MOCK INTERVIEW DAY FOR OUR YEAR 10 STUDENTS

By Mrs Dale

Once Year 10 had sat their GCSE Citizenship exams, they used their remaining Citizenship lessons to start preparing their CVs and personal statements. They were coached by their Citizenship teachers in interview techniques, including looking smart, shaking hands, maintaining eye contact etc.

26 local employers were invited into school and, where possible, they were matched up to students according to their career area.

On the day, Year 10 arrived looking extremely smart and confident. Although the majority of the students admitted they were nervous, all of them came out of their interviews with big smiles on their faces!

The employers were incredibly impressed by the confidence and maturity of our students. Students were given immediate verbal feedback, including advice on what they could improve on their CVs and how they came across in their interviews. Written feedback was given to the students the following week.

We are very proud of our Year 10 students and feel this experience will stand them in good stead for subsequent interviews and give them confidence when they do their work experience in October.

Quotes from employers:

• Absolute pleasure interviewing these youngsters

• I was very impressed with their professionalism, humour and candidness

• Many of them overcame obvious nervousness and did a really great job

• There were some brilliant CVs and others were able to add to theirs after the discussion

• They were extremely professional and a joy to interview

• The parents and teachers should be very proud of these children

Grateful thanks to our employers: Gemma Parry, Jack Ponting, Saranga Ranasinghe, Doug Hart, Simon Fulfit, Jinguan Li, Declan Campbell. Karl McConville, Dr Alessia Garguilio, Rob Whitty, Marieta Bakova, Sally Max, Sam Ridgway, Nick Richmond, Jack Higgins, Sgt Atama Cavubati, LCpl Kyle Edward, Katie Lowe, Sarah Flynn, Janice Masel-Chan, Emma Gravell, Jack Tutton, Ben Wallington, Shontelle Magenty, Tom Hilton and James Thomas.