variety of roles that exist within the Company – both in the UK and internationally.

All of our speakers highlighted the importance of STEM subjects and how learning a language can open up huge opportunities for young people.

I was also privileged to attend a recent event in Shetland to celebrate STEM in schools. TotalEnergies sponsors the Prosper (formerly SCDI) ‘Climate Matters’ programme, which is offered to all 22 schools in the islands. 

We provide them with a kit that they use to create a model of a sustainable school. This is done over the course of the school year, with pupils learning about different kinds of renewable power and trying it out for themselves in their schools. This culminates in a ‘Celebration of STEM’ event where all the schools come together to showcase their models and participate in various STEM challenges.

It is a fantastic day and I was asked to judge this year’s entries. Each school brought six pupils and they were encouraged to invite those who would not necessarily spring to mind as advocates for the school. The pupils spoke so knowledgeably about their studies and the model schools were absolutely wonderful.

It was a really hard choice to pick the winning school, who received funding to spend on STEM projects. It was encouraging to hear how much the teachers appreciated the kits and how excited the children were when carrying out the various projects. Every year the standard of models and supporting materials gets better and really blows my mind!

From volunteering with young children through our Action! programme, to attending events like the one in Shetland, it is great to see colleagues getting involved with young people and encouraging the next generation of TotalEnergies staff.