Rugby IT company partners with The Prince's Trust Team programme
A leading IT company has partnered with The Prince’s Trust Team programme in Warwickshire to provide careers advice, CV reviews and mock interviews to participants.
CDW, a configuration and IT solutions company, which has an office in Rugby, has been supporting young people engaged in the Team programme in the town.
The Prince’s Trust Team programme is operated by WCG (Warwickshire College Group) from Rugby College. WCG is the largest provider of programmes for The Prince’s Trust in England.
CDW worked in collaboration with the college to organise a corporate careers event as part of International Women’s Day back in March, which was the first major event under the new partnership.
Staff from CDW gave young people on the Team programme a tour of the company’s warehouse and training site, with a session introducing them to the work CDW does and the different career opportunities in configuration and IT.
They were joined by female employees from CDW’s offices in London and Manchester to highlight the diversity of the company, and mock interviews were held to build confidence of the people on the Team programme.
Team programme participants had the chance to get hands on with engraving equipment and create their own coaster to take home.
This marked the first activity for the partnership with plans to deliver professional CV workshops for those engaged in the Prince’s Trust Team programme in Rugby.
Aaliyah Robertson, 19 from Rugby, was one of the young people to attend the event. She said: "I really enjoyed the event and I liked the fact that the employees we met were open about their own career journeys and struggles to succeed.
“It was really interesting experience and helped to change my mind about how possible it would be for females to work in the company, because I thought it would just be a male environment at first."
Nichola Manzella, Prince’s Trust Team Leader for WCG, said: “Support from businesses such as CDW is vital to help us equip young people on the programme with the knowledge and skills to gain employment and thrive after completing the Team programme.
“The first session was a huge success, but this is just the start and we will be working closely with CDW to provide invaluable development opportunities.”
CDW is in a four-year partnership nationally with The Prince’s Trust, additionally it has supported T-Level students from Royal Leamington Spa College, which is also part of WCG, with industry placements.
Corrin Davis, Head of Configuration at CDW, said: “We’re proud to be supporting the The Prince’s Trust Team programme in Warwickshire and highlighting the wide range of opportunities that participants could pursue to develop career in the IT sector.
“Our goal is to highlight how there are opportunities out there for everyone, regardless of their background, to grow and build a career.
“It was a really positive day earlier this year with the CV workshop, site tour and mock interviews, and we are looking forward to delivering further sessions later this year.”
The Prince’s Trust Team programme runs from several locations across Warwickshire, West Midlands , South Birmingham, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire.
It is free to join for those aged 16 to 25 and seeks to help build confidence and develop new skills and qualifications to help participants in the world of work.
For more information visit www.wcg.ac.uk/page/25/princes-trust
