Paddington Life Sciences Partners interview students at Marylebone Boys' School

The Paddington Partnership has been working in collaboration with Paddington Life Sciences Partners since it was founded, sharing their commitment to develop a life sciences cluster in Paddington that achieves major health, social and economic value. Our Community Programme Manager sits on the Social Value working group, engaging with key partners such as IQVIA, Vodafone and Vertex to develop initiatives tackling digital exclusion and health inequalities in the area surrounding St Mary’s Hospital.

A key focus of the Social Value workstream is working with young people to raise awareness of the broad range of careers available within life sciences, and to encourage them into considering a future working in this field. On 15 March, The Paddington Partnership brought together volunteers from companies including Takeda, Optum, St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial Health Charity and the Institute of Global Health Innovation to deliver mock interviews to Year 10 students at Marylebone Boys’ School. We were pleased to also be joined by colleagues from Marks & Spencer’s Digital & Tech team, ensuring the event was complemented by a diverse range of STEM careers.

Volunteers each delivered up to six short interviews with students, giving students an opportunity to think about how to present themselves professionally ahead of their work experience placements at the end of March. The interview questions were designed to challenge students to think about the skills they have developed at school – through teamwork, leadership and hard work – and how these could apply in a workplace setting.

Throughout the interviews, life science volunteers provided constructive feedback for each student to help them develop their communication skills and interview technique for the future. Events such as these are not only helpful for students to gain confidence in how they present themselves professionally, but also offer a rewarding way for Paddington colleagues to engage with and inspire young people. Get in touch with our Community Team if you’d like to learn more about our work with schools.