Young hopefuls join the team
Six enthusiastic young hopefuls have been given a fantastic opportunity to work within Carlisle United courtesy of the nPower ‘What’s Your Goal?’ initiative. The teenagers will spend four days working in one of the Media, Football in the Community or Groundstaff departments.
The scheme was launched by nPower to give students in either Year 10 or 11 the opportunity to experience a football club at first hand, under the guidance of a mentor. It is hoped that the skills they develop over the course of the four days will be useful when applying for jobs in the future, specifically in the football industry.
Students had to apply for these placements through an application form, with a strict deadline to adhere to. The standard of entries was extremely high, and the judging panel had a tough choice when selecting the six lucky students who would be granted this opportunity.
Working within the Media department are Mark Donnelly and Nathan Smith who, under the watchful eye of Andy Hall, will embark upon a number of tasks throughout the week. The boys will be thrown in at the deep end, covering the Youth Alliance Cup Final against Walsall on Wednesday before facing Greg Abbott in his weekly press conference.
Both Mark and Nathan praised the scheme saying: “It’s a rare opportunity. Chances like this are few and far between, so to be chosen for this is a great achievement.”
“We’re looking forward to experiencing the world of work at first hand, whilst also building up a portfolio that we can use in later life.”
Andy Hall, who is mentoring Mark and Nathan, also believes the scheme is a good one. “To have people like these two boys assisting me is a real help,” he said. “The standard of application was high so I had a tough choice deciding upon the lucky two. I hope I can pass on some valuable tips to these to lads, and I hope they enjoy themselves!”
When asked what they wanted to gain from this experience, Mark and Nathan answered: “We hope to get skills that will appeal to employers. From working in a work place we can gain basic skills such as time keeping, organisation and teamwork, along with subject specific abilities like interviewing technique. Both of us want to enter the field of media, so we hope this placement will help that.”
We’ll be back with the boys later in the week to find out what they have done over the course of their placement.
