​Since September 2022, eight volunteers from Personal Group have taken part in nine 40-minute Virtual Career WorkOut sessions run by Milton Keynes charity Worktree.  They have beamed into classrooms in five schools, each time alongside four volunteers from other companies on MS Teams, and answered questions from up to 30 students at a time.

In post-session feedback, teachers gave a 9/10 rating for being ‘meaningful for the students’ and PG volunteers gave a 9/10 rating for ‘the process was easy’.

After her session, Karen Severs of the Finance team said:  “This is a really rewarding way you can help contribute to the wellbeing of others and your input could help empower them to  improve and fulfil their potential . It’s also a great way to meet other volunteers and create contacts in alternate industries that you didn’t know existed before.

Stephen Eze from Customer Service (pictured centre) said:  “I found the entire process useful, and insightful.  Questions like ‘how does your job help people’ gave me food for thought as it was evident they are looking at careers that will impact people positively.”

Emma Talbot of the Account Development (pictured left) said:  “I also learnt a lot from my peers on the call.”

Helen Mole, HR (pictured right), who has been organising the volunteers at Personal Group, said: “This is a really great initiative to give students a more ‘real life’ introduction into the world of working.  They were shy in the session, but the teacher and Worktree facilitator help them to ask questions and they’re not always what you’d expect to be asked which is great, as you can offer insight which is more relatable and probably more helpful than standard career based questions. I wish I’d had this opportunity when I was considering my future career.”

If you’d like to have a go, it’s simple.  Just choose and sign up for a session from the listing www.worktree.org/events, then on the day click the Teams link Worktree sends you…and you’re in!  It’s just 40 minutes of your time and what you say about your own experiences of work might change a young person’s life forever.  That’s why PG is sponsoring Worktree this year.