There is hope for the future! That's the optimistic outlook from Dan Mounsey, our Marketing and Business Development Director, after he spent a day at his old school conducting mock interviews with Year 10 students.
This is the fourth year Dan has helped teenagers at Saddleworth School to gain valuable interview skills and experience, as part of their longer-term guidance to make post-16 career and education choices next year.
And such was the positivity of the day Dan took to social media to voice empathy for the younger generation.
Writing on LinkedIn, he says: "The youth of today can get some bad press but it's easy to forget how much of a challenging world they are growing up in.
"There's pressure from all angles that our increasingly interconnected world makes it difficult to escape from, all of this not helped for this cohort by also living through a pandemic before they were teenagers!"
Among Dan's interviewees was the captain of the school's national championship winning netball team, a self-taught musician aiming to be the next BB King and a film enthusiast with a broad ranging taste that includes modern movies through to Audrey Hepburn classics.
He adds: "It's always an enjoyable experience and this year was no exception. Year 10 students are starting to think about their futures after taking their GCSE exams.
"Whatever options they choose - if it's sixth form, college, employment or apprenticeships - they are likely to be invited for an interview, so this helps them prepare for the real-life situation."
Almost 270 pupils took part in the mock interviews a week ahead of the school's annual college taster day, to give them an insight into what further education is going to be like.
Christine Dempster, the school's Business and Careers Lead, says "Mock interviews are a fantastic opportunity for our students to build on their communication skills and confidence, whilst allowing them to develop their experience of an interview.
"I can't thank our volunteers enough for their time and support. Many of them are parents/carers of students in the school, both past and present, or work locally within our community.
"The feedback has been excellent, and I'm incredibly proud of the way the students conducted themselves before and during the interviews. There were lots of smiling faces afterwards, so I know many of them enjoyed the process too."