The Catch 22

Exams are finally over and a wave of relief comes over the majority of UK students. No more assignments, deadlines and having to sit through laborious lectures while lectures read from Power Point slides. However, this is short lived. It then dawns upon graduates that they have to move into the ‘real world’. But, how do they do this? There is a Catch 22 pandemic in the UK that needs to be highlighted.

Numerous friends are now seeing the full effects of this. They have been at university, for the past three years, building their academic portfolio. This in itself is an endeavour, but now when they are looking for employment they hear the words, ‘but what experience do you have?’

A typically example of this is a friend who is looking to go into counselling. She has a top degree in Psychology and is looking to gain practical experience wherever possible. While at university she was recommended to apply to numerous charities to build up this experience. To her dismay, she was surprised to find that the majority of charities required experience, some as much as 2 years, or there were limited opportunities outside of London (Catch 22!). This left her feeling frustrated and to be honest I am not surprised! Like me, she thought that by being a voluntary organisation that they would be open to giving people ‘a chance’. When she told her lecturers about this she was hit with the response ‘oh, I didn’t realise it was so strict these days?’ To me this implies that it was a lot easier when they were starting out. Organisations were willing to give them a chance.

This kind of story is not unique and is probably being mirrored across the UK. Highly motivated graduates, with ample skills to offer, are being turned away. What I find the most frustrating thing is that this has now moved into the voluntary sector.

V: ‘Could I volunteer with you please?’

C: ‘Do you have any experience?’

V: ‘No, that is why I would like to volunteer with you so I can build up my experience.’

C: ‘Oh, well you need to have previous voluntary experience to volunteer with us.’

 Youth Employment UK is a voluntary organisation and has a lot of connections with other voluntary organisations. Hopefully, they have a connection to help my friend (and thousands of other graduates) to find the experience they need to make a start on the career ladder.

This Catch 22 situation can be and needs to be changed!

Tackling Youth Unemployment: Interview with YEUK

An interview involving myself and Lewisham youth worker Melissa Jane Knight. 

http://www.if.org.uk/archives/5239/tackling-youth-unemployment-interview-with-yeuk

Big Wild Sleepout

Big Wild Sleepout: Big Wild Sleepout

YEUK Magazine

New monthly magazine full of helpful tips for anyone. Plus, I am on the cover!

Never think employers will assume you have certain skills....

I attended an interview for an Assistant HR position at a big firm in Worcester. I really wanted to work for this company as I thought that my values fitted with their company culture well. Unfortunately, I didn't get the job. However, the company gave excellent feedback to where I went wrong. I wasn't able to demonstrate that I had the administration skills that they were looking for. Then I thought to myself, 'why is this?'.Then it dawned on me that I assumed that all people have the administration and social media skills that I have, so there was no point in mentioning them as it wouldn't distinguish me from the other candidates. How wrong was I! I believe that many graduates do this. They put a dampener on the skills that they do have as they believe all other graduates/applicants will have the same. After speaking to the recruiter, I found out that this was not the case. The outcome... for future interviews I have prepared examples to demonstrate my administration skills. I can input data, I can prepare reports, I can use Power Point, Word, Excel. I can analyse statistics with SPSS. I can use SAGE, Outlook and research for information as so much more! Doing these things everyday so that they are second nature doesn't mean they aren't skills employers want to hear about! 

Regus Connect: Connecting businesses, freelancers and interns....an article for them about YEUK!

Youth Employment UK is a Campaigning & Membership organisation that was founded in 2012 by Laura-Jane Rawlings to tackle youth unemployment through coordination. There are a lot of brilliant opportunities available for young people that don’t reach the young people. In addition, people don’t share good practice. When this happens, an opportunity closes, but the need is still there. This mistake perpetuates at the detriment of young people. YEUK joins the dots!

What is unique about YEUK is the fact that I see it as a ‘pyramid’. It has businesses, supporters and youth ambassadors that all mentor and support each other. I decided to be a youth ambassador as I am a young person who has first-hand experience of the catch-22 situation. I am enthusiastic, have qualifications coming out of my ears but I am lacking in the ‘experience’ that employer are looking for. The role of the YEUK youth ambassador, is indicative to a young person’s personal career goals; therefore, if a YEUK youth ambassador has the skill set and would like to own their own business they are aligned according. I have a strong interest in careers and recruitment and this is why I work on the Chance to Shine project. I also help with careers advice with the other YEUK youth ambassadors; create info- graphic training materials and CV direction.

Currently, we are running a campaign called #YouthFriendlyMP. This is where ambassadors are being ‘called to action’ to try and get their local MP to become youth friendly. This would involve MPs signing The Youth Charter (http://www.yeuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Positive-Youth-Charter.pdf); whereby, they are agreeing to commit to two ‘youth friendly activities’. This could be running CV workshops or networking events plus many more! From this they would receive a Youth Friendly Badge. Everyone would know that they are committed to resolving youth unemployment issues in their area. It is about creating a youth friendly network, free of cost for government. I have met with my local MP, Robin Walker, and it was interesting finding out about the projects he is already undertaking to support young people in the area. As a young person, I did not know about these. Being a supporter YEUK is a good way to promote these activities. All MPs will be invited to attend an event on the 9^th July to find out more about the project and the benefits for young people in their area.

Young people can get in touch and ask YEUK anything and we’ll help in whatever way possible. They can pick up the phone and call the office, through the email addresses on site and also through the NEW forum onsite. Tweet us, Facebook us too! Plus each month in the e-mag we highlight (in orange) the events where young people can come to for free and meet the team/the CEO or both. We are always looking for ambassadors!

Find out more about Regus Connect here: http://www.regusconnect.com/ 

Bright Futures Magazine

Whether or not you are part of The Bright Futures Society, they have an excellent magazine full of helpful hints and tips!