Successful seminar series ends in York.

We are delighted to announce the successful conclusion of our first seminar series last week. The series, grant funded by the European Social Fund saw two separate events, each run over two days, attended by a variety of job-seekers from the North Yorkshire region.

The seminar was entitled “Get inside the hiring manager’s head”, and was designed to help individual applicants understand more about the skills they need to get hired and, unusually,  the pressures on the employer to fill any vacancy (this bit doesn’t feature very often in “normal” careers advice!) Bizenko take pride in challenging delegates to think about their assumptions and pre-conceptions about employment and job-applications, and many delegates were surprised by the reality of life as a hiring manger and employer.

Of course, Employers are interested in exam grades and qualifications, but there are many other things that will make an Employer sit up and pay attention to a job applicant. This seminar put those “extras” into context with a variety of exercises, games and videos, in order that the job-applicants could perform better in any interview situation.

Bizenko Social Enterprise are the not-for-proft arm of Bizenko, and they delivered this seminar with the help of the Job Centre Plus offices in York and North Yorkshire. Amongst the delegates there was a variety of levels of experience, and ages, but the feedback was consistently positive in terms of the quality of teaching and the content of the course.

Some of the feedback included the following comments (the age of the delegate is listed in brackets):

“ I have improved my confidence in approaching the job market.” (PF, 49)

“As someone wanting to go into Film and TV production, I now feel much more confident that the commercial content from the Bizenko Seminar should give me an advantage in an interview.” (EB, 21)

“Nick was a great tutor, very enthusiastic and knowledgeable I feel like he really made the seminar enjoyable. My understanding of commercial awareness has improved and I now feel more confident about my job search and future interviews.” (DB, 22)

“I now feel more informed about what employers are looking for in a new recruit. I also feel I’ve learnt more about the importance of teamwork and remaining calm under pressure in any interview. These things are definitely going to help me at the next interview”. (RG, 20)

“Coming from an academic background, the course has made a real difference by making me more aware of commercial matters, even in the academic spheres. This has been especially helpful given my desire to find freelance work.” (DC, 53)

“As a result of this course, I now have a much better understanding of the needs of any business, and therefore the business needs of any hiring managers. All of these things make me more confident about my next interview, and any employment thereafter. Thank you!” (CD, 23)

“The course has been very helpful in improving my interview skills and has taught me how to gain more confidence prior to future interviews. I found this a very interesting and helpful two-day course.” (DK, 39)

“I have gained a clear understanding of how I can make myself more attractive to employers, especially following the workshop on positive communication. I also have a much better appreciation of the challenges that an employer faces in any recruitment process. It’s much clearer to me now how this insight can help me in an interview.” (JK, 26)

“The course has certainly helped me to re-evaluate my whole approach to interviews. It has challenged me to use my preparation in order to consider more about the hiring company or organisation, and their outcomes from any recruitment process. I think this is going to make a big difference to how I perform at interview. ” (PC, 52)

A massive thank you to the European Social Fund, to Your Consortium (the ESF partners in Yorkshire) and to the Job Centre Plus.

If you would like to learn more about how a Bizenko seminar can improve levels of confidence, commercial awareness and career planning amongst your students or your work colleagues, please contact Nick Palmer on 01937 547 120 or 07949 812 522.

By admin

Bizenko has been created by Nick Palmer to bridge the gap between education and employment. Basically, Nick was miffed when he graduated and didn't understand the commercial world, and once he'd learned a little bit more, he was miffed that the people he needed to employ didn't understand the commercial world. On a hunch that there were lots of people who didn't understand the commercial world, he devised a solution that would save willing participants the cost and heartache Nick incurred to resolve the problem. We hope you enjoy the service.