This is a slightly amended version of what I posted on LinkedIn today: I went to a comprehensive school in Romford. I read law at Cambridge University. Neither of these facts are particularly relevant day to day at this stage in my career. But when I first wanted to become a lawyer, the first was incredibly relevant. I didn’t know anyone who was a lawyer, and were it not for the kindness of my A-Level English teacher, who persuaded the local firm where her husband worked to give me a week’s work experience (thanks Ms Bagot!) I would not have had any experience of law at all when I went to my Cambridge interview. There are lots of incredibly bright kids at schools and university across the UK who, simply because of their circumstances, do not have any opportunity to talk to professional people and obtain some insight into their potential careers. This is a huge barrier to social mobility. Thank goodness then, for the clever people who set up The 1 Hour Project. I had my first call this week with a prospective lawyer, and it was brilliant! Talking to a young person at the start of their career journey to share the benefit of my experiences was a fantastic way to spend an hour and I cannot recommend it highly enough. If you can spare JUST ONE HOUR A WEEK to change the world for the better, please consider signing up.

Wonderful experience being matched to a really talented student through the 1 Hour Project. Lovely to hear the enthusiasm and aspirational goals. Our 1 hour flew by as we talked through the various questions she had and we made the beginnings of a list to help her start to build a more concrete career plan for the coming months prior to her final year. I intend to follow her journey and keep in touch.

An inspired initiative, which could really make the difference to learners as they think about their future careers!

This is an amazing initiative that gives graduates an opportunity to easily connect and talk to industry professionals so they can validate their thinking, get independent advice on tough choices or just seek counsel. I wish this had existed all those years ago when I was facing these challenges.

Adam Malik
CEO & Founder
The Media CTO

This has been such an interesting and worthwhile activity. I hope I have contributed something useful to the person I spoke to, but what was surprisingly delightful is what I gained from the experience. I urge you to get involved with the 1 hour project. You won’t regret it.

At the start of my career, I was fortunate to have a brilliant manager who became a lifelong mentor. Now I have almost three decades of working in the technology industry, with a lot of learning along the way. The 1 Hour Project is a great opportunity to give back some of my experience and help folks at the start of their career.

The 1 hour project is a great way to give back for mentors and support students to cristalise their actions to move their career forward.

The 1 Hour Project is a great initiative to help talented, motivated people from all backgrounds to understand how they can access opportunities that might otherwise be limited to a privileged few. We need to make sure people from all backgrounds feel they belong, and that their unique experience is welcome in our organisations. This project is a big step towards that!

What a great project! Well structured and resourced and so easy to participate in. I felt hugely inspired by the student I was matched with, an amazing student with huge potential

This was my first session with the 1 hour project and it worked well: the match was good, the pre meeting info relevant and by only giving 1 hour it means either party can decide to continue or stop at the end.