Pictured: Yorkshire Bank's Kate Wood (left) with Cardinal
Wiseman Catholic School and Language College 15-year-old students
Britt Doran, Leah D'Arcy and head teacher Helen Knight
More than 200 students in Coventry have gained vital interview
advice from a panel of business experts led by Yorkshire
Bank.
The year 11 students at Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School and
Language College in Potters Green Road, Coventry, were asked to
prepare a 15-minute presentation highlighting their employability
skills.
The group was then invited to the Ricoh Arena in the city to
give their presentations to Stephen Cronin and Kate Wood,
representatives from Yorkshire Bank's Coventry Financial Solutions
Centre (FSC), Wates, Whitefriars Housing Group, Button Legal,
Electrical Engineering Solutions Limited and the school's
governors.
Stephen Cronin, managing partner at Yorkshire Bank's FSC at the
Ricoh Arena, said he had been impressed by the standard of their
interview skills.
"It can be a nerve-wracking experience going for your first
interview whether you're looking for a part-time job while at
university or a permanent position after leaving school," he
said.
"This was designed to give the year group the opportunity to
experience an interview and give a presentation for real in front
of members of the local business community.
"It also gave us the chance to offer feedback on the importance
of their appearance, punctuality and the content of their
talks."
Helen Knight, head teacher of Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School
and Language College, said it was vital students had experience of
interviews before they entered a competitive jobs market.
"We set them a challenge to promote their employability skills
and the feedback from the business panel was very, very positive
and from the students themselves because you could see some of them
grow in confidence," she said.
"Whether students intend to stay on at 16 or leave school, they
need to be able to give a good account of themselves in interviews
and the best way is to practice and learn from the experience.
"I think they ought to be able to present themselves in such a
way which shows their communication skills and that they are
reliable, trustworthy and willing to learn so that they can go on
and develop in the workplace as well as having qualifications.
"It is the first time we have done this and we have been really
pleased with the response from the pupils and we would like to
thank the businessmen and women for giving up their time and for
their valuable input."
Fifteen-year-old student Annie Hunt said she had felt nervous
but she had found it really useful.
She said: "It was a good idea and it was great to get the
feedback because I found out how I can improve for future when I go
to an interview for real.
"I know I need to expand more on my out-of-school activities
because employers are interested in this kind of detail since it
highlights the kind of person you are as well as looking at your
exam results."