Barbara Kadima and Asma Ali - You're hired

Barbara Kadima and Asma Ali

Barbara Kadima and Asma Ali, both from Rochdale, won the Hopwood Hall College ‘You’re hired’ competition having impressed the judges with their professionalism.

Over 170 students, who are all studying to develop their English language and employability skills at the College, took part in the competition. It was designed to simulate the pressure and experience of a real life job interview in order to help them secure real work.

Their task was to choose a role, write a job application letter, highlighting their relevant skills and qualities, and prepare answers to six typical job interview questions. They also had to look and act the part for this near-authentic interview role play.

Staff from the College acted as interviewers to make the competition as realistic as possible.

Lauren Turner, HR and training assistant, was impressed by the standard: “The learners I interviewed should be proud of themselves, they were well prepared for the interview, very polite and professional."

Asma Ali found a job having attended a real interview just one week after winning the competition. She cites her training for the competition as key in her interview success: “My teachers really helped me and I felt very confident in my real interview because of my experience with ‘You’re hired’.”