Pictured: Chris Bishop, one of the Loughborough employees who features on 3M Careerwise, went along to De Lisle College to show the website to the students

Employees at 3M's Loughborough site are sharing their career experiences online to give school students a personal insight into the world of work.

The diversified technology company has devised a free online resource for secondary schools.

3M Careerwise (www.3Mcareerwise.co.uk) is aimed primarily at students aged 11-14 - particularly those who are considering their choice of GCSE subjects.

The website uses a questionnaire to help the students focus on what interests and motivates them and then matches their results with short video interviews of the 3M employees who share similar characteristics.

The employees reveal such insights as what they were like at school, the jobs they've done since then, what they do now and what advice they would give their teenage selves.

Among them is Chris Bishop, senior project engineer at 3M in Loughborough, the company's UK centre for health care products.

Chris explained: "When I was at school I found it hard to know exactly what careers were like and which might suit me. I certainly wouldn't have expected to end up with the career I have as I wasn't really aware that such a job even existed.

"I hope 3M Careerwise will be a real help for students in getting a better understanding of the wide range of careers available in industry today."

The launch of the new resource has been welcomed by Julie Hitch, the Careers Facilitator at De Lisle Catholic Science College in Loughborough.

"Some careers websites can be rather dry and factual, but this one is very different. By having videos of 3M employees talking about what they were like at school - and what they do now - it really brings the advice they're giving to life.

"Students are not always aware of how many diverse job roles are available within a company such as 3M and this resource may encourage them to broaden their horizons."

Also providing her support is broadcaster Maggie Philbin, who has long championed the importance of students choosing science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects as a path to future careers.

Maggie commented: "3M Careerwise is a great idea to get the students thinking about the types of careers there are out there and the qualifications they'll need to pursue them.

"There's still a wide misconception that doing science subjects at school tends to only lead to careers involving working in a laboratory. The experiences that the 3M employees share in the videos show that's very far from the truth."

3M Careerwise has been designed to inspire students who use the resource on their own or during group class discussions led by school career advisers.