With over ten years’ experience in operations management and human resources and a background in psychology, Livewire HR director Rebecca Jenkins will share information at a free community talk next week to help young people prepare to get a job.
Local teens, and parents too, will get an insight into how young people can put their best foot forward into the workplace at a free community event being held at Cambridge High next week.
Human-resources extraordinaire Rebecca Jenkins will share a wealth of knowledge in her talk, “How to land your first job”, being held at 7pm on Wednesday, October 17 in the school hall.
Rebecca also visited the school with a similar presentation last year, but is back this month with an updated talk on how young people can better present their CVs and themselves, as well as what to expect in a proper working environment, including employment rights and responsibilities for both themselves and their employer.
“I’m really passionate about giving students an understanding of what it takes to be successful in the workplace… Getting it right, right from the start is really important,” Rebecca said.
With over ten years’ experience in operations management and human resources, Rebecca became interested in helping young people in recent years after becoming a step mum to two teenagers. “I saw that they struggled a bit with getting a job, and that started me reading up about it more on the teenage level,” she said, soon developing a plan for teenagers to prepare themselves for the workforce.
When she spoke at Cambridge High School last year, about 60 people turned out to the talk. “I give experiences about me as a teenager, about some of the bad experiences I had trying to get a job, and give them examples about what I’ve seen as a recruiter as well,” she explained. “I talk through the whole process, from your CV – making sure it’s clear and concise – right through to, how you manage your social media, … how quickly it takes to make that first impression … and about employment rights and responsibilities, what they should expect from an employer, what to do if something goes wrong.”
“As it’s the end of the school year – well, almost – there will be a lot of kids heading away to university who may need to get themselves employment while at uni, who often haven’t had any experience with getting a job before. So it’s a super exciting and stressful time. I want them to head away with some tools to do it well.”
The 60 minute talk will include a Q&A at the end, and Rebecca reassured those attending, “I don’t leave until all the questions have been answered.”
Some of Rebecca’s top tips:
· Have a really clear and easy understandable CV, so that it’s easily read
· Present yourself in a manner that you would expect to go to your grandma’s funeral
· Doing the job right, follow instructions, if you don’t know, ask
· If you are going to go for a job, lock down your Facebook or your Instagram or Snapchat, because employers will look at your social media to see what sort of person you are behind the scenes
