More than 400 young people have signed up to the Tayside Young Professionals Network following a number of packed-out events.
Like-minded workers on the first-steps of their careers have met at three networking parties, with more planned over the coming months.
The TYPN was set-up by Glen Kelly of TSPC, EQ Accountants’ Sam Walker and Heather Whyte from Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by EQ.
They hoped to bring together young people looking to speak with others who share and understand the opportunities and challenges in the early part of working life.
Tayside Young Professionals network grows
There is no age limit, but most attendees at recent networking events have been between 18-30.
The emphasis is on making the nights “as fun as possible”, Glen said, while continuing to be worthwhile for those looking for advice and new connections.
Glen said: “At our launch event we had between 70-100 people turn up, which was really good.
“And since then we have had another couple of meetings, including a quiz night and a social meeting.
“It feels like we are going from strength to strength, we have two more events in the pipeline.
“There’s a CV workshop, which will help people with their resumes and interview skills.
“And I am very excited about the ceilidh planned for Christmas, which we are planning for around 200 people to attend. This is a big focus for us, and we hope to turn it into a big annual event.
“We have members from across the professional workforce, accountants, lawyers, estate agents but we are open to anyone who considers themselves a professional.
“I want to get different faces into the group, we have been speaking with the universities and organisations like Business Gateway involved to get what you might consider ‘non-traditional’ professionals involved.
“We want to separate ourselves from other established networking events. We want the focus not just to be on networking, but also having fun. No-one is forcing people to be here.”
Chartered accountant Sam Walker added: “The network is rapidly expanding and with each event we’re finding out more about what matters to people, their ambitions and how those areas are being met.”
Conversation