Business student Shaqueen Greaves gaves her presentation to the Career Ready Local Advisory Board.
Business students have told employers of their “amazing experience” on paid internships with some of the biggest financial firms in the City.
Shaqueen Greaves, 20, Vithusan Chandrasegaram and Irina Neamt, both 18, and Aurelia Obuchowska, 17, completed four to six-week placements over the summer at Citibank, AXA Insurance and S&P Global.
The group, who are all studying for a Business Extended Diploma Level 3 this year, gained work experience through the Career Ready programme run with the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL).
The Career Ready programme provides opportunities for work experience at blue chip companies, including mentoring, career advice and employability skills with industry experts.
The students gave short presentations to CONEL’s Career Ready Local Advisory Board, which comprises employers from various businesses, representatives from Career Ready and staff from the College, to share what they gained from the experience.
Clockwise from top left: Business students Aurelia Obuchowska,, Vithusan Chandrasegaram and Leseana Joseph-Kennedy give their presentations.
Aurelia, who undertook an internship in the Graduate Recruitment Team at Citibank, said: “I developed my understanding of recruitment and selection and undertook related tasks, such as carrying out market insights research, creating social media content and helping organise recruitment events.
“While I was there I also managed to connect with around 270 professionals, and hope that all this exposure and networking will lead to a job at Citibank in the future.”
Vithusan, who was on placement at AXA Insurance, said: “I had an amazing experience on the internship. It helped me to gain new skills and gave me more confidence in working in the business world.
“I learnt about risk management and insurance, which fuelled my aspiration to go on to university and become an accountant.”
Two other students, Leseana Joseph-Kennedy and Maria Morar, both 17, undertook unpaid internships through Career Ready with Black Horse, part of Lloyds Bank, in Barnet.
The companies providing the placements provided positive feedback to the students and the College on their presentations and work while on placement.
AXA insurance described Vithusan as a “conscientious, reliable and eager to learn” student who took on tasks with great enthusiasm, while Black Horse praised Leseana for her “intelligent questioning” and said she was a pleasure to work with.
Career Ready is a UK wide charity that links employers with schools and colleges to prepare young people for the world of work.