Collective leadership for high-quality careers support

Tag Archives: informed choices


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What about jobs for the next generation?

BN13A CoverNever mind youth unemployment now, what about the next generation?

A new report on youth unemployment titled ‘Precarious Futures’ by the UKCES confirms our concerns about labour market opportunities for future generations. TUC Secretary General, Frances O’Grady said recently that job prospects for many young people have deteriorated alarmingly.

Although improving, we know that only one in four employers offer work experience placements to young people in education and just 15% of employers have or offer apprenticeships to young people.

Structural changes in the labour market mean that young people are competing with older and more experienced workers, who have been forced to trade down for the lower and mid level jobs that young people would normally take.

The Careers Alliance has launched a #futuretalent campaign backed by over 50 employers, professional bodies and education organisations, including Atkins, Capgemini, Deloitte, National Grid, Siemens, Wates, the ACCA, the Bar Council, the Chartered Management Institute, the ICAEW, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Federation for Industry Sector Skills & Standards, Creative & Cultural Skills, and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation amongst many others.

It is not enough for employers to just offer more work opportunities for young people now. The Royal Academy of Engineering’s report on “Jobs and Growth” forecasts that the UK economy will require 830,000 professional scientists, engineers and technologists over the next decade alone. There is a long term skills issue that must be addressed by bringing education and training and the labour market closer together.

This is why employers and the Careers Alliance are calling for collaborative action between professional careers advisers, employers and schools and colleges in providing careers advice and guidance to young people by:

  1. Highlighting the importance of careers education and guidance in schools and colleges.
  2. Framing employer contributions as part of professionally managed careers programmes and not as ad hoc initiatives.
  3. Affirming that, working together within a planned careers programme, employers and career professionals can provide far more effective help to young people than either could do on their own.

 

The #futuretalent campaign challenges current Government policies by highlighting the importance of collaborative action in career guidance. This contrasts with the Government’s latest Statutory Guidance to schools which has emphasised contributions from employers and people in jobs to inspire and motivate young people in schools and colleges about the world of work, but makes little reference to the role of careers advisers, nor explains how such links between employers and schools and colleges can best be brokered.

The Careers Alliance, which is made up of more than twenty of the country’s largest skills and education organisations, reports that the inputs from employers and careers advisers need to be integrated into well-planned careers programmes in schools.

Commenting on the campaign, Dame Ruth Silver, Chair of the Careers Alliance, said: ‘There remains a disconnect between education and the world of work. Our joint call with employers shows that collaborative action is the best solution; employers say they can’t do it all on their own. Employers endorse this call by the Careers Alliance for partnership working to get careers guidance in schools and colleges right.’

Toby Peyton-Jones, Director of Human Resources at Siemens plc said: ‘Siemens would like to fully endorse the call for collaborative action by the Careers Sector Stakeholders Alliance by adding our support for driving structured and sustained collaboration between schools and employers in preparing young people for the world of work.’

Steve Holliday, CEO at National Grid said: ‘We know employers can play a more active role educating school children about the world of work. We would like to add our support to the Careers Alliance statement about improving the links between employers, schools and career advisory services to lead to better informed young people considering their career options.’

 

CSSA BN13A Employer Support for CSSA Statement

What of jobs for the next generation? CSSA #futuretalent campaign Press Release 23-06-14


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CSSA Briefing Note 13A

Employers say partnership working the only way to get careers guidance in schools and colleges right

BN13A CoverA joint statement by the Careers Alliance is published today with the support of a wide range of employers and sector bodies, including Atkins, Capgemini, Deloitte, National Grid, Siemens, Wates, the ACCA, the Bar Council, the Chartered Management Institute, the ICAEW, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Federation for Industry Sector Skills & Standards, Creative & Cultural Skills, and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation amongst many others.

It calls for collaborative action between professional careers advisers, employers and schools and colleges in providing careers advice and guidance to young people by:

  1. Highlighting the importance of careers education and guidance in schools and colleges.
  2. Framing employer contributions as part of professionally managed careers programmes and not as ad hoc initiatives.
  3. Affirming that, working together within a planned careers programme, employers and career professionals can provide far more effective help to young people than either could do on their own.

Employers, professional bodies and Sector Skills Councils have challenged Government policies by supporting the Careers Alliance statement. This contrasts with the Government’s latest Statutory Guidance to schools which has emphasised contributions from employers and people in jobs to inspire and motivate young people in schools and colleges about the world of work, but makes little reference to the role of careers advisers, nor explains how such links between employers and schools and colleges can best be brokered.

Getting the balance right beyond inspiration
Commenting on the campaign, Dame Ruth Silver, Chair of the Careers Alliance, said: ‘There remains a disconnect between education and the world of work. Our joint call with employers shows that collaborative action is the best solution; employers say they can’t do it all on their own. Employers endorse this call by the Careers Alliance for partnership working to get careers guidance in schools and colleges right.’

Professor Tony Watts, a leading international expert on career guidance said: ‘If employer contributions are to be effective, they require logistical support, curriculum space, and receptive schools and young people. They also need to be an integral part of well-planned careers programmes.’

Commenting on the Careers Alliance statement, Dr Tessa Stone, CEO of Brightside and Chair of the Bridge Group, said: ‘The employers we work with are actively engaged in working with schools and colleges. They value the role of professional careers advisers in managing careers education and guidance programmes within schools which incorporate and support the contributions of employers and people at work, so enhancing their value and ensuring their effectiveness.’

The Careers Alliance report concludes that employers (and people at work) and careers advisers both have distinctive and complementary contributions to make to the career development and career planning of young people. Working together, within a planned programme of careers education and guidance, they can provide far more effective help to young people than either could do on their own.

CSSA BN13A Employer Support for CSSA Statement


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CSSA Thinkpiece 2

High-quality Career Guidance for Enhancing Social Mobility:
a submission to the Milburn Review of Social Mobility and Child Poverty

Thinkpiece2 CoverThe Coalition Government’s strategy on social mobility recognises the value and contribution of careers education and guidance. Aside from a role for government, it states that “we can all make a difference to raising aspirations and helping people to make informed choices about jobs and careers”.

This submission sets out our concerns about the role of careers education, information, advice and guidance in improving social mobility. It summarises the key issues facing the careers sector in England, the role of careers professionals in helping people make informed choices, and the impact this has on the pathways and routes that are open to them. Social mobility needs to translate into opportunities for young people and adults, and resonates with the need to invest in technical and higher-level skills and to ensure pathways for lifelong learning and enhanced career adaptability8. For the purposes of brevity, however, the note focuses mainly on interventions for young people.

Thinkpiece 2 Social Mobility and CEIAG


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CSSA Briefing Note 8

The Government’s proposed new arrangements for careers education and guidance: what will they mean for employers?

BN8 CoverEmployers have a strong interest in the quality of careers education and guidance in schools. The better-prepared young people are in terms of their career decision-making, the more work-ready they are likely to be. Employers have much to contribute to the quality of careers education and guidance programmes in schools, through providing work experience, talks, mentoring etc. Many employers work with schools and with career guidance professionals to help young people understand the world of work. Much is being done to harness such contributions. But employers recognise that the scope and effectiveness of such contributions is significantly dependent on the existence, accessibility, quality and extent of careers education and guidance programmes in schools. A recent report produced by Deloitte for the Education and Employers Taskforce has emphasised the role that employers play in schools, but that more must be done.

We need to better harness the partnership working between employers,
schools and careers advisers to shape government policy on careers education, information, advice and guidance.

Briefing Note 8 Employer Engagement


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CSSA Briefing Note 6

Budget Allocations and Arrangements for Careers Services for Young people within the new All-age Careers Service in England

BN6 CoverAt the start of the Coalition Government there was initially significant uncertainty about careers policy in England. The parties entering into Coalition Government had promised much in their manifestos, and notwithstanding much promise about prioritising social mobility, the issue of careers education and IAG policy remained uncertain.

This Briefing Note sets out the concerns of the then UK Careers Sector Strategic Forum (now called the Careers Alliance) about the funding and transition arrangements for career information, advice and guidance (IAG) for young people in England and about the responsibilities of schools.

The note outlines concerns about the lack of appropriate funding and transition arrangements, and the lack of certainty of responsibility and resource allocation to schools and local authorities.

These concerns were highlighted at a time when the then Minister for Skills, John Hayes had made a widely-welcomed speech at the Institute of Career Guidance conference in Belfast in October, where he had reaffirmed that the heart of the new arrangements for young people must be close partnerships between schools and expert, independent advisers. Such partnerships have been shown by international research to be the strongest model of careers provision for young people. They are based on, in essence, schools being responsible for careers education, and an external service being responsible for providing career guidance. It is important that both of these elements be secured in the new legislation.

Briefing Note 6 Funding IAG Services for Young People Jan 2011