Employability Extravaganza!

w w w . w e l l i n g t o n c o l l e g e b e l f a s t . o r g

Tu e s d a y 2 7 t h J a n u a r y 2 0 1 5

Today the Year 14 pupils of

Wellington College Belfast

took part in an ‘interview

skills day’ facilitated by

Barbara Hume of BH

communications.

The day began with the pupils

filled with excitement and

enthusiasm to learn and

practice new skills to help

them improve their

employability prospects. The

students were allocated to

tables of random order, in

order to build communication

skills with their fellow pupils.

The first activity of the day

was ‘Dragon’s Den’ themed,

where the pupils had 60

seconds to sell a household

item to their fellow students at

their tables. This built their

confidence and pitching skills.

The next activity was a

discussion on the topic of

“What skills and qualities are

needed to be successful in an

interview?” Throughout this,

the students and Barbara made

a list of the positives and

negatives on how to be a

success in an interview.

Following up was the ‘potato

masher’ activity. Here, the

students had to shout out the

features and benefits of the

masher. This activity taught

the pupils to ‘think on their

feet’ and be able to talk about a

common product in a creative

way.

Next up was our special guest

Stephen Mullan. Stephen is a

Marketing Manager at BT and a

former pupil of Wellington

College Belfast. Stephen explained

his journey on how he landed his

dream job. Starting off at

Wellington, heading to the

University of Ulster for four years,

and spending a year at Lisburn

City Council as his placement. He

then explained after his

graduation, the trouble he

experienced in finding a job and

how he made his CV and himself

stand out from the rival candidates

for the position at BT.

Stephen’s top tip for the pupils

was, “Be prepared, be relevant,

be clear and be accurate.”

Following the presentations by

Barbara and Stephen, and a skills

workshop, the day concluded

with all the pupils individually

attending a mock interview with

an employer, applying the skills

they had learnt from the day.

Jamie Girvin and Mr S. Mullan

Wellington’s Year 14 hard at work

P i c t u r e s F r o m T h e D a y Q u o t e s

Matthew Walker, Andrew McVeigh, Patrick

White, Jack McKibbin, Olivia McCulla

Caoimhe Browne, Jack Devlin, Paul Smyth,

Jamie Girvin and Dawn Cooper

Holly Kelso Joanne Carney and Emma Murdock

“It has been an enlightening

insight into the different aspects of the world of work.” Nathan Wafflart, Head

Boy

“Today has been highly informative

and has helped me a lot in

learning interview

technique.” Olivia McCulla, Head Girl

S k i l l s a n d q u a l i t i e s e m p l o y e r s l o o k f o r i n a c a n d i d a t e : C l e a r a n d c o n c i s e c o m m u n i c a t i o n G o o d a t t i t u d e — r e a d y a n d w i l l i n g t o

w o r k R e l i a b i l i t y S e l f - m o t i v a t e d A b i l i t y t o w o r k a s a t e a m C o n f i d e n c e P r o b l e m s o l v i n g H o w c a n y o u P R O V E t o e m p l o y e r s y o u h a v e t h e s e q u a l i t i e s ?

Careers teachers

Dr I. Drysdale,

Mrs P. Allen and

Mr G. O’Hara

Olivia and

Kyle

welcome

employers

arriving for

the mock

interviews

“Interview skills day has allowed me to consider the skills

and qualities essential to future

interview success” - Hayley McQuillan, Deputy Head Girl

C l o s i n g R e m a r k s

T h a n k s

A s p e c i a l t h a n k s t o a l l t h e e m p l o y e r s w h o c a m e i n t o h e l p w i t h I n t e r v i e w S k i l l s D a y : S t a f f R e s o u r c e s L t d Q u e e n ’ s U n i v e r s i t y B e l f a s t D e p a r t m e n t f o r E m p l o y m e n t a n d L e a r n i n g B o m b a r d i e r H a r p e r A d a m s I r e l a n d R A F C a r e e r s O f f i c e B e l f a s t H e a l t h a n d S o c i a l C a r e T r u s t B e l f a s t C i t y C o u n c i l B r i t i s h Te l e c o m N . I . C i v i l S e r v i c e B e l f a s t M e t r o p o l i t a n C o l l e g e S e c u r e R i n g G l o b a l L t d S u n d a y W o r l d N e w s p a p e r U l s t e r C o m m u n i t y I n v e s t m e n t T r u s t N o r r e f L t d

Barbara Hume and Mr O’Hara

“Interview skills day is vitally important in preparing our Year 14s for life after education.” Mr O’Hara

“Don’t just be yourself—become yourself, dream big dreams and then give your dreams legs.” Barbara Hume