The Hallifordian - 2016-2017

67 BP Interview Report Taking the short trip by minibus to BP’s Sun- bury International Centre for Business & Technol- ogy, a group of Year 12s prepared themselves for the world of work by undertaking mock interviews with recruitment specialists at one of the world’s leading oil and gas companies. Undoubtedly feeling both apprehensive and excited, nerves were eased by the welcoming complimentary hot chocolate and coffee. Prior to the experience, we were required to choose a suitable job role based on our A-Levels, which our competency interview at BP would be based on. These were supported by the preparation of a CV and covering letter, which served as great practice for future job searches. We also questioned each other within school to improve our ability to think on our feet, using BP’s recommended supple- mentary questions. Questioning each other improved our thinking skills. Each interview lasted around thirty minutes, where feedback was also provided briefly immedi- ately afterwards, as well as being provided with a detailed sheet at school the next day. Every BP em- ployee was incredibly friendly and I am sure that the link between Halliford and BP will continue to prosper. Starved from all of the strenuous sitting and sipping of coffee, Mr Gale was kind enough to drive back to school via Sunbury Cross, allowing a quick ‘re-nourishment’ of KFC and Subway. Overall, the experience was extremely ben- eficial and a lot of fun, which certainly taught us valuable skills for the future. Many thanks must go to Mr Gale and Hitaf Tamimi at BP for organising the transport and visit. Gareth Hart, Year 12 Enterprise Day Year 8 took part in an Enterprise Day during Activities Week. The aim of the day was to launch a new cereal. Our group task was to make a new cereal and pitch it to three “Dragons” on the panel. Our group also had several new boys in the team. This was a great way to get them integrated into Halliford before they officially come here in September. We worked hard all morning on deciding upon our product, our market and what price we would charge. Eventually, we came up with a cereal and called it Creative Crunch. We tried to get the prize for best presentation by adding a video. In the afternoon we had to pitch to the “Dragons” and answer tough questions from them. All of the groups did very well in their presentations. We won the best pres- entation award because we had also made an ad- vert. The overall winners were Luke Davies, Ar- chie Evans, Matthew Lea, Jack Pearce, Emilio Bertuzzi and Daniel Wilkes with their brand Just Cereal. It was close but a well-deserved win! Sean Rustin, Year 8