NWRC student successfully nominates mentor for top award

A Seagate worker who mentored a North West Regional College student studying I.T. has been given a top award by the Career Ready programme.

Level 3 BTEC extended diploma student Claire Deery successfully nominated  Danielle Killen from Seagate for the Mentor of the Year award.

The pair joined forces as part of an 18 month employability programme designed to prepare 16-19 year olds for the world of work.

NWRC student Claire was one of 78 students from across Northern Ireland who got the opportunity experience six weeks paid work experience in the industry of their choice, as well as benefiting from team building, one to one mentoring, site visits and masterclasses which provided students information from an employer’s perspective.

Claire nominated Danielle explaining how the mentoring programme helped her reach her full potential.

She said: “Before I met Danielle, my confidence was really low; in fact I was very nervous about the whole Career Ready programme. Danielle has boosted my confidence in many ways from our very first meeting and has constantly encouraged me to reach my full potential.” 

Patricia Jennings, Career Ready Co-ordinator NWRC said: “Danielle Killen was selected from a list of 80 mentors from all over Northern Ireland.

“She supported Claire’s progress right through the Career Ready programme, especially during her work placement in Seagate.  Seagate have always been very supportive of the Career Ready program and their level of commitment and especially Danielle’s has been quite rightly recognised with the Mentor of the Year award.”

Students from North West Regional College met with fellow teenagers from across Northern Ireland at The Queen’s University of Belfast recently to celebrate their graduation from the Career Ready programme.

The entire graduation ceremony was presented by Career Ready students, who gave their personal stories about the impact of the programme on their lives.

Tony Madden, Career Ready’s Regional Manager for Northern Ireland, said: “Our graduation ceremony marks the end of a really exciting 18 months for our Career Ready students. As always, I am hugely impressed with their commitment to the Career Ready programme, which – because of the work they put in – really gives them the edge when it comes to finding work. It’s great to join them all as they celebrate all the hard work they’ve put in.”