College News

QE Students Get Career Ready

The Career Ready programme at QE has continued to go from strength to strength with the students participating in a speed networking session. Career Ready is a scheme which provides young people with experience of the world of work throughout the United Kingdom. During the event, each student met volunteers from local businesses with the aim of being matched up as mentor and mentee. The students had three minutes to become acquainted with each volunteer before the pairs were created and the 18-month mentoring partnerships formed. The mentors came from a range of businesses including Balfour Beatty, Barclays, Virgin Money and the Army. In addition to this session, the students, in their first year at QE, have been attending interactive masterclasses in employability skills and have visited the Channel 4 headquarters in London.

Caitlin Dewar, who studies Applied Science, Health and Social Care and Psychology at QE, comments: ‘It was great to meet lots of new people and find out about their professions; it really helped to build my confidence’. Alice Atkinson, the College’s Higher Education and Careers Adviser, adds: ‘It was wonderful to see these young professionals networking so successfully with our business volunteers. The feedback on their performance was excellent and I am excited to see how much they grow as a person through the mentorships’.