L6 gain vital careers experience with employers and alumnae

During the Trinity Term the L6 have learnt more about how companies recruit their workforce and had the opportunity to practice a number of recruitment activities.

At the beginning of May members of the Early Careers Talent Team at Thames Water ran a workshop on how to write a CV and Covering Letter. With help and advice from tutors and our Careers Advisor, all the students then drafted their own CV in preparation for an afternoon of recruitment activities on 26 June.

Every student had a one to one interview with a volunteer interviewer, followed by feedback on how they did and further advice on their CV’s.

“I was a little nervous for my interview, but I felt encouraged that this experience wasn’t the ‘real thing’ and was to help develop my interview skills for professional interviews to come. Part of the feedback I received was to expand more on what I was saying, which was very useful for an actual interview, and helped my confidence. My interviewer had various questions about teamwork, and answers that I needed to give examples for, and so now I know more of what to expect from interviews in the future.” – Tia

Students also took part in an assessment centre led by IBM’s Early Professionals Manager Jez Brooks and supported by Queen Anne’s Alumna Lucy. Assessment centres are used by many employers and Jez was able to explain what employers are looking for before the students had an opportunity to take part in a couple of activities.

Phillip Paige, Executive Director at JP Morgan for Early Years Careers, came to talk to a group of students about video interviews. These are increasingly used as a screening tool by employers so it was a good opportunity for our students to experience one.

“My video interview was a really good experience. I had never done one before, and wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was exciting and new, and I think video interviews are becoming the way forward when applying for jobs. Now I feel prepared and know what to expect. It was really exciting that Queen Anne’s offered this to my year group. It was a really valuable experience, especially as I am applying for degree apprenticeships, which are often heavily interview focussed.” – Amy

Dr Michael Englard, Head of Programmes and Outreach at The London Interdisciplinary School, and previously involved in Oxbridge Admissions, came to talk to our Oxbridge candidates. He gave them a full understanding of the purpose of academic interviews as well as strategies for decoding and responding to questions.

We are very grateful to all our Alumnae, Parents and companies who gave up their time to support the afternoon. L6 student Beatrice summed up her experience of the afternoon as follows: “The most important thing that I’ve learnt from this afternoon session is that confidence is really important” whilst Alumna interviewer Naomi, who interviewed students via Zoom from Chicago, was very impressed commenting: “I would hire them both”.