Could recruiters have a more prominent role in careers advice for young people?

Jo Faragher

When Tiana Locker was at college, her favourite subject was law. But when she approached her careers advisor about her options for the future, she was told she’d have to go to university. “I knew I didn’t want to go to university,” remembers Locker. “She said that if I was sure that I didn’t want to go, maybe I should consider following my mum’s footsteps and work in a school – something I wasn’t interested in.”

After college, with no idea what to do, Locker was unemployed for a year before she found an apprenticeship. She now works for the qualifications group City & Guilds as a youth engagement executive, and gets to talk to young people about their options and next steps.

Her experience of careers advice is not unusual, unfortunately. In a recent City & Guilds survey, only 14% of respondents had heard about their choice of career from a careers advisor, and only 9% learnt more through an employer coming to talk to the school. More respondents had been influenced by their parents (21%), or had become interested in their careers choice via the media (28%). There is no formal obligation for schools to provide careers advice, only guidance from the Government, and in 2013, Ofsted claimed that careers advice was failing too many pupils.

In order to bridge that gap, a number of employers and their recruitment partners are becoming more involved with helping young people decide on a future career path. Angela Middleton, founder of MiddletonMurray and author of How to Get Your First Job, takes in cohorts of school leavers every few months as part of a pre-apprenticeship programme. A key element of this is helping individuals visualize where they want to go with their career, the qualifications and experience they’ll need to get there, and the different roles available to them. “It’s not fair to say schools give no advice, but it’s not enough to enable them to make a decision,” she says. “It needs to be more embedded.”

Brampton Recruitment is another agency that works closely with young people, running workshops on ‘job ready’ skills such as communication, applying for jobs, preparing CVs and writing covering letters. “It’s becoming more and more apparent that there isn’t much support for these applicants when it comes to developing the vital skills employers are looking for,” says Charlotte Walker, branch manager. But this connection also has a benefit for the agency, she adds. “If the students we meet are already familiar with Brampton, they’re more likely to come to us when looking to start their careers. Similarly, building relationships with this generation helps us find the right job match for them if they come to us further down the line.”

One of the issues with schools careers advice, as the C&G research highlights, is that many teachers (who run careers advice as an extra to their day-to-day work) assume that the natural next step for those leaving school should be university. The Government has recently announced – as part of its push to create three million new apprenticeships during this parliament – that schools will be legally obliged to promote apprenticeships as well as other routes.

This is something that’s welcomed by Fay Gibbin, training manager at Busy Bees Training. “We have quite often found [schools] are unaware of the changes made to apprenticeships and GCSE requirements, therefore are unable to provide students with well informed, up-to-date advice,” she explains. Her company works closely with secondary schools to arm them with information and support for students looking for careers in early years.

Similarly, recruiter Page Group visits schools across the country to give 16- to 18-year-olds employability advice. Nick Kirk, regional managing director, says: “Engaging tomorrow’s workforce is critical to a successful economy and whilst careers advice directly from schools or colleges may be seen as on the decline, we’ve certainly seen an increase in our consultants becoming more involved with 16- to 18-year-olds partnering with schools and colleges as a way of getting more involved with the local community.”

In sectors where there are skills shortages, particularly in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects, getting more careers advice to school leavers is crucial in order to be able to fill vacancies down the line. Software development company Automation Consultants, for example, supplies university careers departments with useful content to encourage students to consider a role in this competitive field. As a small business, this helps it stand out as an employer, reports Francis Miers, a director.

“Coding is very fashionable and covered a lot in the media. However, development isn’t the only job in the software lifecycle and we felt it important to give both career departments and the grads they deal with an insight into a subject they informed us they didn’t have much information on. From our perspective, if we provide this kind of advice then we have a better chance of attracting great grads.”

Elsewhere, employers and recruiters are keen to target talent straight from school, supporting them through professional qualifications and providing them with work experience from day one. BPS World, an engineering recruiter, runs its own apprenticeship programme known as Rising Stars, where participants acquire an REC Level 2 qualification at the end. “Real work experience is invaluable,” says managing director Simon Conington. “The learning and development culture we have established creates an understanding of the working environment and develops transferable skills across different sectors.”

Conington believes that recruiters have a responsibility to nurture young talent. “The overall opinion from our school leavers is the advice given was poor and uninformed. Many were only given a 30-minute chat about what roles interest them and there was no structure given to the process of finding a job or even how to write a CV,” he adds. The company is also involved in career days, where students can discuss their options with representatives from different companies.

A good first step in supporting young people’s careers is to approach schools – many will be glad to host a visit if it helps build aspirations and plants the seeds of career aspiration in students. Sian Goodson, managing director of search agency Goodson Thomas, believes it’s never too early. “What is needed is high-quality careers counselling that delves into more about the young person and their manner, not just what they like studying,” she says. “I think more of that needs to be done proactively in schools as early as possible by recruitment professionals so it helps shape young people’s thinking.”

With so many options available – and huge changes to career possibilities in decades to come – having a more involved role in careers advice can be hugely positive for students, recruiters and employers.