Hundreds of students from across the north east of England got to hone their job interview skills at a careers event supported by 25 regional businesses, including believe housing.
A mock interview day held at Newcastle Eagles’ Vertu Motors Arena earlier this month was the culmination of the multi award-winning employability programme, Building My Skills.
Coordinated by Esh Group, the programme aims to raise students’ career aspirations and give them an insight into sectors and jobs they may not have been aware of otherwise.
More than 30 businesses from sectors such as legal, housing and banking took part in 2024’s Building My Skills, between them delivering 94 workshops and talks in secondary schools and sixth form colleges across the North East and Tees Valley.
More than 300 of the students then attended the mock interview day where 25 of the employers hosted a panel of interviews for 13 and 18-year-olds.
The event gave students first-hand experience of what an interview is like in a professional environment, as well as an opportunity to explore their aspirational career further through one-to-one discussions with business role models.
Colleagues from believe housing, which provides and maintains more than 18,000 homes in County Durham and beyond, who took part were Repairs Team Lead Bethany Stephens, Major Repairs Team Leader Gemma Hodgson, Strategic Asset Manager Stacey Nichol and Building Surveyor Adam Pollard.
Bethany said: “It was great to be able to support the mock interviews, helping young people get used to what they could be asked in any future interviews and hearing what they want to do in the future.
“Hopefully we’ve made the job interview process less daunting, so they have more confidence when applying for roles, and it would be great if some of them think about joining our sector.”
Rachel Cox, Director of Property Repairs at believe housing, said: “Social housing is an incredible sector to work in, offering a variety of rewarding roles.
“At believe housing, our 640 employees all work to improve customers’ lives by providing healthy affordable homes and enhancing communities.
“With a £74 million turnover we are a significant player in the region’s economy and our colleagues rate us as a world class workplace.
“Building My Skills has been an opportunity to highlight why we are so passionate about the sector and our business and hopefully we’ve inspired the next generation to consider careers in construction and social housing.
“With new career opportunities emerging, especially jobs with data and green skills, we look forward to continuing our partnership to inspire and support more young people in the future.”
Corporate Affairs Director at Esh Group, Darush Dodds, said: “The mock interview day is always a worthwhile event. It provides valuable interview experiences but can open the door to second interviews for businesses who have opportunities – apprenticeships, traineeships or paid placements – available.
“Building My Skills is the personification of business-education collaboration. Throughout the year, connections between schools and businesses have been formed that may never have existed before this programme took place. More importantly, we have given over 4,500 students the platform to become employable once they leave school.”
For details or to get involved with the 2025 programme, which launches later this year, contact Esh Group by visiting www.eshgroup.co.uk
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