Harrow College students hoping to make their mark in the world of employment have taken part in a competitive audition day run by Raw Talent Academy (RTA), which is the business founded by The Apprentice winner Lee McQueen.
Over 400 students applied to gain a place on its Employability Academy programme. Following a rigid interview and selection process, this was then reduced down to just 30 students, who were invited to the audition day. Tasks to win one of the 20 places available on Raw Talent's Employability Academy took place at the college's new Enterprise Centre at the Harrow on the Hill campus on Monday 19 October.
Raw Talent's Employability Academy aims to give students an insight into business through a hands-on programme, which is extracurricular to the students College studies. Activities on the programme include giving the selected learners the opportunity to visit a large corporation, visit the different areas of a live business environment and receive coaching from business experts & owners who have been managing directors at multi-million pound organisations on specific skills required in employability. Students will also take part in 'Apprentice' style tasks before presenting details of their personal development.
During the day-long audition, students were put into four teams and conquered specific activities which included critiquing anonymous CVs to fill vacancies; trying to sell faulty/damaged products such as a punctured football; pitching a business idea Dragons Den style and finally producing the advertising and branding for a new energy drink.
At the end of the day, the final names were selected, with unsuccessful candidates taking away valuable experience and receiving detailed feedback from RTA on how they can develop and use this knowledge in the future. The successful students, who come from a number of curriculum areas within the college, can now look forward to a programme of activities spread out over the coming months.
This is the fourth year Harrow College has partnered with Raw Talent, with their business offering tens of paid internships to students who have graduated from the programme. Commenting on today's audition process, Lee McQueen said:
"What Raw Talent is aiming to do, is make these students more confident when they face potential employers – we believe too many students are not ready for the reality of work and Harrow College is leading the way to change that. The students that were selected from the audition today, will be part of a course that will enhance valuable employability skills."
Successful student Ajay Modha, 18, said that attending the auditions was a great experience.
"The RTA audition day was a great experience and understanding of new skills required in the business sector. Winning a place on the Employability Academy coaching course will be a great opportunity for me to improve my employability skills."
Lee Janaway, Director of Student Experience at Harrow College added:
"We really value the importance of developing students' skills and knowledge in employability and enterprise as we prepare them for life after college. This is the fourth year we have worked with Lee McQueen and Raw Talent and believe that the process and programme supports students to develop these skills".