The latest Pocklington School Foundation (PSF) Careers & Business Network event was held virtually via MS Teams on Thursday 29 September 2022. The focus for the event was ‘living and working overseas – international perspectives and cross-cultural communications’ and we were delighted to have current parent Emma Cazzalini, Head of Capability and People, Information and Digital Directorate with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to discuss her experiences of working across Europe. 

Emma studied French with German at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1996, she joined the then Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a member of HM Diplomatic Service. During her career, Emma has served in the UK and overseas in a range of roles and through organisational and cultural change.  She has a particular interest in organisational development. Emma has been posted to Rome, Paris, Brussels, and Warsaw and now works at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in a UK-based headquarters role. 

Toby Seth, Headmaster of Pocklington School, hosted a Q&A session with Emma to discover what led her into her chosen career, the opportunities and challenges she had, and an insight into the cultural differences of working in the UK and abroad.  

Toby commented: “It was a pleasure to host Emma at our latest online event.  As a linguist, I was particularly interested to hear Emma’s experience of working overseas, in countries where she spoke the language and how this differed from her experience where she was not a fluent speaker.  It was also wonderful to welcome members of our school community working and living from as far afield as Canada, North America and the Far East, and I’d like to thank them for sharing their experiences of living and working overseas.” 

Emma said “I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, sharing stories of my career to date at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and of the pros and cons of family life abroad.  I was pleased to answer questions from the other members of the Network – particularly the challenging ones from one recent former pupil!  I am delighted to be able to give back to the Network, and to support the Pocklington School community.” 

A mix of current and former parents, Old Pocklingtonians and students attended the event, which is one of three organised by the Network every year. Launched in 2017, the PSF Careers and Business Network is open to everyone in the wider Pocklington School community, and it aims to help Pocklington School students, and each other, thrive in a highly competitive world. The Network has its own LinkedIn group, which has over 530 members across the world and is a valuable career networking pool for members to draw on.   

For more information, and to join the Careers & Business Network, contact Jenny Preston, Development Officer, development@pocklingtonschool.com . 

Our next Career & Business Network meeting will be media related and will be held at Pocklington School on Thursday 2nd February at 5pm.  

Photo credit: Emma Cazzalini