George Summerville graduated the Career Ready programme in 2019 whilst attending Poynton High School in Cheshire. He now works at AstraZeneca on their degree apprenticeship programme and has since returned to volunteer at Career Ready as a masterclass presenter. Keep reading to learn more about George’s Career Ready journey and why he thinks it’s so important to give back.
Before starting the programme, George knew where he wanted to go, but didn’t know how to get there.
“I was very excited to start a career in IT, but unsure what it was like to work in a professional environment. I’d also heard of several different IT roles, but wasn’t quite sure what they would actually be like.”
After his experiences on the Career Ready programme, George felt prepared to pursue a career in IT, thanks to his paid internship and support from his mentor.
“Following the programme I felt very well prepared to take on a career in the IT industry. My mentor and my internship placement both gave me invaluable experience and guidance on what working in a professional environment was like and how it felt to work in a full-time role. The responsibilities I took on during my internship gave me a fantastic platform to grow my knowledge in IT and helped me massively when it came to the application process for IT apprenticeship programmes following college.”
Real-life work experience
It was during his paid summer internship on the Career Ready programme at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer that George was able to experience a professional environment and build his skills in a real-life context.
“My internship at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was a fantastic opportunity to gain a wealth of experience in how different teams operate and also what the foundations of IT look like within a corporate organisation. It also opened a lot of doors for me and gave me a much larger network.”
George also noticed a change in his self-belief and communication skills.
“My internship also gave me a massive confidence boost as I was now comfortable with working in a professional environment and I felt I could reflect that well in my interviews. I was able to use the experiences I’d gained during my internship throughout all of my applications and I felt this gave me a great chance of success in the process.”
From student to volunteer
Three years on, George is now a Career Ready volunteer, helping young people build their workplace skills by delivering masterclasses.
“Back when I was on the programme, the masterclasses helped me to learn relevant skills and apply them in a safe environment. So I jumped at the chance to volunteer with Career Ready to do this for other young people.”
Delivering our Assessment Centres masterclass, George was able to draw on his own experiences to give young people in the session real-life insights to help them prepare for future applications.
“It was a great fit for me as I had attended a few assessment centres as part of the recruitment process for my degree apprenticeship. So having the opportunity to bring my own experiences into the masterclass really helped bring it to life. The materials provided were perfect, I didn’t need to change or add anything to them. And the call with the Regional Manager beforehand was really useful to go through the slide deck and answer any questions too.”
Reflecting on the impact that Career Ready had on his journey, George shared why he chooses to volunteer with us.
“Career Ready opened so many doors for me, so I welcomed the chance to do the same for other young people.”
