By Paula Sales, Economic Development Officer
Over the past few weeks I have been supporting the delivery of the Young Enterprise programme in schools across Christchurch.
Schools in Christchurch have benefitted for a number of years from the programme which aims to help students to develop the knowledge and attitudes they need to succeed when they enter the workplace.
Funded locally by Christchurch Borough Council, this year students in Year 7 at The Grange School, Year 10 at Twynham School and Year 12 from Highcliffe School Sixth Form, all benefitted from the workshops and activities delivered by the Young Enterprise team and a group of business volunteers.
Students were tasked with the challenge of writing CV’s, being interviewed and completing group presentations to enable them to gain the skills to help them be better prepared for the workplace.
For my part, I was involved in sharing interview techniques alongside other business volunteers and was also interviewed by the students. I also helped with the group presentations to show the importance of team working and was very impressed with the confidence shown by all the students when they had to present their business idea to the whole room.
It was great to see the students embracing the opportunity of finding our more about how they could develop the necessary skills to succeed at interviews and in turn, in the workplace and I received some very positive feedback. Some comments are quoted below.
“I learnt how to write under pressure without forgetting detail. I also learnt a lot about writing CV’s.”
“I think that over the last 2 days everyone has learnt how to enter an interview professionally and how to be more confident. For me it has been good fun and interesting experience. I have also learnt how to write a CV and what jobs pay which salary. This is a big set up for real life.”
“The past few days have made me more confident in interviews; understand what I need to say in interviews and what I need to leave out. I now know what I will be faced with in future. I can also now confidently write a CV.”
A highlight of the programme for me was handing out certificates to the students at the end of their programme in recognition of their hardwork. I thoroughly enjoy being a part of the programme and assisting students in finding out about applying for jobs, attending interviews and developing employability skills.
I would encourage other business people interested in volunteering to get in touch with the local Young Enterprise team to find out more about how they could support the programme too.
To find out more about the programme on offer to schools visit the Young Enterprise website: young-enterprise.org.uk