From Education To The World Of Work: The Expectations Of Young People Today

I enjoy positive conversations that help people more than I enjoy being provocative, yet sometimes it’s the only way to make change happen.  It was the changing nature of opportunities for young people after full-time education that grabbed my attention four year’s ago during the pandemic.  I was particularly keen to shine a light on helping the young people who didn’t believe they had the best opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency through examination and qualification.  Yet here I am more than four year’s later and still overwhelmed by the increasing numbers of young people without obvious work or prospects of continuing their personal development.  Here's what I wrote then:

“The future will be exciting, although quite different for these intrepid pioneers as they navigate the jobs market.  They will need courage, and employers may need to redefine talent, or at least consider how best to assess capability.”

The Impact and Irony of Artificial Intelligence

The courage of young people is not in question right now, although I’ve seen little change in how organisations define or assess talent.  I’ve experienced the excitement of artificial intelligence (AI) first hand and seen how it eats entry level business ‘processing’ tasks for breakfast.  But just how has that helped our entry level workers, especially young people. And how have we prepared them for the alternatives?

The simple answer is that we haven’t, neither have we made it clear to them that openings are scarce.  We seduce them with a little knowledge that they can get Chat GPT to write them a CV or respond to a job advert, but we haven’t explained that means their CV or application will be an almost exact replica of someone else’s.

While some educational institutions are discouraging the use of AI, rather than helping young people apply judgement and use it with discretion, others support it for research only.  AI isn’t going away, and neither should it, but isn’t it time that the education system caught up with industry norms?

A Different Approach to Recruitment?

Employers have created a one size fits all scenario.  Young people are invited to ‘apply with a CV’ no matter what the significance of the role they’re hoping to secure.  For many it’s a delaying tactic in my view.  Imagine the scene.  A student takes the initiative to walk into a busy coffee shop, where there are obvious resourcing challenges, and offers their help.  Rather than providing the relevant hygiene and safety briefings, and being asked to clear tables or countertops of debris, they’re asked for a CV.  Why?  Nobody is releasing the keys to the stockroom; they’re just handing out protective clothing and a chance to shine.  And what better way to build confidence and learning than a debrief at the end of a shift?  Employers, what’s stopping you?

Finding Common Language

There’s still so much emphasis on getting a ‘proper job’ without any obvious recognition of the entrepreneurial talents of our young inventors and influencers.  The pandemic taught us that communities can function remotely, and communication doesn’t need to be in person (face to face).  That said, I’m not convinced that our young people are sufficiently confident in their ‘in person’ communication skills.  They’ve grown up with Tik Tok and Snapchat – it works for them, although it doesn’t always include a ‘proper’ conversation that’s recognised by others!  This is just one example of employers and job seekers needing to find their common ground.  It’s about adaptability as much as it’s about compromise.

Learning to Collaborate

These are demanding times for students, as well as their parents and the educators.  The pressure is on, yet who’s taking accountability for young people who may not find work because their communication isn’t mainstream?  And who’s helping young people develop more rounded communication skills?  In this virtual world it’s all too easy to create a life around mobile devices, gaming, virtual reality and social channels.  I’m all for independence but not at the cost of declining mental health.  This is not the place to debate flexible or homeworking here, although some young people simply won’t learn how to communicate with an irritated customer by working through a multiple-choice questionnaire!  Let’s encourage them to seek face to face or (at least) hybrid working and collaboration to build confidence and restore self esteem.

Preparing Young People for Work or Continuing Education

It’s time to help young people to find their voice, connect with their audience and validate their contribution.  This year, I’ve had so many conversations with young people who seem unable to differentiate their behaviour or describe their successes.  A couple of ideas to unpick here – use of language (or vocabulary) and self esteem.  There’s a tendency to hear that it’s all okay; when perhaps it’s not?

There’s still time to connect with our younger students and engage them in the art of real time conversation, alongside accurate keyboard skills.  Let’s encourage them to differentiate between what they say about themselves and what Chat GPT suggests.

I’m suggesting that we help build resilience.  The jobs market is tough, and resilience is key to success.  There’s always time to try again and we need to give others permission to ‘give it another go’ then to have a chat about what happened.  Let’s make time for the debrief every single time.

Earlier in this piece I mentioned that employers and young people need to find compromise.  And for me that’s about adapting to new demands and experiences.  It takes self-knowledge, courage and understanding.

Let’s help young people to:

1. Understand their strengths
2. Build on their strengths and
3. Recognise their achievements

We can do this by asking these (or similar questions):

1. What are you hoping to achieve?
2. How could you do that?
3. When / how will you begin?
4. How did it go?
5. What will you do differently next time?

To help people get clear on who they are, what they bring to work and why it matters, I’ve recently published How to Be the Best Candidate Every Single Time.  The book includes practical tools to help young people craft a compelling CV, prepare for interviews and tell their story with confidence.  It’s available now in paperback and eBook formats.  For more information, visit www.heatherwatt.co.uk/book

See the Early Career Resource Hub for more support on this topic

Heather Watt

I’m curious, colourful and ambitious... and now I can add that I'm a published author of ‘How to Be The Best Candidate Every Single Time’ available from Amazon or all good bookshops (to order).

Making a difference to people’s lives makes me happy. It’s the things I do and the people I meet who inspire me. My zest for life, search for HR excellence and emerging technologies impact what I do and how I work – whatever the challenge. I’m a successful business founder, coach and writer.

A friend once described me as the person people want to talk to at a bus stop or in the baker’s queue. I didn’t deny it, it’s so true, although I don’t set out to interview everyone I meet – I’m simply good at asking questions and listening.

I enjoy bringing people together. I love what I do. It’s all about collaboration and conversation – I do both well. I’m proud to be a recruitment trailblazer and I’m looking forward to collaborating with you.

heatherwatt.co.uk

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