Tamara Sims - Head of Pro Bono & Responsible Business, Colin Biggers & Paisley
My name is Tamara Sims.
I'm the Head of Pro Bono and Responsible Business at Colin Biggers and Paisley. Colin Biggers and Paisley is a full-service corporate law firm, we also have a focus on our community responsibility through the Colin Biggers and Paisley Foundation.
We have a desire to engage with schools so that we can offer young people support and training in the workforce and that support and training is something that they may not otherwise have been able to access.
We have tried connecting with schools in the past, however, it's been quite difficult. The programs that we tried to run were very much light touch.
Donna - Careers Adviser, Auburn Girls High School
The students at Auburn Girls High School come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Many of them are non-English speaking, refugee and so that means that they don't have as many opportunities to build networks with employers, access industry, build those employment related skills that are really going to set them up for their future.
Jane - Senior Project Officer, Regional Industry Education Partnerships
I saw an opportunity for Colin Biggers and Paisley to make a real impact on a young person's life by taking on a school based trainee.
Students at Auburn Girls High School took part in an interactive information session, followed by interviews with Colin Biggers and Paisley staff. This gave the students a real life experience of a corporate interview, which is a valuable skill to have in their career. Layla was the strongest candidate through the process and started with Colin Biggers and Paisley shortly afterwards.
Tamara
We were very conscious of the fact that we would be her first workplace to enter into. So we wanted to make her feel supported and comfortable.
So we invited Layla and her family to visit our offices before she made her final decision.
Layla - Year 11 student, Auburn Girls High School
My experience with the school based traineeship has been really great. It's allowed me to link my subjects with my school based traineeship.
Meeting new people, lots of connections, different skill sets that it's allowed me to adopt.
Tamara
Layla's been a fantastic addition to CBP. She's part of the team now, and we're opening up other opportunities for her.
Donna
This has been a wonderful opportunity for Layla. Being with CBP has allowed her to not only build those employability skills but also to determine whether law is the pathway she would like to take.
Layla
It's allowed me to strengthen my ambition to become a lawyer and you know, this firsthand experience with them has allowed me to realise that
it's something I really find interesting, you know, fascinating.
Contact
Get in touch with the RIEP program today. Contact riep@det.nsw.edu.au.