Work Ready?

At the moment I work as a School Careers Advisor. It’s a bit of a weird situation as my ‘career’ is advising other people about what to do with theirs. It’s true, a lot of the jobs that students mention, such as doctor, accountant, solicitor etc., I have a limited knowledge about as I have never done these jobs before. But to be honest, a lot of my students are nowhere near ready to consider those job roles, because they are lacking the skills that they need to get into any sort of job in the first place.

I’m not claiming to be an expert. My experience of job searching came after I left university. But I did have to apply for a lot of jobs. I’d say that in about 4 months, I’d applied to approximately 100 jobs and attended about 10 job interviews; but that is a whole different story. I am now lucky enough to have a job, but I am worried about all the young people who assume that getting a job is easy.

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In schools, it seems that jobs are barely ever mentioned. They are something way off into the future that you don’t have to worry about yet. Students are told to focus on exams and results. They then assume that this is what is needed for jobs, but there is so much more; CVs, job applications, interview techniques, assessment days, to name but a few.

I’ve met students between the ages of 16-18 that have never travelled on a train before, never made a phone call that isn’t to a friend/relative, and have never written an email that isn’t in text slang.

When I explained to one lad that he would need to send his job application in the post, he wasn’t even aware that you need to put a stamp on the envelope!

When I was at school, I was told that your life went: school, college, university, job. But that’s just not realistic and is not appropriate for everyone.

I loved uni, but, to be honest, the things I loved about it weren’t my actual degree; they were living away from home, the people I met, the things I did. I wouldn’t change any of that, but I think that actually, an apprenticeship would have probably been a better option.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it doesn’t change much. I wish that young people could understand the reality of work, before they are in a situation where they desperately need a job and can’t find one.

If I could change the education system I would make it compulsory for all students aged 14 and above, to work one day a week instead of going to school.

Yes, GCSEs are important, especially Maths and English (I feel like I say this until I’m blue in the face some days). But without ‘life skills’ you won’t get very far.

Young people are expected to pick up the economy, but they haven’t been given the tools to do so. Something has got to change.

Young people are given such bad press at the moment, but is it really their fault?

If you enjoyed this article, why not check out ‘Show ‘Em What You’ve Got‘ and ‘Didn’t Get the Job? Keep Calm and Carry On‘?

Tags: careers jobs Joy life experiences young people

Categories: Careers Poppy Gillian Rant