MARCH 2013
What is the youth unemployment landscape?
What’s the best way to write a CV?
A simple guide to apprenticeships
Why the Chilled Food sector is the place to work
Youth Employment UK A youth employment magazine for everyone
www.yeuk.org.uk
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Contents 3 4 4 6 7 9 11 12 12 14 14 16 17 18 19 19 20 21
Editor’s Note London Evening Standard and City Gateway launch “Ladder for London” scheme Samuel-James Wilson Interview Apprenticeships made simple Chilled Food Association Interview Third annual National Careers Week launches to inspire young people and schools with planning for the future Barclays Retail Development programme Survey Youth Employment UK - Video Competition Aspire Sports: Why we joined Youth Employment UK Interview with Petroc College Free Coaching from Your Career Mentor Upcoming Events Why we need employers to work in schools and why they should Unemployment is not the fault of the unemployed Q: Not sure if it’s the right career for you? A: Get out there and FIND OUT Unemployed Geology Graduate Defeats Government’s Workfare Scheme Bringing it all together
To contact Youth Employment UK CIC Business & School membership: ljr@yeuk.org.uk Volunteer Youth Ambassadors: info@yeuk.org.uk Editorial, Advertising & Magazine Content: info@yeuk.org.uk Visit: www.yeuk.org.uk or Call: 08444 143101 The information contained in this e-Magazine is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by Youth Employment UK CIC and guest editors/blog producers and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the e-Magazine or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in the magazine for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. Any views expressed here are not necessarily endorsed by Youth Employment UK CIC, Youth Employment News, Inspire2Exceed, Advertisers, Webmaster or any individuals or organisations. Links outside of Youth Employment UK (external links) are provided for user convenience and do not constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favouring by Youth Employment UK. All articles on our site are copyrighted material by the authors to include any graphics that are included with them. Photographs are also copyrighted. If you, the reader, have any grievances with any material that is posted on this site, you are responsible for contacting the author in question. This disclaimer is subject to change without notice.
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Editor’s Note I am really excited about the potential of the Youth Employment Magazine; the idea behind its creation was to provide a single platform where the two most important players in youth unemployment could come together; Young People and Employers. This magazine will hopefully inspire organisations to become more youth friendly by reading the amazing contributions from young people and reading their stories we also hope, it will encourage, support and inspire young people to see that in the main UK employers are trying to invest in youth employment and that there are opportunities and pathways accessible. For me youth unemployment is an issue for every single Briton, with 1 in 5 young people unemployed it is likely that we all know someone who will be affected by it and we all want I am sure, to live in a vibrant and successful economy, these two things alone should unite us to support youth employment. Our Positive Youth Charter asks every business, school and young person to sign up to say that they will do their bit to fight youth unemployment, for Youth Employment UK CIC its time to see a wave of change from all of us. I hope you will enjoy our first issue of Youth Employment Magazine and will take some time out to share it with your network so that the tide can start to turn. All the best, Laura-Jane Rawlings
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London Evening Standard and City Gateway launch “Ladder for London” scheme By Joe Lo – Youth Ambassador London’s biggest daily newspaper is publicising a scheme, aiming to “help unemployed young adults into work through paid apprenticeships”. On its website it points out what it rightly calls the “shocking facts” of youth unemployment. These make grim reading: 25% of young people unemployed, a 100% increase since the general election and less than half these unemployed youngsters managing to claim JSA. The Evening Standard argues that “the biggest obstacle [to young people gaining employment] is their lack of work experience” so their response has been to encourage London’s employers to offer apprenticeships and to hook up with social enterprise City Gateway to train and provide the young apprentices. The deal for companies is that they take on an apprentice for one year, have them work at least 30 hours a week and pay them at least £2.65 an hour (although the Standard encourages the London Living Wage of £8.55 and claims that most of the apprentice placements pay this). In addition most participating businesses get £1,500 a year from the taxpayer as a “sweetener”. So far, 627 apprentices have been enrolled in London as part of the scheme with Metro Bank (150), Sainsburys (50) and British Gas (32) the biggest participants. The scheme is clearly seeing some excellent results from The Evening Standard’s initiative. Is this the type of programme that the UK needs to see more of to reduce youth unem-
ployment? What other initiatives can be inspired from Ladder of London across the UK? Interested businesses can get involved here: www.standard.co.uk/staticpage/londonladder Young people can find out more here: www.citygateway.org.uk/apprenticeships/ become-an-apprentice
Samuel-James Wilson Interview Youth Employment UK had the pleasure of interviewing a really inspiring young apprentice named Samuel-James Wilson who is a Bricklayer/Builder/Blogger from North Yorkshire. Talk about inspiriational! Tell us a bit about your blog and what inspired you to start writing it? It all started one sunny day in a village just outside of Harrogate, North Yorkshire where I was working, I was outside laying my first patio thinking I should be really taking pictures of this so I can look back in years to come at what I have done. A month or so later The Apprentice-Ship was born. It started just as I thought it would as an online diary and it just spiralled from there I am now reaching two thousands hits a month from all over the world it really is crazy to think that many people are interested in my work and my rambles! I have now just surpassed my two year anniversary and it’s still going strong, in my recent website update I have included a new page ‘Apprenticeships’ where I now advertise construction apprenticeships all over the U.K. I also include various references from former employers and clients so it has just evolved from a diary to a kind of online C.V/Blog.
PAGE 5 How many apprenticeships have you done? Where have you done them? What was your favourite? I have now just finished my third! I started out as a plumber and completed a two year course and a NVQ L2 in the subject. Then I began my career as a Bricklayer and achieved a NVQ L2 & 3 and I have now just finished my latest apprenticeship with The Prince’s Foundation gaining a Heritage Brickwork NVQ L3. Both my plumbing and Bricklaying apprenticeships were done in and around Harrogate. My Heritage Brickwork took part all over the country where I got to work on some amazing buildings and projects including Lincoln Cathedral and York Minster which are all documented on the Blog.
was determined though. The only way you can learn a trade properly is via an apprenticeship and you have to start off small and then one day hopefully make it big. All trades have various lengths of apprenticeships. Architects have to spend over five years, it just depends. Have you ever felt that as an apprentice you are doing work that would usually be done by a fully-paid employee? Absolutely. I am of the mind-set though you have to do the hard and complicated jobs so you fully understand what you’re doing and why.
What do you hope to do in the future? Spreading The Apprentice-Ship love worldwide! I am planning my next adventure already (announcement will be on my Blog I would have to say my favourite was my origi- soon). In the future I am planning to travel to nal Bricklaying apprenticeship. At this point Africa to help those less fortunate than myself. I had finally found something I had enjoyed I have spent my time learning about building and something that I wanted to really progress and studying techniques and I now feel it’s in. time to teach those who don’t get the opportunities that I have. What are the pros and cons of apprenticeships and are you a supporter of them and Have you any advice for young people lookwhy? ing for work? I am a HUGE supporter of apprenticeships Persistence. Try and try again. If you can’t get they gave me the opportunity to make somework and you know you really want to do it thing of myself and my life at a time where I ask if you can work for free for a week or so was looking at nothing but the job centre. I to prove yourself, volunteer in local projects. am so thankful for all the opportunities I have Anything you do that can set you apart from been given over the years. the other applicants is worth doing. I would like to see the colleges improving the way they teach people now. Too much emphasis is on funding and reaching targets rather than producing great craftsman which is disappointing. In my final year at college I was told this first hand by a tutor. How do apprenticeships work? Are you paid? At what rate? How long do you do them for? The pay isn’t great. I was on £100 a week when I started and I was working my socks off. I
You say that you were doing jobs usually done by fully-paid employees for “not great pay” and encourage people to work for free if they can’t get a job. What would you say to people who say that by working for less than a minimum wage you are undermining wage rates in the industry or perhaps putting other bricklayers out of work by doing their jobs for cheaper? It is becoming harder and harder to get noticed in the industry due to the amount of
PAGE 6 ‘cowboys’ that are more than happy to turn up do a rubbish job, get paid and go home. This is leading to company’s being far more careful of who they employ and rightly so. The only way you can beat this is by showing initiative, network with local people on volunteer projects and yes offer to work for a free. I understand that some people might argue wage rates etc. but at the end of the day you have to look after yourself and your family, I am in no way implying people should go out there and work for free for the rest of their life’s I am only suggesting it as a good method to get noticed. I can’t see how this would lead to bricklayers being put out of work, if the said bricklayer is good at their job who in the right mind would sack them. How can our readers get in touch with you and follow what you’re up to? Firstly and most obviously my Blog: www.Apprentice-Ship.com I am also all over the social media websites: Twitter @SamuelShip Facebook www.facebook.com/TheApprenticeShip If you need advice on apprenticeships please get in touch I would be more than happy to help anyone.
Apprenticeships made simple By Peter Stone from Apprenticeships Life
the right to claim unfair dismissal and protection against discrimination. Apprentices are entitled to full employment rights including holidays, rest periods and sick pay. Before you can take on an apprentice you must first agree the key terms, such as the duration, pay, training aspects and any other general policies that are applicable. Basic rates of pay are set by the government on an annual basis which at the minute stands at £2.65 per hour rising with age; however, employers can pay more and many do. An Apprenticeship will typically be for a fixed duration. This can range from 12 months to several years, depending on the time reasonably needed to acquire the skills or qualification in question. After all, you couldn’t expect a new brick layer to build a house in his/her first month. I always advise employers to offer a work experience period to ensure that both parties are suitable before taking someone on as an apprentice, whether part time or not. The process: • Determine what recruitment opportunities you have and if an apprentice could fulfil the vacancy • Talk to your local college and/or training provider about your requirements, job description, person specification • The provider will advise on the type of apprenticeships programmes available to fill the role and submit suitable applicants to you for interview/assessment • Select a suitable candidate from the applicants • Support the apprentice within your organisation to learn the skills and gain the experience to successfully complete their apprenticeship
Apprenticeships have been around for hundreds of years now, possibly more. Over the years the process has changed and now the ‘Modern apprenticeships’ involve the appren- For further information about recruiting aptice; the employer; and a training provider. An prentices you can visit Peter’s website: apprentice is an employee and benefits from www.apprenticeshipslife.org.uk
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Chilled Food Association Interview When we hear so regularly that there are no jobs available, we thought it would be good to showcase an industry that is recruiting and investing in youth engagement to support its growing staff needs. What is the chilled food industry? The chilled food industry is one of the UK’s largest growing food sectors. It’s dynamic, fast moving, ever changing and currently worth £14.4bn. It set standards and implements practices like no other country – in short chilled food in the UK leads the world! Some 25 major companies work across more than one hundred UK production sites giving us over 12,000 different chilled foods. But in this constantly innovating environment many will be changed within a year, thanks to new product development. Chilled food contains no artificial preservatives. It is kept fresh and tasty by chilling, in the fridge at between 0-5°C. It includes prepared foods such as ready meals, fresh soups and sandwiches and pizza and raw foods such as leafy salads, stir fry kits and vegetables. The chilled food industry in the UK is represented by the Chilled Food Association (CFA). CFA was formed in 1989 to establish, continuously improve and promote best hygienic practice standards in the production of retailed chilled prepared food. CFA represents many of the leading names in UK chilled prepared food production, predominantly supplying the retail trade. www.chilledfood.org What sort of companies are chilled food companies? CFA members range from large scale businesses with many different sites, such as Samworth Brothers and Greencore to smaller
operations with just one or two sites such as Natures Way. They are predominantly based in the East of England close to the growers who supply the fresh vegetables and fruit used in the products. They produce own-label food for the leading supermarkets as well as branded products. What sort of careers are in the sector? There are 60,000 employees in the sector, including 1,750 science degree-requiring technical roles. Food science graduates can chose from a diverse range of opportunities: technical staff ensure quality and standards of production are maintained; microbiological teams deal with food safety and new product developers keep the industry alive with new tastes and ideas. And for non-science graduates there are opportunities across all business divisions from HR to IT and finance.
What sort of qualifications and skills are needed? You’ll need science A and or AS levels, maths and, for graduate entry, a food science or other biological science degree. Academic qualifications are crucial but a passion for the subject helps! Once inside a company if you work hard you’re likely to get the chance to move around and experience a variety of roles.
PAGE 8 So a flexible outlook is vital. What is the recruitment market like? It’s very good! The chilled food industry is desperate for good food science graduates. Currently one in six vacancies that need a degree are left unfilled. Which is surprising given starting salaries for graduates can be around £25k. Why is it a good sector to work in? Everyone needs food! Sounds obvious but it’s true. And chilled food is a growing industry with a future. It’s challenging, but hard work brings rewards. The sector offers excellent careers prospects and progression there’s the opportunity to earn around £150k as a group technical director. There are other benefits too – including the opportunity to travel and, even more importantly you’ll be playing a part in keeping the UK fed. What is the future like for the sector in terms of employment, opportunities and challenges? The biggest problem at the moment is the lack of graduates coming into the industry. This is mainly due to an image problem – there’s a misconception that working in food is poorly paid or is only about catering or cooking – not true, as we’ve talked about earlier. Opportunities will continue to expand and with each new product comes new challenges – from the ingredients to the packaging. And as the public taste changes so must the products. So the hunger for fresh ideas is as big as the need for fresh ingredients! Can you tell us a little more about Chilled Education? The CFA realised that the industry is facing a skills shortage, with fewer science graduates coming into the industry. So, in September 2011 it launched Chilled Education, a project designed to tackle the problem at source – in the classroom.
CFA worked with teachers and food industry experts to develop a unique set of web-based resources to be used in the classroom. From lesson plans to fun activities these are all designed to inspire and enthuse young people. The resources are also practical and hands-on. The once-seen-never forgotten Glo-Germ kits are popular with teachers to show the importance of proper handwashing and our fridge thermometers help take the chilled message home. Chilled Education also bring experts out to schools to share their knowledge and experiences and take teachers into CFA member factories to witness food production in action. It is now working with over 300 “Cool Schools” and is keen to get more. The team regularly visit science careers fairs and open days to talk to teachers, students and careers advisors. To find out more visit www.chillededucation.org How can our readers find out more about the sector or the work it is doing to support careers in schools? For information on the CFA and the sector visit www.chilledfood.org and to find out more about inspiring and enthusing young people visit www.chillededucation.org Lastly can you tell us why you are a supporter of Youth Employment UK CIC? I am personally and professionally very concerned that graduates are not coming into the chilled food sector. I would not want to work in another other industry but not everyone is aware of the benefits it offers. So if more information becomes readily available through such initiatives then this can only be a good thing.
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Third annual National Careers Week launches to inspire young people and schools with planning for the future Careers guidance for young people has never been more important, with nearly one million young people unemployed in the UK[1] and businesses vocal about the skills gap they face when recruiting at entry level[2]. To help schools and young people access the support and information they need to improve their skills, the third annual National Careers Week (NCW) took place from 4 to the 8 March 2013, organised by Careersinfo in partnership with Barclays and supported by the National Apprenticeship Service and The Department for Work and Pensions. NCW is a UK-wide celebration of careers information, advice and guidance, developed to encourage education providers to bring together students, local employers and advisers to provide careers activities. It aims to inspire schools, academies and colleges to offer careers advice and guidance, highlighting the free resources and support available, while at the same time, inspiring employers to connect with young people. During the week over 1,500 schools, academies and colleges signed up to provide more than 1.1 million students the support they need to make informed choices about their first step on the career ladder. It is estimated that 25,000 free NCW resources were down-
loaded during the week including videos, case studies and information about the world of work. Ashok Vaswani, Chief Executive of Barclays Retail and Business Banking, said: “It has never been more important for young people, particularly those who are vulnerable, to be able to access the help and support they need to learn the future career opportunities available to them. This is why we’re so pleased to be supporting National Careers Week and give schools, academies and colleges access to the resources they need to help young people achieve their aspiration for the future.“
Noah Konig, Head of Digital at Careersinfo and the founder of National Careers Week, said: “This year’s Careers Week has been sensational and provided a real impetus for educators to deliver quality careers guidance to young people in ways that capture their imagination and interest like never before.” Noah believes the secret behind the success of NCW is that the week was initiated out of a demand within schools to focus part of the academic calendar on developing their students’ futures. “National Careers Week was created in response to a growing desire from teach-
PAGE 10 ers to be able to offer their students quality career guidance at a time when budgets were being tightened. There are lots of initiatives created at the top of government and industry that don’t make the desired impact down on the ground, in schools. National Careers Week puts the power in the hands of the educators and the students; creating focus, materials and excitement for them to tailor a week of activity to the needs of their students. It is a real down-on-the-ground success story, which we’re so proud to be part of.”
Stephan also thinks that the activities schools provide during NCW could help them meet their Ofsted requirements to provide impartial, independent and external careers guidance for their students, and says that preparing young people for employment is vital in schools. “Students need to know what is available to them when they leave education and be best prepared to achieve their full potential. Careers Week not only gives students the opportunity to find out about future career paths but it also creates a real buzz and excitement which encourages them to think more positively about their futures.” National Careers Week will take place next year between 3 to the 7 March 2014. To register for more information visit the website www.nationalcareersweek.com [1] www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn05871 [2] www.manpowergroup.us/campaigns/talent-shortage-2012/pdf/2012_Talent_Shortage_Survey_Results_ US_FINALFINAL.pdf
Activities during the week in participating schools included special guest speakers, day trips out to local employers, ‘build-a-career’ workshops, CV writing exercises, and even fashion shows demonstrating ‘what and what not to wear at job interviews’. Malet Lambert School in Hull was one of the most active during National Careers Week 2013 with over 30 careers activities for students to participate in across a variety of subjects. Stephan Logan is the Head of Careers at Malet Lambert and a big supporter of NCW. He said, “National Careers Week is a hugely exciting week of inspiration, motivation, employability and enterprise with so many different activities that will engage students and really get them thinking about their future.”
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Barclays Retail Development programme Considering a career in Leadership and Management? Want to start your career and continue studying? The Barclays Retail Development programme offers the best of both Worlds. Here at Barclays, we have created a unique and innovative development programme in close conjunction with the Lord Ashcroft International Business School at Anglia Ruskin University. It’s a sponsored degree, so all your tuition fees will be paid for, and you’ll be able to enjoy a university education without incurring any debt. At the same time, it offers you paid work in our retail banking business, as you follow a fast-track route into a leadership role. The Retail Development Programme really does offer you the best of both worlds. Over the course of three years, you’ll be able to secure yourself a degree while also developing the skills and experience you need to become a branch manager or leader within the Bank. Along the way, you’ll enjoy the support of a wide range of people, including tutors, an academic mentor, your line manager, the programme manager and your assigned buddy, all of whom can help ensure you achieve your full potential.
You’ll complete a three-year BA (Hons) in Management and Leadership, but will be work-based and employed by Barclays from day one. There will be three two-week study blocks for you to attend in your first year, and two two-week study blocks in each of your second and third years. During your studies, you’ll cover a number of modular topics including Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Realities, Career Management and Development and Contemporary Issues for Leadership and Innovation. At work, meanwhile, you’ll gain experience through a number of structured placements, designed to help establish you as a business professional and develop your leadership skills. We will pay you a salary from the start, as well as covering your university fees for the three years. We are currently accepting applications for the programme to start in September 2013. To read more, and to apply, please visit http://www.seemore-bemore.com/programmes/school-leaver-programme
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Survey We recently asked 16-24 year olds what annoys them the most when you are job hunting – here are the results:
To have your opinion heard keep an eye out for future polls on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/YouthEmploymentUK
Youth Employment UK - Video Competition With the number of 16-24 year olds not in education, employment or training our mission is to showcase to businesses the benefits of hiring young people and prove that young people can add value to the world of work and bring a range of skills that can have a positive impact to their employers. We would like to invite young people to enter a competition to create a 120 second video which demonstrates that young people (you in particular) are employable and why UK employers should be more “Youth Friendly” The best of the videos will be made into a montage for the Youth Employment UK Site and shown at events all over the UK.
PAGE 13 Winning videos will receive a money can’t buy gift of an amazing work experience opportunity with some of the leading business men and women in the UK. Video Title Brief
Type of Media
Who can enter? How to enter
“Take a chance on me” Create a two minute video which describes/demonstrates why you are employable and what you have done in addition to your education to make yourself “work ready”. Any media can be used – 3D, Animation, Cartoon, live action, the video can be as artistic as your imagination allows as long as it is in keeping with the title and brief. File submission is a maximum of 100MB with a minimum resolution of 320x240pixels in MPEG Format. The competition is open to anyone living in the UK who is aged 16-24 years old. You must first be a member of Youth Employment UK: www.yeuk.org.uk/young-people Submit your film to info@yeuk.org.uk before the 28.03.2013 By submitting your film you are agreeing to our competition rules, see www.yeuk.org.uk for more information.
Judging
ntries submitted after midnight on the 28.03.2013 will not be accepted. Entries must NOT be obscene, illegal or infringe on any third party intellectual property rights. Judging will be conducted by the Youth Employment UK Advisory Board and a specialist film producer, winners announced on the 5th of April 2013. Judges decision is final.
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Aspire Sports: Why we joined Youth Employment UK Last month it was reported that British youth unemployment is rising faster than any other G8 country since the start of the recession. The study undertaken by the Work Foundation explained that the problem cannot be attributed just to the recession and the Government has been urged to follow the lead of other European countries by taking measures including more apprenticeships and increased training opportunities (source: Daily Mail).
We have heard too many stories about businesses taking apprentices on as a ‘tick box’ exercise. As a means of cheap labour and of in effect, making money for their organisations. This is wrong, misleading and completely unfair to those young people who see apprenticeships as a way into the real world. Young people need a chance. Work with them and help them blossom into people who make a difference! We did and we will continue to do so! This is why we have recently become members of Youth Employment UK. A national campaign that aims to help increase the number of young people in employment in the UK. If you are a young person or a business, check them out!
Young people in the UK get a lot of bad press, wrongly so in our opinion. Aspire Sports currently has a team of 35 full time employees. For more information on Aspire Sports please 85% of our team is operations based delivervisit www.aspire-sports.co.uk ing sports and physical activity programmes into a variety of settings including schools and the NHS. The average age of our operations team is 23. Two members of this team are apprentices both just turned 20 years of age. Both individuals have been with Aspire Sports since March 2012 and have completed their NVQ Level 2 in Activity Leadership. They have both progressed onto a Level 3. They have been mentored by people who have developed with Aspire Sports after joining us at the age of 23 and 24. Not even a year into their employment and both have developed an array of new qualities and skills. Their confidence has grown, they have become more than just ‘assistants’ and are close to being competent ‘Educators’ who will eventually lead sessions on their own. Young people are at the heart and soul of our business. They should be at the heart and soul of every business.
Interview with Petroc College Petroc College has recently joined Youth Employment UK as an Education Ambassador, we think they are a great example of how education can support it learners post education. Here is our interview with Louise Laing. So your role at Petroc College is The Job Shop Coordinator, can you tell us a little about The Job Shop and what you do? The Job Shop is a free service being offered to Petroc students and local employers to help bridge the gap between college and employment. Our students are given advice on
PAGE 15 employability, constructing their CV and interview techniques as well as being put in touch with local organisations looking for employees. We invite employers to post their vacancies with us be that for paid employment, work experience, trainee programme, apprenticeships or volunteer opportunities, all either part-time or full-time. My role is to drive the whole concept forward, managing all areas of its development and maintenance, developing relationships with key colleagues, partners, employers, students, the community and schools to examine and achieve the best employment outcomes for our learners. Is supporting students post education and into employment important to the college? Extremely. In our 16-18 young learners strategy we state that in our aims we will ensure that our young people achieve outstanding results in vocational courses and progress into high quality jobs and that we will work with businesses to develop apprenticeships, employment and work experience opportunities.
contact between local employers and employees of the future. Additionally, we are focussing on delivering sessions on employability skills, i.e. mock interviews, interview techniques, the importance of a good CV, confidence building and personal presentation. We hope that as many of our students as possible can be involved and by participating gain some invaluable information and knowledge that will inspire them and give them greater confidence for their journey into employment. What are the youth unemployment rates like in Barnstable and Devon in general? Youth unemployment rates in North Devon are generally falling at a faster rate than nationally, however seasonal employment opportunities which are often more accessible for younger people will impact upon rates falling at certain times of the year.
What are the most common barriers to work for your students? Living in a rural area presents its own challenges to our students in terms of availability and frequency of transportation. A recent survey we did with our students certainly Do you think Petroc stands out as an “emhighlighted this as well as the high levels of ployability” college. competition they face and being able to break Whilst this is a fairly new initiative for us, we the cycle of “how do you get work experience recognise the importance of developing emwhen employers want you to have experience ployability skills for our learners and we will to take you on”. A significant number of stucontinue to develop this in every way possible. dents also believe that employers don’t want to It is important that our student programmes employ young people. incorporate pathways for our learners to follow in order that they fulfil their aspirations What are your concerns for the future for and achieve their goals. young people? One of my biggest concerns is our young Tell us a little about your event that is coming people losing hope in terms of their future up, what is it about, what will happen and employment prospects. what outcomes are you looking for? “Be Inspired, Get Hired. The Job Shop EmYou have become the first Education Ambasployability Week”. We are holding an event sador for Youth Employment UK can you tell over four days (18-21 March) on our main us why you have joined and what you are site campus at Barnstaple. One of the primary looking forward to in working with us? aims of the event is to facilitate face to face
PAGE 16 Having just conducted our own student survey, it was heartening to see that our findings virtually mirrored the unemployment challenges that Youth Employment UK have identified. The idea of young people being able to access one sensible place with zones for different pathways, explaining the how, the what and the why, very much fits with my vision for The Job Shop. I am delighted to become part of this inspirational organisation in order to champion our young people. Have you got any ideas how you will promote your new membership to students and colleagues? We will use every resource available to us here to raise the profile within Petroc of our membership to Youth Employment UK. We are working on a regular employer newsletter and this will undoubtedly be one of our major news stories. www.petroc.ac.uk
Free Coaching from Your Career Mentor Your Career Mentor (YCM) is offering free coaching for a limited number of young unemployed people for a limited period. What is coaching? Coaching is a conversation between two people: the coach and the client/coachee (you). In simple terms, the role of the coach is to support you in identifying and achieving your goals by using a variety of tools and techniques. The coach will help you to move from where you are now to where you want to be much quicker than if you are working on your own. For example: if you don’t know what your ideal career is, YCM will help you to identify
it; If you do know what your ideal career is but are struggling to make it happen, YCM will help you to make progress towards it. Success is not guaranteed and is ultimately down to you and the actions that you take. Coaching empowers you with the awareness and responsibility to change your life for the better. Free coaching For a limited period YCM is offering free coaching to a limited number of unemployed young people on a first come first served basis. Coaching can take place via telephone, Skype or face-to-face dependent upon your preference and location. For further information please email Pete Knight, the Principal and Lead Coach, at peter.knight@yourcareer-mentor.com with “Free Coaching” as the subject. Alternatively go to www.yourcareer-mentor.com and leave a reply on the “Free Coaching” page including your email address. Please note that your reply will not be published. What are you waiting for? Take a positive step towards changing your life for the better today.
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Upcoming Events Running an event that aims to support youth unemployment? Let us know and we will share it here. When
What
Who
14th March
www.learningtowork.org. Berkshire Apprentice- Businesses and Young uk/media/44650/apprenticeship Adventure People ship%20advert.pdf
18th – 22nd March
Petroc College – Job Shop Week
20th March
In the Know – Youth Employment UK Em- 16-24 year olds ployability Workshop
http://intheknow.eventbrite. co.uk
6th April
Under the Radar – Isle of Wight
16–24 year olds
http://young-collective.tumblr.com/post/43220441210/ event-under-the-radar
16th April
Deloitte Insights Event
16-24 year olds
http://mycareer.deloitte. com/uk/en/schools/events
18th April
www.brightfutures.co.uk/ The Future of Work – Businesses and Young home/events/nationalThe Student Voice People conferences/employabilityconference.html
23rd April
Youth Employment Schools, Businesses UK - Employability and Providers Excellence Workshop
info@yeuk.org.uk
8th – 9th May
Youth Employment Convention
www.cesi.org.uk/events/ youth-employment-convention
Students and Businesses
Businesses
How
jobshop@petroc.ac.uk
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Why we need employers to work in schools and why they should By InspireEducation To drive our economy we need to ensure that our young people have the relevant skills and aspirations to contribute successfully to the world of work whilst the onus is on education to provide an academic grounding, the need for business to support employability skills grows daily. According to a recent UKCES study 29% of employers citied work experience as critical, 45% saying its significant when considering applications from young people.
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A careers talk in a school Attending a careers fair or event Support enterprise challenges Work experience Mentoring Work shadowing Support Mock Interviews Site visits CPD events for teachers
From a one hour commitment once a year to offering work experience, there are so many different ways we can all do a little something extra that will have a really positive impact on our young people. Positive Youth Charter for Employers By signing this charter I agree to the continued development of mine and my organisation’s skills, attitudes and behaviours in respect of the recruitment, support and engagement of young people.
This is causing a worrying “Catch 22” situation for young people; schools are finding it more and more difficult to provide work experience opportunities for their pupils leaving many young people without the chance of gaining some experience before trying to enter the world of work. It may seem a little daunting the idea of providing some work experience to a 16 year old, the red tape might be off putting. But this is why Youth Employment UK developed a Positive Youth Charter that just asks us all to do a little more, it does not have to be a big gesture because Youth Employment UK knows that if we can get UK employers to do just one more thing to make ourselves “Youth Friendly” then the youth unemployment landscape would be very different. So what can be done by UK employers?
Can you agree to supporting young people? Are you already doing it? Then maybe you should sign up to the Positive Youth Charter and help us fight youth unemployment. InspireEducation is a specialist Careers and Employability company, working with schools and businesses across the UK www.i2e-education.co.uk
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Unemployment is not the fault of the unemployed By Joe Lo For me, one of the most infuriating and depressing things about being unemployed is the way society looks down upon you. Politicians and their media allies have tried to shift the blame for unemployment away from their failed economic policies and towards the unemployed themselves.
work who resent having “their taxes” spent on keeping you alive (despite the fact that only 0.00002% of public spending goes on jobseekers allowance). If these people think being unemployed is such a great life then why don’t they volunteer to do it? So, unemployed people keep your head up. You’re taking on a tough, vital role in austerity Britain and doing it for little reward. Here’s hoping you don’t have to do it for long. [1] http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/owen-jones-hatred-of-those-on-benefits-is-dangerously-out-of-control-7763793.html
The most shocking embodiment of this argument was the sympathy in some newspapers in May 2012 for those who committed an arson attack on the Phillpot family in which six children died. Some right-wing commentators, such as Carol Malone, argued that the Phillpot family had effectively brought it upon themselves by being a family of seventeen who relied on social security . This is an extreme example but is indicative of a growing campaign to demonise those on benefits, particu- By Keshav Bhatt Youth Employment larly unemployment benefit. Ambassador There are many reasons this rhetoric makes I graduated in July 2011 no sense but I’ll focus on just one here. The from Reading Universisimple fact is that in any capitalist society ty with a BA in English there are more people looking for work than Literature. Like most graduates entering the there are jobs. This is particularly the case in ‘real world’ of employment, I had completed a country like ours which is close to experi3 years of academic study and was entering a encing a triple-dip recession and has implemented austerity measures where there are 2.5 phase of uncertainty and curiosity. million people unemployed and only 480,000 Having worked really hard in my final year, vacancies. after graduating (quite literally - immediately after my ceremony!) I hopped on a plane to This unfortunate reality means that we need Australia to visit family for the summer. 2 million people to be unemployed. Unemployment is a tough, boring, demoralising and However, I’ve always been the type of person thankless task but someone (2 million somewho hates not having something to do, or ones in this case) has to do it and as a reward some purpose to fulfil and I decided to transget only £50 a week if you’re young. On top form my supposed ‘holiday’ into an opportuof that, you have to put up with smug disapnity to get some work experience abroad. I proval from those fortunate enough to be in
Q: Not sure if it’s the right career for you? A: Get out there and FIND OUT
PAGE 20 had so many questions about my future that I knew I needed to answer, and to do this pretty soon so I set upon searching for those answers. I still got to enjoy myself and have a great time with my family, but I also got to start preparing for the life I would be going back to. Like many other English graduates, teaching seemed like an obvious fit for me as a career. I had volunteered throughout university life as a teaching assistant, a student mentor, and as an ambassador of the university for AimHigher. As a result, I wanted to step up a little, and really experience it for myself. I wanted to know every detail of what I was entering: how much lesson planning is it? What are the worst days like? What are the best days like? What are the things I need to know from the people who know it?
Keshav is the founder of the brilliant Revolution Hive, inspiring and supporting young people to be the best they can be http://revolutionhive.com Keep an eye out for his video blogs!
Unemployed Geology Graduate Defeats Government’s Workfare Scheme By Joe Lo
Cait Reilly is 24-years old. After studying geology at Birmingham University she hoped to work in a museum so found herself a placement in one. Initially she worked for the minimum wage then she worked unpaid and signed on to survive. After two months So what happened? I had a great time working of unemployment she was informed of an in a local school for a few weeks and got some open day for people interested in jobs in the experience in teaching in the classroom at as retail sector. She was told by her adviser that many different age levels as possible - from the scheme was a week training followed by a nursery, all the way up to secondary. I spent guaranteed job interview. After two months my lunch breaks asking as many questions of unemployment she claims she was happy to to as many different teachers, all with vast go along as “like more than a million young amounts of knowledge and experience to find people today, [she found] living on £53 a week out if this was really the right option for me. extremely difficult, and would be delighted to find any paid work”. I came back with a) experience of teaching abroad and b) a really clear idea of what to However at the open day she was shocked to expect if I chose teaching. discover that the “one-week training” was in fact up to six-weeks. As she was already on If you’re not sure what to do, or if it’s the right work experience (in the museum) and already career for you, get yourself out there and start had retail experience she told her advisor the asking the people who have done it questions. scheme was not for her only to be told that Those teachers were like potential future Kes- she had no choice but to take part. Reilly hav Bhatt’s. And even though I didn’t choose characterised the scheme as “not training, teaching as a career, I still have the experience but two weeks’ unpaid work stacking shelves of working in another country to add to my and cleaning floors. I came out with nothing; CV and the skills I gained from doing it too. Poundland gained considerably”. Go for it! You have nothing to lose!!
This feeling of injustice, impotent anger and disillusionment is common to many victims of
PAGE 21 workfare. Unlike many others though, Reilly decided to do something about it and took the government to court and the scheme was declared “unlawful” primarily as the participants were not given enough information about it or lied to by the Jobcentre.
What I love about Youth Employment UK and makes it stand out is it’s not about reinventing the wheel or duplicating what’s already out there. It’s about creating a platform which brings together young people, schools, businesses and youth organisations in one place.
Boycott Workfare is reporting that after this ruling, Jobcentre staff are wrongly telling claimants that “nothing has changed” when in fact it has. Any sanctions resulting from the unlawful scheme should have been lifted immediately and put back to first-tier sanctions. There is no longer a requirement to participate in any of the schemes and anyone who has been sanctioned for refusing to attend should appeal against this as soon as possible.
I’m also an HR professional working with new and growing businesses. I’ve seen first-hand what 16 to 24 year olds can offer companies out there. Young people within our communities throughout the UK have so much to give to a business from creative ideas, new skills and creating a talent pipeline for the future. There is much talk in the press of the need for business involvement to tackle youth unemployment. We need more businesses to step up and sign up to the YEUK Positive Youth Charter and show their support for being positive about employing young people and providing opportunities.
More information about the ruling and how it affects you can be found at the link below but the moral of this story is what can be achieved when unemployed people refuse to be bullied and stick up for their rights. Well done Cait Reilly! www.boycottworkfare.org
Bringing it all together By Danielle McDonald Colour Your Success Youth Employment UK is an incredible organisation with a clear and effective aim to get young people into employment. Laura-Jane’s vision is one which I support and believe in. As someone who works with young people and an advocate for helping to tackle youth unemployment the decision to become a member and supporter was a no brainer!
Youth organisations also have a key role to play. Forget competition. Let’s collaborate for a greater cause with one aim - to get young people into employment. Talking only gets us so far, we need to work together and take action. “A choir is made up of many voices, including yours and mine. If one by one all go silent then all that will be left are the soloists. Don’t let a loud few determine the nature of the sound. It makes for poor harmony and diminishes the song.” - Vera Nazarian Danielle McDonald, Founder and Director at Colour Your Success www.colouryoursuccess.com and Vibrant People www.vibrantpeople.co.uk Twitter: @ColourURSuccess | @vibrantpeople
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