ANZ have supported Ladder since 2018 and have hosted a number of fundraising events as well as volunteered in mentoring activities with our program participants. Last week, Ladder program participants attended a group mentoring day organised by a fantastic group of volunteers at ANZ in Melbourne.

The group mentoring day started off with icebreakers and introductions to settle the nerves and ensure everyone ready to get the most out of the day.

ANZ mentors started off with a session on ‘Mock interview preparation’ and worked directly with our young people to prepare for a job interview and identify answers to questions that might be asked of them.

“I really enjoyed the job interview chat with Joey from ANZ. He gave me a lot of tips that will come in handy when I do eventually have an interview.” – Ladder program participant

The following session was on ‘Goal setting’ and Ladder Development Coaches gave an overview of setting SMART goals. ANZ mentors then shared their own personal life goals, utilising the SMART format and supported our young people to identify their own SMART goals. The young people set goals for themselves relating to education, employment and training outcomes.

“As well as employment, we also talked about the importance of having a good balance in life. I worked on setting a fitness goal and they were really supportive and helped me set it up!!” – Ladder program participant

In the last session for the day, the ANZ mentors shared their own personal career journey stories, highlighting to our young people that career paths are rarely linear. Sincerest thanks to all of our volunteers for giving their time to directly support our Ladder program participants.

The young people had a great day with the ANZ mentors and were thankful for all the knowledge and stories they shared about their careers. They are now confident and ready to tackle that job interview when the opportunity arises.

“… It was a good way to meet the ANZ staff and they were really welcoming and friendly… It was a great experience and I think everyone learnt a lot.” – Ladder program participant

Below is a reflection from ANZ mentor Jacob.

“During the icebreakers it was awesome to see the different perspectives of the young attendees and also our staff. We did some trivia as well with the young people and through that we saw them start to open up. 

During some mock interview prep the young people were able to have 1:1 time with our staff. One of the young people learnt about how actually his weaknesses are linked to his strengths. 

On the walk around the building, it was beautiful to see a young person afraid of heights trust to stand closer because he was with our staff and trusted them. Showing the relationships that were forming even in that short time.

Our staff then shared a bit about their own careers, focusing on the early stages of their journeys. There were some great follow up questions asked and awesome takeaways. Through the session us ANZers actually learnt more about each other too which was surprising and exciting. 

We then helped the young people identify SMART goals for the week, again 1:1 to really focus on the individuals. Some of goals focused around applying to jobs and other around fitness. Some great goals resulted from the activity.

We finished with a catered lunch all together to socialise and have some fun. By the end, the young people were way more open and showing more about themselves.

What a great experience and 100% worth while!"