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Tax, budgeting, wages and pensions were the hot topics when a company closed its offices to work with teenagers for a day.

Year 10 students at Royal Docks Academy stepped away from the traditional timetable to work with apprentices up to executive managers from Payment Systems Regulator (PSR)

The drop-down day involved activities such as understanding wage slips, pension, tax, elevator speeches, personality tests and CV writing.

They also –

• discussed career aspirations and employability skills and took part in a personality quiz to find out how personality types relate to revision and career choices.
• learnt about the company, what it does and the type of job roles it provides and took the opportunity to ask questions.
• looked at how they would use a salary, talking through taxes, bills, transport and cost of living
• discussed communication in the workplace, breaking it down to verbal, nob-verbal, interpersonal and written
• talked about their strengths and developed 30-second elevator speeches
• drafted their CVs

At the end of the day, students were challenged to set one-month, six-month and one-year targets.

Balil Abdul-Khaliq, director of careers for the BMAT group of schools, said: “The students found it extremely beneficial and were grateful for the opportunity to meet employers from a successful financial company.

“They benefitted from – raised aspirations, the opportunity to meet employers, interview practise and increased confidence.”