Year 11 employability day
Year 11 employability day
On the first day of term our Careers and Work Experience team hosted a fantastic ‘employability day’ for our new Year 11 students, at which employers from the local area offered advice and practice to the girls. Four different sessions were offered, each of which the girls were able to attend on rotation: CV drafting; interview skills; financial awareness; and an introduction to Unifrog.
A representative from EJW Solutions provided the group with CV training, sharing examples of different CVs with the girls and encouraging them to discuss which aspects of each they thought were most attractive, and also to consider the different styles of CV and information to include in different countries. The girls thought about how important it is to tailor a CV for the job in question – for instance, for a Saturday job, it is important that applicants make clear they are free to work on Saturdays!
3aaa kindly allowed their employee to spend the day prepping our girls on interview techniques – which primarily focused on encouraging the girls to think about themselves as unique individuals, with different skills, experiences, passions and interests to offer, and how it’s good practice to combine each of these when presenting yourself at interview and explaining why you are suited for the role. The girls also considered body language, common interview questions and tasks, and how to show confidence. The girls also had realistic interviews with local employers, giving them an opportunity to try out some of the skills they had been practising.
In the financial matters workshop the girls heard that the average living cost for students is in fact higher than the average income of students. The team from Barclays discussed the importance of working out a budget and sticking to it, as well as sharing with the girls information about maintenance and tuition loans – and whether they are a good or bad type of debt.
The final session was an introduction to Unifrog – a platform that enables students to cross-reference different Higher Education destinations and courses, to better inform them about their options as they progress from Year 11 to 16+ education.
The girls were appreciative of the sessions:
“It prepared me for my future”
“The day gave me an insight in to what my future life may be like”
“It inspired me to work hard!”
“The sessions helped to prepare me for the working world”
We are extremely grateful to Form the Future CIC, a Cambridge based social enterprise that connects schools with businesses which organised the volunteers for the day - and to the volunteers themselves for providing our students with such a great day of insightful events.
