ELBA’s Schools & Colleges Programme works to connect local students to volunteers from across the City and Canary Wharf to develop their business awareness and raise their aspirations.
he Schools & Colleges Programme builds connections between students and business volunteers. These connections develop students’ business awareness and aspirations, as well as the essential skills required by employers. We have a reputation for delivery of meaningful, high quality employer encounters for students, which are in line with the Gatsby Benchmark 5 and Gatsby Benchmark 6.
The interventions include workshops at companies:
- Career Insight Visits
- Mock Interview Workshops
- Employability Skills Workshops
And bringing volunteers from the world of work into schools:
- Career Talks
- Extended Learning Days
- Financial Literacy Workshops
If your school or company is interested in our schools & colleges programme, please email [email protected].
A Career Insight Visit gives students an insight into the corporate world. Students are given the opportunity to visit a company in London and learn more about the different career roles in a corporate environment. Each year, around 90% of students agree that the Career Insight Visit improves their business awareness, and over 80% agree that the session better equipped them to work in different ways, be flexible, and find creative solutions to problems.
Mock interviews allow students to apply their spoken communication skills in order to practice answering interview questions with volunteers. Students will also take part in a mock assessment centre activity that simulates the usual recruitment process of many companies. Each year, around 100% of students agree that they feel better equipped to prepare for interviews whilst also feeling more aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
This newly revamped workshop provides students with an overview of financial literacy and equips students with the skills needed to be successful in their future careers. Students will learn about how to create their own budget, reflect on their own perceptions of money and how to save money. They will also learn about financial products and terms through this interactive workshop, supported by volunteers.
These skill-based workshops are designed to develop the employability competencies of the students, seeking to raise their awareness of employability competencies, and how to showcase them to employers. Each year, around 92% of students agree the session improves their understanding of how business works and 89% agree they feel more confident contributing ideas and opinions in group discussions.
The Young Influencers Programme is Societe Generale’s employability programme, designed to increase employment opportunities for under-represented groups in the Financial Services sector. The Young Influencers Programme is aimed at 16 – 17-year olds in schools and colleges in east London who have the ability and potential to pursue Higher Education, but perhaps lack the confidence, opportunity or aspiration to get there.
This workshop takes place at the school with volunteers working with a year group of students, supporting them to work through a series of fun and fast-paced challenges. Each year, around 100% of the volunteers state that they enjoy taking part and 95% feel that the session has helped them develop additional skills or expertise.
Career talks are presentations delivered by volunteers from our corporate partners to students in a school, college or university in east London. They will typically spend 30-60 minutes sharing insights into their career journeys, current role and industry. These workshops also provide students with the opportunity to ask more personal questions which they normally would not get the chance to.
This workshop is a half-day event hosted at the school. Volunteers from a range of industries are placed in a classroom each and share their career story with the students, as well as delivering a short industry-themed activity. Students are taken on a carousel around the classrooms so they visit each volunteer. Each year, around 97% of students agree that the Career Carousel improves their business awareness, and 96% feel better informed of the career pathways open to them.
