With youth unemployment high on the political agenda, there has never been a greater time for Guardian staff to support local students transition into paid employment. Preparing students to graduate from school with a professional CV, the correct mindset for the working world and the ability to sell themselves in an interview setting, is paramount.
On Friday 8th January, Guardian staff volunteered at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School’s ‘Present Yourself Day’; a day to mentor the next generation of working professionals.
What happened?
The day was designed to give 140 Year 11 students feedback, insight and support towards their CV’s, from working professionals.
The morning was spent reviewing students CV’s and personal statements to advise on presentation, layout and content. The session concluded with discussing different types of interviews and conducting mock interviews.
The day was a useful opportunity to hear from professionals that work experience demonstrates students are able to adapt to environments outside of their school ‘comfort zone’ and that valuable lessons can be learnt, even if they do not choose that career path.
The day was run in partnership with Islington Youth Employment Team. With thirty nine volunteers from the Guardian, Accenture, Crossrail, Haslemere Construction, Hogan Lovells, Lloyds, Mears Group and the Metropolitan Police, to name just a few.
How did we help the students?
For many of the girls, they had achieved great accolades, such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award, yet did not feel it was worthy of their CV. With encouragement and further investigation, the girls began to realise that they had evidence of many skills which employers would find valuable to learn, when interviewing for a job.
The session helped change the way students thought about and prepared for their future careers. A number of girls understood that further work was required on their CV, some needed to gain work experience but for some girls it was just the boost needed to hear that they were on the right track.
This workshop really helped me be more aware of how to broadcast my skills and also to be more confident
There were also many positive words for the volunteers:
they made me feel very prepared for interviews and showed the reality and helped me a lot
For further careers advice, go to Guardian Jobs
