Can you interview?

~ Stoke-on-Trent school to hold careers education day ~

Preparing for the future

Birches Head Academy is preparing its students for the working-world by organising a careers education day for Year 9 pupils on February 12, 2015. The high school would like to invite local businesses to get involved by conducting mock interviews on the day.

The careers day will comprise of students applying to mock job advertisements followed by interviews with prospective local businesses.

Interviews will last approximately 10 to 15 minutes per student and participating companies must be willing to donate two hours of their time. In addition, volunteers should be ready to give students useful and constructive feedback.

"We hope our careers education day will engage the students in thinking about their future," comments Josephine Bailey, responsible for 14 - 19 Pathways at Birches Head Academy.

"We currently organise two weeks work experience placements for our Year 10 pupils. We hope that conducting the careers day for Year 9 pupils will act as preparation for this, as well as providing them with an excellent opportunity to learn about the world of work and gain much-needed skills for the job market."

Birches Head Academy has held careers days in the past involving Stoke-on-Trent colleges and work-based training providers, E.Quality Training and PM Training.

"We want to help build communication skills by offering our pupils the chance to take part in something a little bit different," continues Bailey. "Our goal is to be as forward thinking as possible to ensure students gain useful knowledge that will help prepare them for working life."

Any businesses willing to donate a couple of hours of their time to help the local community should contact Josephine Bailey on 01782 233595 or e-mail at jbailey@bircheshead.org.uk.