Cooke Scotland has inspired young adults by helping them understand and develop the skills required for a career in Aquaculture and the world of work.
As part of their tour of employers based in Shetland with Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), pupils from Anderson High School visited Cooke’s Sella Ness office to find out about the variety of different career paths and rewarding job roles available at one of the top producers of Scottish salmon.
The young people, ranging from ages 12-15, were introduced to the different departments of the company such as freshwater, seawater, and processing. They learned about the life cycle of our salmon and Cooke Scotland’s locations, including the northern isles of Orkney and Shetland, mainland Scotland and England.
Pupils also took part in a sediment sieving and faunal analysis challenge with our Environmental Development Manager before working with our Veterinarian and Head of Fish Health on identifying different types of plankton with a microscope.
Two of the students were particularly interested in learning about engineering in Aquaculture and one of our Shetland Seawater Engineers was delighted to answer their questions. He further spoke of Cooke’s commitment to developing the skills and qualifications of its people, with 70 per cent of its workforce having successfully completed Modern Apprenticeships.
The students were accompanied on their Cooke visit on August 29 by one of their teachers, a member from DYW and two Youth Development Workers. Keira Tulloch, one of the Youth Development team, works closely with DYW to form part of the school partnership group at Anderson High to support pupils.
Keira said: “The session provided excellent information on the different career pathways that Cooke offered and the session was very relaxed and followed the young peoples’ lead.
“The visit highlighted that there are opportunities for work experience and future jobs for pupils interested in this sector. After the session the pupils were able to share different job roles, career paths and what Cooke as an employer is looking for in an employee. They recognised what Meta skills are used daily in various job roles.”
DYW Shetland is one of 21 regional groups across Scotland that was introduced by the Scottish Government to help produce better qualified, work-ready and motivated young people with the skills relevant to modern employment opportunities.
David Brown, Cooke Scotland Shetland Sea Water Manager, said the event was a great opportunity to work with DYW on aiding young people with their employability skills to prepare them for the world of work.
He commented: “Cooke Scotland is very willing to get involved in workplace visits such as this because it enables the next generation to learn about the vast amount of career and training opportunities there are at Cooke, not only in Shetland but across Scotland and around the world.
“Gaining a position with Cooke can be the beginning of an exciting, rewarding and successful career in Aquaculture.”
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