ShareWe’ve had opportunities to support various educational organisations over the years. Ranging from lecturing at Essex University and local colleges, to hosting nationwide events in secondary schools. This month, Jamil (our Head of Design) and I have been working with St Benedict’s Catholic College and other local businesses to host a session covering CV and interview skills.
A total of 148 students from the school took part in mock interviews over the course of three days. Students received valuable feedback from the interviewers, such as identifying areas of improvement on their CVs and with their interview performance.
“It was a great success and we managed to interview 148 students.” – Tricia Axtell, Careers Co-ordinator
Initially, some of the students were nervous, however they all engaged positively with the scenario and found it to be valuable.
It was interesting to see how ambitions have changed from when I was in the same position. More than half of the students I had the opportunity to interview were keen to become developers of some variety. Several had already coded their own website, with one already having built his own piece of software!
One Student said:
“Thanks for giving me the opportunity to work on my interview skills, I learnt a great deal and feel much more confident”
Alongside the immediate feedback provided to the students face-to-face, evaluation sheets were also completed by the interviewers. The intention being that students are able use the critique – particularly of their Curriculum Vitae – to make any necessary improvements in advance of applying for further education roles in September.
It was a great day and we’re looking forward to the next occurrence of this annual event. If the students of St Benedict’s are anything to go by, then it’s safe to say the next generation are going to be a talented workforce!