Our Partnership
Our Partnership
Together, we can ensure young people feel empowered about their futures and have the skills, confidence, and support to thrive in their journey from education to employment.
Find out how you can get involved:
Mentoring
Becoming a Career Ready mentor is an inspiring, flexible way to help a young person unlock their true potential and discover the right career path for them. It’s also a fantastic way for employers to provide rewarding volunteering opportunities for their team.
It involves a series of monthly meetings between a young person and a volunteer from the world of work. Each meeting lasts an hour and the mentor and mentee speak about different career options and pathways, as well as the skills needed for the world of work.
We provide ongoing support and training to volunteers, ensuring they have a rewarding and impactful experience.
Host a paid intern
Host a paid intern
Young people need workplace support like never before. Our mission is to invest in the young, diverse talent that will make up our future workforce.
The Infrastructure Industry Foundation (IIF) hosts paid summer internships that give 16–18 year-olds real experience of the world of work and a foothold in the infrastructure investment industry.
Our internships run during the summer holidays between school Years 12 and 13. The IIF designs and delivers the core programme, supported by firms from across the industry, which includes:
- Sub-sector sessions introducing different parts of the infrastructure industry
- Site visits to operational assets and workplaces
- Skills training (presentation skills, Excel, financial literacy, public speaking)
- Group projects and a final presentation
Mentors can provide guidance to their mentee throughout the placement. They can also support with sessions, site visits and networking, but they do not need to host interns in their own offices.
Not only is this an evidence-based way to transform young lives and boost social mobility, it enables employers to connect with future talent in a structured, low-lift way. We understand the challenges our employer supporters face, which is why we provide support every step of the way, including onboarding and guidance on how to structure a high-quality internship experience.
Promote our opportunities to your team
Promote our opportunities to your team
As well as getting involved as an individual volunteer, you can get involved by inspiring others in your organisation to volunteer.
The easiest way to promote our volunteering opportunities is via your internal staff communication channels. We appreciate that your time is precious, so we have put together a pack to help you promote our different opportunities across your channels. And the Career Ready team is on hand to support you with any further resources you may require.
The impact of our work
The impact of volunteering
Find out more about Career Ready
Find out more about Career Ready
We are a UK-wide social mobility charity, and we believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to kickstart a rewarding future.
Since 2002 we’ve worked in areas of need across the U to deliver a structured programme of mentoring, paid internships, masterclasses, and workplace visits.
Last year, we supported 2,000 young people in 240 schools and colleges through a network of 2,200 volunteers, with over 300 employers providing paid internships.
We are a UK-wide social mobility charity, and we believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to kickstart a rewarding future.
Since 2002 we’ve worked in areas of need across the U to deliver a structured programme of mentoring, paid internships, masterclasses, and workplace visits.
Last year, we supported 2,000 young people in 240 schools and colleges through a network of 2,200 volunteers, with over 300 employers providing paid internships.
Let's get started
Find out how you can boost social mobility and help young kickstart a rewarding future.
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