{"id":2836,"date":"2026-07-27T14:42:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T14:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/?p=2836"},"modified":"2026-07-27T14:42:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T14:42:58","slug":"fifty-five-students-four-volunteers-and-one-afternoon-of-interviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/2026\/07\/27\/fifty-five-students-four-volunteers-and-one-afternoon-of-interviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifty-five students, four volunteers and one afternoon of\u00a0 interviews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How Salford Foundation turned a classroom workshop at Altrincham College into a real interview experience<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fifty-five young people sat down for an interview that afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A professional asked the questions, listened to their answers and offered feedback they could take into future interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the interviews began, Salford Foundation<\/a> had already equipped students at Altrincham College with the skills they needed through CV writing and interview preparation workshops. What they needed next was someone to bring those lessons to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four volunteers from United Infrastructure <\/a>gave up two and a half hours of their day. Every one of the 55 students had the opportunity to sit down with an experienced professional and experience a realistic interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporting young people into employment for more than 35 years<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since 1989, Salford Foundation <\/a>has worked alongside schools, employers and communities to help young people build the confidence, skills and opportunities they need for employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organisation began as Salford Compact, one of a handful of pilot schemes established through the Government\u2019s Action for Cities programme to connect inner-city schools with local employers. What started with a team of three quickly grew into a city-wide mentoring programme and, by 1994, became Salford Foundation, helping establish the National Mentoring Network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That commitment to connecting young people with employers has remained at the heart of the organisation\u2019s work. From Education Action Zone status in 1998, to the Together Women\u2019s Project in 2001, prison mentoring from 2015 and the launch of a dedicated Men’s Centre in 2019, the charity has continued creating opportunities that help people move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interview sessions at Altrincham College followed the same principle. Giving young people the opportunity to meet professionals, build confidence and prepare for the next stage of their education or employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bringing industry experience into the classroom<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

United Infrastructure<\/a> provided the volunteers for the afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Formed in 2019 through the merger of Fastflow Group and United Living, the business has continued to grow across the water, power and telecommunications sectors. In September 2025, it rebranded as United Infrastructure to reflect the breadth of infrastructure services it now delivers across the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the students, the experience felt real because Earl Patrick and his colleagues approached every interview with care, professionalism and genuine interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cWhat a brilliant event for students to experience.\u201d<\/p>\nEarl Patrick<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The impact of one afternoon<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jason King and Eleanor O\u2019Connell from Salford Foundation described the volunteers\u2019 contribution,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe people of United Infrastructure were fantastic. They offered great support, were timely and professional. They provided great support to our students and made a huge difference in the future aspirations of young people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For many young people, this was the first time they had experienced a professional interview outside the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each conversation lasted only a few minutes, but together they gave 55 students the opportunity to practise answering real questions, receive professional feedback and build confidence before attending future interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The interview before the real one<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every conversation gave students something they can carry into the next opportunity: the experience of sitting across from a professional, thinking on their feet and leaving with feedback they can build on. When the next interview comes, it won\u2019t be their first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Match My Project<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Match My Project<\/a> is a digital marketplace that connects businesses with community organisations and residents to deliver Social Value in local communities.  It takes eight minutes to add a project. Get in touch at hello@matchmyproject.org to find out more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How Salford Foundation turned a classroom workshop at Altrincham College into a real interview experience Fifty-five young people sat down for an interview that afternoon. A professional asked the questions, listened to their answers and offered feedback they could take into future interviews. Before the interviews began, Salford Foundation had already equipped students at Altrincham […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[42,82,8,81],"class_list":["post-2836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-study","tag-community-impact","tag-salford-foundation","tag-social-value","tag-united-infrastructure","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2841,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2836\/revisions\/2841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}