LONDON, Dec. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T's*
career mentoring program for secondary school students in
Europe gathers pace as over 1,900
young people embark on their entrepreneurship and employability
courses for the 2014-15 academic year. AT&T is
contributing $187,000 to Young
Enterprise, the UK's leading enterprise and financial education
charity, to help manage the program.
AT&T employee volunteers are working with Young Enterprise
(member of JA Worldwide) and five other European members of JA to
share their business knowledge and skills with young people.
Students have the opportunity to join career skills master classes
as well as get to learn what it's like to work for a multi-national
company such as AT&T. AT&T has selected over 60 local
schools near its offices as employee engagement and mentoring is an
important part of the program. The locations of the schools
include Kosice, Bratislava in
Slovakia; The Hague, Amsterdam, in The Netherlands; Boeblingen, Germany; Paris,
France; Lod, Israel;
Havant, Redditch and London in the UK.
"Last year, our employee volunteers coached students near our
locations in Slovakia and the
UK. This year we are on track to extend the opportunity to
other European locations so that even more young people have the
opportunity to get inspired about business and develop their
skills," said AT&T's Peter Daly,
Vice President, Global Service Management.
Students can join one or both of two programs offered by
AT&T.
- For the entrepreneurial program, students have the chance to
set up their own enterprise as part of Young Enterprise and JA-YE
(Junior Achievement - Young Enterprise)'s Company Programme, over a
period of three to 12 months and with the support of AT&T
volunteer business mentors. They have the opportunity to
enter the JA-YE Europe Company of the Year Competition where they
compete with the best student companies from the 39 country members
of JA-YE Europe.
- The employability program sets out the skills and knowledge
young people need to succeed. They have the opportunity to
join one-day workshops led by AT&T employees that teach
work-readiness skills such as compiling personal goal statements,
interview techniques and future study and career options. Where
possible, students will gain work experience through job shadowing
with AT&T employees.
In April 2014 six students from St
Augustine's Catholic High School in Redditch, UK spent a week of
work experience at the AT&T Internet Data Centre and offices in
Redditch. They shadowed AT&T employee volunteers who
showed them the business perspectives and corporate strategies of
customer service management and assurance, finance, legal, project
management, sales, asset management and technical sales
consultancy. Five students entered the 2014 JA-YE Europe
Company of the Year Competition.
Then in July this year, AT&T employee volunteers in
Slovakia welcomed 15 students for
a day from four secondary schools in Bratislava, Kosice, Levice and
Namestovo. The young people took part in customer
meetings. Additionally, they learned how to project manage,
design and present a mobile application.
Four university undergraduate alumni of the UK and Slovak
schools programs completed two-month internships over the summer at
the AT&T London, Redditch, Bratislava and Kosice offices.
The AT&T European school mentoring program is similar to
Aspire Mentoring Academy, part of AT&T Aspire, the company's
signature philanthropic initiative. AT&T Aspire focuses
on school success and workforce readiness for students in the
U.S.
"This program offers students an important opportunity to boost
their business acumen and experience, which can only translate into
greater employability when they leave school. The support and
volunteers from AT&T have enriched the program with important
lessons about business and entrepreneurialism," said Young
Enterprise Chief Executive Michael
Mercieca.
AT&T has more than 6,000 employees in 30 countries across
Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by
subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T
brand and not by AT&T Inc.
About Young Enterprise with pfeg
Young Enterprise is the UK's leading enterprise and financial
education charity working with young people aged 4 to 25.
Following the recent merger of pfeg into Young Enterprise, it is a
specialist 'one stop shop' for students and teachers, empowering
young people to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes they
need for work and in life. With 14 years of experience,
pfeg continues to support teachers, government, consumer
bodies and financial industry representatives to assist schools in
delivering personal finance education to the highest possible
standards – enabling children and young people to understand money
and make informed choices to support their long term economic
well-being. Young Enterprise's extensive network means it is
supported by more than 5,000 volunteers and 3,500 businesses in
schools, colleges and universities. It also support teachers
in 18,000 schools to plan and deliver financial education
programmes. For over 50 years Young Enterprise has worked
with over four million young people across the UK to empower them
to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need for the
world of work through enterprise. It is part of JA-YE (Junior
Achievement-Young Enterprise) that operates in over 120 countries
in Europe and JA Worldwide.
For more information on pfeg see www.pfeg.org or email
comms@y-e.org.uk
For more information on Young Enterprise please see
www.young-enterprise.org.uk
About JA Worldwide® (Junior Achievement)
JA Worldwide is one of the largest global NGOs dedicated to
addressing fundamental social and economic challenges of young
people by educating and empowering them to transform their future
and own their economic success. Through the delivery of
cutting-edge, experiential learning in financial literacy, work
readiness and entrepreneurship, JA Worldwide effectively broadens
the canvas of possibility for young people and enriches their
ability to both engage in their own economic development, as well
as contribute to the strength of their families, communities and
economies. The 123-country JA Worldwide network is powered by more
than 400,000 volunteers and mentors from all sectors of society,
reaching over 10 million young people around the world. For more
information, please visit us at www.jaworldwide.org.
About Philanthropy at AT&T
AT&T Inc. is committed to advancing education, strengthening
communities and improving lives. Through its community initiatives,
AT&T has a long history of investing in projects that create
learning opportunities; promote academic and economic achievement;
or address community needs. In 2013, more than $130 million was contributed or directed through
corporate-, employee-, social investment- and AT&T
Foundation-giving programs. AT&T Aspire is AT&T's signature
education initiative that drives innovation in education by
bringing diverse resources to bear on the issue including funding,
technology, employee volunteerism, and mentoring.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding
company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its
subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are
the providers of AT&T services in the
United States and internationally. With a powerful array of
network resources that includes the most reliable national 4G LTE
network in the United States,
AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed
Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile
Internet, AT&T also offers the best global wireless coverage
based on offering roaming in more countries than any other U.S.
based carrier, and offers the most wireless phones that work in the
most countries. It also offers advanced TV service with the
AT&T U-verse® brand. The company's suite of IP-based
business communications services is one of the most advanced in the
world.
Around the world, AT&T has facilities in more than 50
countries and serves multinational companies on six continents. It
provides IP-based communication services available to customers in
over 180 countries, which represent more than 99 percent of the
world's economy.
Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and
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