This piece was written for Croydon Education Business Partnership and published in South London Business magazine.
JOB hunting is a skill that needs practice.
And mock interviews are a most effective way to provide it.
Which is why Croydon Education Business Partnership, the south London borough’s main link between students and employers, is so keen to organise them.
Recently, it arranged for an entire year group from Edenham High School in the Shirley area to descend on Mott MacDonald, a Croydon engineering consultancy.
Before the interviews, students were given a series of job specifications from which to choose - each was asked to write a letter of application, a CV and a personal statement.
The interviews were conducted face-to-face in small conference rooms away from the bustle of the company’s open-plan offices.
Each took about 20 minutes, during which students were questioned about the details of their applications, much as they might be in a real interview - they were asked things such as: ’how would your best friend describe you?’.
The interviews involved 17 staff from Mott MacDonald, who talked to 240 students over a two-day period, with all the students being invited back later to discuss their respective strengths and weaknesses.
Dee Hyatt, the firm’s facilities manager, led the interviewing team and was impressed by the students’ performance.
She said: “They all arrived on time and appropriately dressed for working in an office. Generally, they interviewed well - some needed advice about their presentation, but others were outstanding.”
Asked what she achieved from the interviews, Ms Hyatt said: “I’ve worked in human resources for 20 years, and conducted lots of interviews, including with people applying for jobs.
“I like to think I can help these students to improve their interviewing technique and so strengthen their chances of getting the job they want.
“And in some cases I hope they will consider us as a possible employer.”
Lorraine Sleeth, the work-based learning co-ordinator at Edenham, is delighted with the opportunity offered by Mott MacDonald.
She said: “We see these interviews as a very important part of our work experience programme. “The students take them seriously and so do we. There is no substitute for a real interview conducted by a real employer in a real workplace.”
Mott MacDonald is one of Croydon’s best-kept commercial secrets - the company is an engineering and management consultancy with projects in more than 140 countries.
It employs some 12,000 staff - 1,200 of them at its global headquarters in central Croydon - and it is on target to make £1 billion in revenue in 2010.
In the United Kingdom, the firm has a distinguished record for its contribution to such flagship projects as the Channel Tunnel and Wembley Stadium.
It is currently working on Terminal Five at Heathrow Airport; a huge upgrade of Victoria Underground station; and the new East London Railway that will terminate at West Croydon.
Elsewhere in Europe it is building bridges in the Czech Republic, a metro railway line in Hungary and motorways in Poland.
And in the rest of the world it has substantial operations in Africa, Australasia, the Far and Middle East and the United States. Our picture shows Dee Hyatt, facilities manager at Mott MacDonald, with one of her interviewees, 14-year-old Deedak Goran from Edenham High School in Shirley.
JOB hunting is a skill that needs practice.