Your first-ever interview can be a nerve-wracking experience. To help support students in this, we held practice interviews for the Year 9 students - guiding them in talking to someone they have never met, building their confidence and helping increase their chances of success in a real-life interview. The students have made their first decisions as young adults this year, when selecting their subjects for GCSE and during their Careers lessons, have been learning about the importance of essential communication skills.
We invited a mix of local business leaders, parents, examiners and employers to hold practice interviews for our students. Our volunteers asked questions and did a ‘getting to know you’ exercise with the purpose of providing a learning experience for students.
The Year 9 practice interviews were a fantastic chance for students to experience real interview questions and provided them with an opportunity to practice their answers. Students were prepared for this experience and were allowed the opportunity to promote their skills and speak confidently on their range of experiences to date.
Careers Leader, Sakina Khan added: “Whilst our students were naturally quite nervous ahead of the experience, they walked out of the room smiling, with a sense of pride, energetically talking about their futures. It’s been a valuable insight into the world of work; applying this practice when it comes to successfully making Post-16 options. An overwhelmingly positive experience for all; over 85% of students spoke confidently about their careers or sectors of interest for their future. From our students and Guiseley School, we send a massive thanks to all the external volunteers who gave their time to support us with conducting the practice interviews.”
