Every November, DofE participants and alumni head to London’s Google offices for Youth Without Limits LIVE: Beyond the CV. This year was no different, as over 190 young people enjoyed interactive workshops and inspiring talks designed to help them build confidence and explore routes into employment.

The day was jam-packed with workshops from Octopus Energy demonstrating skills for work, personal storytelling with Loudspeaker, advice on applying for jobs with Compare the Market and how to build your personal brand online with Let’s Fearlessly Go.

Young people also heard from Teens in AI who spoke about the opportunities and challenges of AI in the workplace, and they had the opportunity to sign up for CV workshops with industry professionals to give advice on polishing their CVs, ready for the world of work.

We asked DofE participants and Youth Ambassadors what their favourite session was from the day and their key takeaways from Youth Without Limits LIVE.

Eva, Silver participant

Favourite session: The future skills session because it was very interesting and it just taught me how to prepare myself for interviews and the future.

Key takeaway: No matter what, say yes to everything.

Harrison, Gold Award holder

Favourite session: The energy, especially after lunch, for the Loudspeaker session.

Key takeaway: To take my story and actually speak about it to more people, and not just to hide away.

Chloe, Silver participant

Favourite session: Skills for work with Octopus Energy. It was really interesting and also interactive.

Key takeaway: Soft skills, and speaking more and clearer, that’s a major challenge for me.

Lucy, Bronze participant

Favourite session: The CV clinic was really eye opening, because it made me realise that it’s not all about the facts, it’s about you as a person.

Key takeaway: I’ve got a very different outlook on what applying to jobs looks like. I’ve seen that my CV was very factual – I didn’t really say much about me as a person, so that’s definitely what I’ve taken away.

William, Gold Award holder

Favourite session: The Loudspeaker event, the energy was great.

Key takeaway: You’ve got this and you’re incredible. No matter the setbacks or failures you’ve had, you can always bounce back and you can get that success later on.

Disha, Silver participant

Favourite session: Skills for work with Octopus Energy, because they went into detail about how soft skills apply and how you should use it in interviews to gain positions.

Key takeaway: Instead of just saying what I did, say how those activities transferred into skills.