Year 12 students attended a career skills workshop on Monday 22nd May. The main hall hosted a ‘speed interviewing’ space where pupils could practise speaking to professionals working in different fields as if they were attending a job interview. Pupils also took part in interactive sessions on CV writing and networking.

Aiming to prepare pupils for interviews, university and research projects or summer jobs, the event was facilitated by Miss Parr Head of Careers, Dr Pearce Head of Sixth Form, and Mrs Palmer and Mr King-Cline Co-chairs of the Parents’ Guild Careers Committee.

“This careers skills workshop is designed to help our pupils grow in confidence by taking them out of their comfort zone,” says Co-chair Mrs Palmer. “They can practise speaking to professionals they don’t know to improve their networking and interview skills.”

“By the end of Year 12, it’s important for pupils to master these transferable life skills to compliment their academic success and be able to present themselves in the best way possible for university and beyond,” says Dr Pearce.

The workshop is one of a series of career events across the school. The bi-annual careers fair for Years 9 to 13 was held in February earlier this year and, after half term, Year 10 will experience Enterprise Day where they will learn business and leadership skills. There will also be an assembly for Year 10 on career profiling, followed by psychometric testing with the Morrisby career-matching tool to determine pupil’s aptitudes, aspirations and interests. They will then have a one-to-one interview with an impartial careers advisor.

Mrs Palmer’s top 5 tips to nail a great interview:

Prepare by doing research on your interviewer and company.
Dress smartly.
Make eye contact with your interviewer.
Remember it’s ok to pause before you answer or ask them to repeat a question.
Ask questions about the company and role.

A big thank you to the Parents’ Guild for sharing such valuable advice with our Year 12s.