KPMG volunteers give Newham students a taste of careers and how to succeed
KPMG volunteers give Newham students a taste of careers and how to succeed
Written by Robin Hawthorn, Senior Project Manager – Education Works
KPMG has been working very closely with ELBA’s Education team to support young people in Further Education. 24 volunteers helped facilitate opportunities for 143 beneficiaries from Newham College of Further Education and Newham Collegiate Sixth Form (NCS).
On the 1st February, the volunteers came down to NCS to spend the morning interviewing the sixth formers and providing them with top tips on how to write the perfect CV and how to interview well. Many of the students started off nervous but left sharing how comfortable the volunteers made them feel and how much more confident they felt in nailing a real-life interview.
The very next day, ELBA organised for a cohort of students from Newham College to spend the day at the KPMG office on a Career Insight Visit. The learners enjoyed discovering the history behind the company and in particular learning about their ESG (environmental, social and governance) strategies. Using this information, they were then tasked with developing a business plan on how to get more consumers to recycle their used plastic bottles. The students then presented these ideas to the volunteers who provided feedback and chose a winning team. To end the session, Demi McIntyre-Yates, CSR Assistant Manager, spent time informing the students about the various entry routes into KPMG and what skills/experience they are looking for. They were inundated with fantastic questions from students, many of whom expressed that they see themselves pursuing a career at KPMG in the future!
On February 9, students from NCS took part in an Assessment Centre session, where the students worked on similar tasks to what they would expect in a real assessment centre at KPMG, as part of the graduate application process. Volunteers were overseeing the students during these tasks and provided excellent group and individual feedback. They were lucky enough to be working with a former NCS student who joined the graduate programme one year ago and worked with another volunteer who helps with interviews for the actual assessment centre.
A massive thank you to KPMG for taking out the time to volunteer at these sessions. It has made a very positive impact on the students and has brought them one step closer to a successful future.
If you are a company and would like to support young people in Education, here are some opportunities we have coming up that you can get involved in:
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