Mr Phillips, left, Stuart Turner, and Julie Shaw of Hamworthy Heating, centre, Maggie Ayre, right, with Young Enterprise students at Carter Community School, Hamworthy
Commercial boiler manufacturer Hamworthy Heating has provided mock job interviews for pupils at Carter Community School in Hamworthy as part of a ‘Young Enterprise’ scheme to help young people develop the key skills needed to move into work, further education or training.
Eighteen pupils aged between 13 and 14, were asked to ‘apply’ from a wide range of jobs from ‘Hotel Receptionist’ to a ‘Police Officer in the Royal Navy’ and ‘booked’ their interview over the telephone.
Pupils were then interviewed in person by managers at Hamworthy Heating with questions typical of a ‘real’ interview job-seekers would encounter in today’s competitive market place, including; “do you prefer working on your own or as part of a team?” and “please give me an example of where you have had to work with conflicting deadlines.”
Feedback was then provided on the relevance of their answers, body language and general interview etiquette such as hand-shaking, eye contact and appropriate clothing.
Maggie Ayre, Young Enterprise Manager, explained: “The pupils are taking part in the prestigious Employability, Empowerment and Enterprise programme which is run in 18 schools across Dorset. The strength of the programme lies in using volunteers from local business to mentor the pupils and culminates in every participant doing a mock interview which we make as realistic as possible.”
Stuart Turner, southern regional sales manager at Hamworthy Heating, commented: “Job interviews are daunting at the best of times but it’s especially nerve-wracking for young people leaving education for the first time, particularly as they will be entering an extremely competitive jobs market where making a good first impression is critical.
He added “Hopefully today’s mock interviews have gone some way in helping these bright young people make the best of all they can offer.”
The Prince’s Trust reports around one in five young people in the UK are not in work, education or training and with youth unemployment costing the UK economy £10 million a day in lost productivity, while youth crime costs £1 billion every year.
For more information about Hamworthy Heating’s community projects or to invite Hamworthy Heating to get involved in your own project, please email ellie@lizleanpr.co.uk or visit www.hamworthy-heating.com/csr.