A programme which helps young people prepare for the world of work is coming in to its third year in Moray.
Career Ready is a 2 year long, structured programme whereby a member of the business community mentors a student through the senior phase of secondary school. Moray Chamber’s Chief Executive, Sarah Medcraf, has just come to the end of the programme with Honor Burns, a student from Elgin High School. As part of the mentoring process, the student partakes in a 4 week internship with the company to get real life experience of work, following a successful interview process.
Sarah Medcraf said “I really enjoyed the whole Career Ready process. I learnt a lot about myself and how to work with students and I also learnt different ways of dealing with young people’s strengths and weaknesses.”
“I believe this programme works so well because the employer can be real. It’s a real work placement within a real business, which is achieved by conducting a real interview. I also feel a lot of the strength of this programme comes from the initial detachment. I have no financial or emotional attachment to my student so I can give honest and fair advice on topics such as their pathways when finishing school. I don’t know their parents’ affordability of their child going to university or starting an apprenticeship, so as an employer I am able to give non-bias advice. It helps a young person to have an additional adult that they can turn to who isn’t their parent or teacher. I helped Honor on a number of issues, even if it was just to be a sounding board.”
“We have created a friendship over the last 2 years, one that is built on trust and honesty. I am very proud of the person that Honor is now and I have no doubt that she will continue to chase her dreams and exceed all expectations.”
The meetings that take place between employer and student are approximately every 6 weeks and there is full employer guide book to keep the employer on track. The student also has 6 masterclasses which include topics such as networking and personal development.
Sarah’s student Honor Burns said “I really didn’t know what to expect with this programme as it was new in to Moray and I was one of the first students to go on the journey, however, I cannot recommend it enough. Sarah helped me understand what it was I really wanted to do and with the real life experiences and event planning during my internship, my confidence has improved significantly. I will always recommend this programme to any younger students and I will be keeping in touch with Sarah and the team at Moray Chamber.”
Sarah Medcraf sits on the Local Area Board for Career Ready which aims to encourage more employers to get involved as the programme will not succeed without them. All the secondary schools in Moray are now involved with the programme and Sarah will be mentoring a new student from September.
