TRU West Volunteering Day at Xaverian College

D2’s graduate Utilities Engineer Vaidik Jain recently took part in a TRU West volunteering day at Xaverian College in Manchester, with their year 12 BTEC students. It was a fully packed day with skills challenges, games, and interviews. The first task of the morning was a skills challenge, students were asked to imagine they were on a desert island looking at what the teams would need for survival, and how to assess the conditions around them to make smart decision. Vaidik was asked to observe the team and provide feedback and guidance around their communication and teamwork skills. The second task of the day was a murder mystery, which gave the teams seven suspects, and they have to figure out who the murderer was, this task harnessed the students planning and evaluation skills when looking at the suspects. To finish the morning students were asked to create a tower of straws that could withstand 350ml juice bottle, and in the final task they were asked to piece together a jigsaw to find a secret words. These tasks focussed on the student’s design and collaboration skills, in which they became stronger in their confidence and teamwork throughout the day.

“ It was so rewarding watching the students planning and team building skills evolve throughout the day, they were able to take the advice given and put it into practice. It was a great day, and I feel proud to give back to the next generation by helping them harness their skills and gain confidence in their abilities”. – Vaidik Jain

To close out the day Vaidik ran some one-on-one interviews with the students looking at their CV’s, skill sets and soft skills. Vaidik was very impressed with the student’s confidence and was able to provide them with some careers advise with regards to roles in the rail industry, and what skills would be required when looking at that particular career path. After the ten-minute feedback session at the end of the interviews there were a lot of happy students that are excited about what their future career paths will hold.

Great Work Vaidik, giving back to our community and inspiring young minds to enter into the rail industry is hugely important to D2. One of our core values in sustainability and investing and inspiring diverse new talent into the industry, bringing in fresh thinking and helping to create a better tomorrow.