The Chamber of Commerce Career Awareness Visits, which began on Tuesday, 23 June resumed on Monday, 29 June with the participation of 50 students from John Gray High School.

The National Gallery of Cayman Islands hosted half of the students in collaboration with the Cayman Islands National Museum for a morning visit. The coming together of the two entities provided the students with an opportunity to acquire extensive knowledge on the arts industry.

The Communications and Marketing Manager of the National Gallery, Mona Lisa Tatum-Watler, said: “Introducing the breadth of areas of employment in the arts field came as a surprise to a few students. In addition to the more recognized careers in exhibition development, marketing, teaching, and graphic and web design for example, art-based jobs such as archaeology and prosthetic make-up are not often seen as art but do involve studying fine arts.

“We enjoyed sharing our knowledge with the students and extend an invitation to have them come into our library to research on art colleges and universities that may help them garner their talents.”

Concurrently, the other half was doing a tour of the various Island Companies stores where they got an overview of the career opportunities on offer which included working during Christmas and the Apprenticeship Programme.

After the visit, Brenda Stewart Miller, the Human Resources Manager of Island Companies, said: “We were pleased to have the opportunity to participate in the Chamber’s Career Awareness Visits this year. We are always looking for ways to attract new talent into our company and being able to showcase our career opportunities in this way was very much appreciated.”

All the students came together for an all-suite beach resort experience at the Grand Caymanian Beach Suites. After an in-depth presentation where students learned about the hospitality and customer service industry, the management team provided a tour of the facility and lunch courtesy of the hotel.

Later in the afternoon, the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands which functions as the maritime administration of the Cayman Islands, presented the students with an overview of the various divisions and available opportunities. The students concluded their day with a visit to the banking services provider, Butterfield. There they learned of the intricacies of operating a financial institution and toured their Learning Centre.

Cayman Prep & High School Students will take part in similar visits before the end of the month.

If your business or organisation is interested in participating in this programme in the future, please contact Joanne Diaz-Berry, Programmes & Events Manager, at joanne.berry@caymanchamber.ky