Corporate Volunteering at Per Scholas

Last week was a huge week for corporate volunteering.

Per Scholas held THREE separate volunteering events at our main site in the Bronx and also in Manhattan. Tuesday June 18th, Barclays hosted an event at their site in mid-town Manhattan, Wednesday June, 19th Moody’s came by our office to help with mock interviews, and Thursday June 20th Interbrand also came by to assist our students with their online presence.

Read more about the Barclays visit below:

Tuesday, June 18th marked the launch of the brand new series of bi-weekly mock interview sessions hosted by our corporate partner, Barclays, during which Per Scholas students are provided with vital interviewing, self-marketing and networking experience. This week, eight students were invited to Barclays’ mid-town location where they were able to experience exactly what a corporate job interview would be like: arriving at an unfamiliar office location, signing into the office building with security and interviewing with multiple individuals for actual IT jobs in the field, such as Desktop Support and Help Desk Support positions. Students were given actual job specifics ahead of time to prepare themselves and were expected to do their research, just as any good interviewee would. Contrary to a traditional job interview, however, Per Scholas students get the added benefit of immediate feedback by the professional mentors volunteering their time to help. Interviewers filled out evaluation forms providing helpful tips for improving the students’ skills in the future — which will aide them in landing the job when the real world opportunity roles around.

Student Laura Harris said of the afternoon: “It was a great experience and I picked up some great tips in terms of how to handle myself during an interview.”

Frank Montes added, “I was a little nervous, similar to what happens in real interviews, and I know I made several mistakes. However, this experience will help me to be better prepared for the future interviews I have to come.”

Fatou Diop also felt similar: “I am very thankful for the experience at Barclays… I learned a lot from it.”

And it’s true. On average, it takes a Per Scholas student three interviews before they land a job (80% of all graduates become employed post training). The more practice our corporate volunteers can offer our students, the greater the chances our students can move that number from a 3 average — to one.

Overall, our first mock interview session was a great first time success! We would like to thank the interviewers, Wayne, Nick, Doug and Golam for taking time out of their work day to assist our students and for their continued support to Per Scholas and its’ mission. With their help, these students were able to sharpen their interviewing skills and left feeling more confident in themselves and their abilities.

If you or your company is interested in volunteering with Per Scholas, please contact Sarah Conte, Corporate Relations & Volunteer Manager, at [email protected].