Policy News for Working Parents: Primary Futures
When you were at school, did you think about a career in the City? Chances are, it wasn’t top of your list. How do we help school children to understand what job possibilities exist in City professions? Nick Chambers from the charity Education & Employers tells us about a national volunteering initiative to open children’s eyes to a wide range of careers.
Many young people get their knowledge about jobs and careers from their parents, their teachers, TV or social media but this advice is often inadequate. They have little or no idea of what people in ‘the city’ do and the exciting career opportunities that exist.
Can you help change this? All you need to do is to volunteer an hour a year at a time to suit you to chat informally to school students about your job.
Over 30,000 people nationally, from Apprentices to CEOs, Archaeologists to Zoologists, have already agreed to do so and visit a school near where they live or work to chat informally to young people. They have done so using the free secure online matchmaking service Inspiring the Future which is backed by the government and the UK’s leading education and business organisations.
Inspiring the Future, and its Inspiring Women and Primary Futures campaigns aims to improve career insights by giving all young people, whatever their background, real insights into careers, jobs and educational routes.
Our charity recently launched #RedrawTheBalance which shows the stark reality of job gender stereotypes and this short film has been a social media hit.
It takes just 3 mins to sign up here and then teachers can invite you to visit. If you want to see how it all works here is a very short clip: here You can decide what you want to do – you could chat informally to small groups of kids, answering questions about your career, or give feedback on CVs or tips on interview techniques or just explain how you the subjects you studied are relevant to the job you do.
Register here to join us: http://www.inspiringthefuture.org/
Nick Chambers is Director of Education and Employers, the charity which runs Inspiring the Future and its Primary Futures and Inspiring Women Campaigns. The free on-line match making service connects state schools and colleges with employers and people from the world of work. It has been developed following extensive consultation with range of stakeholders – employers, education, government, third sector and intermediaries. Volunteers from Apprentices to CEOs, Archaeologists to Zoologists pledge just one hour a year to volunteer in a state school or college near where they live or work to talk to young people about their job and career route.
Originally Released On 02 July 2016