Perfecting CVs and interview techniques through Hackney East

Last month 13 beneficiaries, local residents from the Hackney East project, and six volunteers from Linklaters, Societe Generale and UBS took part in the first Hackney East workshop of 2019.  Now in its second year, Hackney East is an employability focused project designed to support local residents in east Hackney to develop their skills and readiness for work. Employment workshops are a key element of helping people improve their chances of finding work. In this workshop, the focus was tackling the dual challenges of writing a winning CV and perfecting vital interview techniques.

The first of six workshops scheduled to take place over the course of the year, February’s event was hosted by Societe Generale and involved half a day of collaborative activities. Volunteers supported people looking to improve their career prospects by providing feedback on their CVs and carrying out mock interviews. With a lawyer, IT specialist, event planner and other skilled professionals volunteering their time, participants benefitted from working with people with a range of valuable experience to share. The workshop was full of lively discussion, useful feedback and lots of attempts to give the perfect interview answer!

Both participants and volunteers expressed their enthusiasm and enjoyment for the morning’s activities, which was reflected in their post-workshop feedback. 100% of participants reported that they felt more capable and motivated, and all volunteers felt they improved their active listening and communication skills. We look forward to the rest of this year’s workshops!