CAREERS IN CRISIS?

The impact of the pandemic on young people’s job prospects has been widely discussed. Carrie Childs (Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Careers Hub Lead) shares insight about how careers work in schools and colleges has changed in the past two years.

Jeremy Sneller, MD of Cornwall-based AI company TouchByte, became an Enterprise Adviser for Penryn College back in 2017.

It’s always been important to me to be able to give back to the local community and inspire younger generations – to create the opportunities that perhaps weren’t so accessible when I was a student. We aim to showcase the variety of career paths that are available today, and how skills developed within school can be applied across several business sectors. For example, creative skills, such as graphic design, English and photography go hand in hand with working in technology – within marketing, product design, or content creation.

My team and I have participated in careers evenings, mock-interview sessions, assemblies, tech talks/workshops, business development sessions for business studies students, and offered work experience placements for students across a range of disciplines.

“Cornwall has masses of untapped potential. I believe there needs to be a greater interconnect between businesses and colleges; local businesses should identify the benefits of getting directly involved with the local colleges and schools. It’s creating opportunities for the next generation, who will soon become a part of the working world – we need to inspire this generation now.”

When will you be running another skills show? It’s a question I’m often asked.

Cornwall’s annual gathering of 100+ businesses, educators, trainers and more than 3,000 young people was always a sight (and sound) to behold.

It took months of planning and came with a risk assessment that resembled a novel; minus any intriguing plotline! Witnessing the Cornish business community engage with its future workforce in glorious technicolour was one of the highlights of the Careers Hub year.

We were unsure how to proceed when the pandemic took hold. How would schools, colleges and businesses retain and develop the relationships that they had built since the Careers Hub launched?

We reached out to our business network and their replies kept us on track, including one referencing a blog by Paul Redmond writing for The Institute of Student Employers:

“Forget qualifications, skills, work experience, or contacts. All these are important, but not nearly enough. What you need is hope.” focus from large scale projects to develop supportive networks for Careers Leaders, improve the experience our business network and test out small pockets of innovation; such as the development of Virtual Work Experience placements.

I was so impressed by the team at Gloss Media who continued a project they’d started with students at Nancealverne Special School. Students created content at a distance. As a result, the company launched a not-for-profit; Access Cornwall, raising awareness of disability inclusion and creating opportunities for some of our most disadvantaged young people.

We’ve certainly witnessed the number of businesses seeking to develop careers outreach programmes growing since the start of the pandemic. In December, we took on an additional member of staff to help manage this demand. Steve is available to support any business in Cornwall consider why and how they work with schools and colleges to greatest impact. We are also growing our Cornerstone Employer Community, too. So, will there be a skills show this year? We want to retain a sharp focus and invest our time and energy to greatest impact. I recently observed a group of Enterprise Advisers and Careers Leaders discussing the contribution that education makes to economic development and the work they are planning as a result. It filled me with the same sense of excitement that the skills show always has and I certainly hope the conversations and innovation from the past two years are here to stay!

Not to disappoint; Yes we will be running My Skills My Future on May 4. The show will be smaller than before and intended to reach young people in Cornwall who experience some of the greatest obstacles; this great source of potential will be key to the success of our businesses in the future.

Forget qualifications, skills, work experience, or contacts. What you need is hope

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Careers Hub is funded by the Careers and Enterprise Company with match funding from CIOS LEP.

To find out more about becoming part of our network please contact hello@careershubcios.co.uk, visit our website www.careershubcios.co.uk and follow us on social media @careershubcios