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Careers Day – something that I wish my school provided me when I was working through my A Levels, wondering what I wanted to do with my life. What University should I go to? What career should I choose

It’s hard enough being a teenager at the best of times but even harder when you have to think ahead 5-10 years. With the help of our Morgan McKinley volunteers, we hopefully made those questions a little clearer for these eager students.

For the last 2 years, we have teamed up with Careers Academies who are a national charity that link schools and colleges with employers to help prepare young people for the world of work. They provide students with a structured programme of internships, master classes and workplace visits to give 16-19 year olds the work experience and skills they need to be able to perform more effectively in the wider world.

We hosted 5 students from Petchy Academy in the London office last week for a day of CV master classes and interview workshops. The students were split into two groups. One group completed a CV workshop based around why the documents are so important and what information should be included in them. The second group focused on interview preparation including why it is so important to come prepared and what to expect from the initial meeting. This workshops were followed by mock interviews with our volunteers which, for some, was the first time they had experienced coming face to face with an employer and being ever so slightly interrogated by them!

Nevertheless, the students thoroughly enjoyed their experience of interviewing and learning how to sell themselves on their CV the best way they can. One lucky student even ‘got the job’ at the end of the day winning credibility amongst their peers and a choclatey prize!

The day was a great success and the feedback from the students was really positive. They found the day extremely relevant to where they were in their journeys to choosing a career and they look forward to putting what they have learnt into practice. This is simply the reason why we take part in such days. We wanted to give our employees the chance to give something back to the community by utilising their skills from their own jobs, to help give students some direction for the future. Our aim is to add value to those students lives so that they can make the right choices when it comes to securing that university place or dream job in later life. It is a fantastic feeling knowing you can really make a difference.

The feedback we had from the volunteers was also fantastic:

‘All students were engaged throughout the interview preparation session’

‘They were eager to learn, especially one student who hadn't been to an interview before and wasn't sure of the necessary preparation’

‘The students were a pleasure to teach. They were smart, asked interesting questions and put into practise what they had learnt. They will have a bright future ahead of them’

We would like to thank all volunteers for taking the time to help with the Careers Day and for making it a worthwhile experience.

We look forward to welcoming a further 12 students for a second Careers Day in a few weeks time.