Be inspired, get hired!
26 February 2018
London Youth was very pleased to hold one of our monthly Be Inspired, Get Hired! events at Salmon Youth Centre in Bermondsey on Thursday 22nd of November. These accessible careers events allow select groups of young jobseekers being supported by Talent Match London, our flagship employability programme funded by the Big Lottery Fund, to interact with several employers who are actively offering a number of opportunities.
We have found that young people are most likely to be successful in achieving sustainable employment if they have had several opportunities to try opportunities along the way. We see these as:
- Explore: These one day taster experiences take place at the beginning of the journey to inform, educate and inspire young people to test out a career or industry they hadn’t previously considered. Our learning suggests that a participant should complete around five of these in different sectors to gain a broader understanding of the careers available in London.
- Experience: These are two to six week work experience placements, in which young people can delve into a particular career path and develop skills. These could be paid or unpaid, depending on the employer and length of placement.
- Employment: Employment opportunities are either apprenticeships or paid entry-level roles. Talent Match London support workers support their young people to sustain for at least six months.
For young people to be successful in achieving a sustainable career pathway we believe it is vital for employers to be involved at each stage of their journey. Our three employers at this event were:
- UK Power Networks, a large corporation maintaining the electricity infrastructure in much of south east and east England
- BESTT (Boiler & Engineering Skills Training Trust), a specialist trust dedicated to maintaining the skills necessary for the railway and maritime steam heritage sectors
- BAJ (British Academy of Jewellery), a training provider based in London and Birmingham delivering the next generation of killed jewellers
Because the three are diverse in size, sector, and nature, they provided young people with an understanding of a few of the many opportunities available to them. The one thing that they did have in common is that they were all had apprenticeship opportunities on offer. BAJ even agreed to reserve a number of their apprenticeship candidates for Talent Match London participants.
Our feedback from the employers and young people was that this was a very successful event, which was certainly helped by the entertainment provided by two Talent Match London participants from Hackney CVS. All of the employers reported a very high level of interest and engagement from the young jobseekers and are interested in being involved events in the future.
Our next exciting Be Inspired, Get Hired! event will take place on Monday 26th of March at Headspace Group in Holborn. Find out more and register here.
