When 160 Year 9 students at Astrea Academy Sheffield filled the hall for Checkpoint 1 of Esh Group’s Building My Skills programme, we asked a simple question:
“You want the job, right?”
That’s where “Standing Out” begins.
Be Seen. Be Remembered. Be Valuable.
One of the core slides in our CP1 session says exactly that: Be seen. Be remembered. Be valuable.
Standing out isn’t about being loud. It’s not about being the cleverest person in the room. And it’s definitely not about pretending to be someone you’re not.
It’s about understanding what employers actually value - and showing it clearly.
What Employers Really Look For
We talked through qualities like:
- Curiosity
- Responsibility
- Communication
- Initiative
- Resilience
All highlighted throughout the session.
Most students don’t realise they’re already demonstrating these - in sport, clubs, group work, helping at home, even gaming communities.
The shift is learning how to recognise those skills - and articulate them.
Know Your Audience
These three key messages run right through the whole Building My Skills programme, like astick of rock:
- Know your audience
- Understand their needs
- Do your research: ask!
This is marketing 101, and this process is all about marketing yourself!
Standing out is about alignment:
- What does the organisation need?
- What problem are they trying to solve?
- How can you connect what you bring to what they’re looking for?
That thinking doesn’t just apply to jobs.
It applies to presentations. Applications. Interviews. Even social media.
“You Already Have More to Say Than You Think”
One of the most powerful moments in the session is when we tell students: You already have more to say about yourself than you think.
At 13 or 14, they often believe they have “nothing” to offer. But they do. They just haven't made the connection yet.
Helping them make those connections, then articulate them to shine a light on their experience and capability - that’s where the confidence begins.
Why This Matters to Us
Bravand makes money by selling a range of digital services. We build digital platforms, tech, software, that sort of thing
That's not possible if we're not also building people.
Being part of Building My Skills isn’t about ticking a social value box. It’s about showing young people that the skills they’re developing right now already matter.
And if 160 students leave thinking:
“I might actually have something to offer.”
That’s 40 minutes well spent.
