By CASEY NEILL
BUSINESSES and future employees connected and shared their stories at a breakfast in Dandenong this month.
City of Greater Dandenong’s Youth and Family Services team partnered with South East Business Networks (SEBN) to host the event at Dandenong Civic Centre on Thursday 7 May.
Year 9 and 10 students from six secondary schools joined with mentors to explore career options and pathways to reach their goals.
“It was one of those special moments where it was just a great feeling in the room,” SEBN manager Sandra George said.
“It was terrific because we had almost as many mentors as we had students. I think it was up around the 40 mark.”
Ms George said businesses were very willing to help with two 20-minute mentoring sessions.
“We didn’t have to do any chasing. In fact we had a waiting list of mentors,” she said.
“The mentors said at the end of the session they would have liked longer with the kids.
“They valued the fact that these young people were their future workforce.”
Dandenong High School, Sirius College, Carwatha College P12, St John’s Regional College, Minaret College and Keysborough College were involved.
Students discussed their mentor’s career journey and what they did at work each day during the first mentoring session while the second focused on students’ career paths.
“It gave employers a better understanding of how young people think and therefore how they can connect with them,” Ms George said.
She said the event also exposed students to the job opportunities in the region.
“Often a lot more than what they think there are,” she said.
“Don’t be persuaded by media that manufacturing is dead and gone. It’s very much alive, it’s different and it’s exciting.”
Ms George said guest speaker Reem Hakeem was “just amazing”.
“Everything that she said just resonated and she really was able to expose the audience – both the kids and the adults – to some of the realities that these people face and some of the decision-making processes they go through,” she said.
“She gave the students permission to be themselves, to be who they really are and grow from that.”
Guest speaker Shaun Surtees was outstanding, Ms George said.
“He spoke about how he’d been supported throughout his journey and the opportunities he’d been given,” she said.
“He really motivated the young ones.”
