Creating a future for a young person’s employment

 

The current economic crisis has created an unprecedented situation for the workplace. As if the labour market was not confusing and daunting enough. According to the Guardian (2021), the under 35s account for 80% of the jobs lost in the past year. Shockingly, this demonstrates that young people are more vulnerable to unemployment and redundancies. Therefore, young people must prepare to be resilient, they must receive the correct support to guide them through this period of uncertainty and come out positively on the other side. Working life is vital for many people to feel a sense of identity and finding their place within society. In turn, this promotes self-worth, confidence and overall happiness This short article will demonstrate some ways in which you can be a positive part of this process and help to positively shape the working life and experience of your clients, learners or friends. 

The first way that you can support them is to be a second pair of eyes! This may take the form of proofreading. For example, you could read over their CV, cover letter or application form, and spot errors and offer constructive criticism. It is well known that many people stumble at the first hurdle of the job application process, sometimes only due to spelling and grammatical errors. You may also be able to offer them interview preparation; by carrying out practice interviews, you can assess the overall quality of what they are saying and the accompanying body language. Following this, you can give them feedback on how to improve for a real-life scenario. By doing these two activities, the person in question would stand a greater chance of achieving their desired role.

Second of all, you could support them by leveraging your network to perhaps facilitate their gaining of relevant experience. Many often say that ‘who you know', is often just as important as ‘what you know’ for professional networking and work opportunities. Therefore, after speaking about what career path they would like to pursue, have a quick-thinking session and see if you have any contacts that may be in that particular field. You could approach them about possible working roles or work experience opportunities, which would be invaluable for the other person’s opportunities.

Thirdly, if you do not have a contact in the particular field, then keep an eye out for beneficial opportunities, such as work experience, training courses, or even jobs themselves! If you come across an opportunity that could be a good experience for them, don’t hesitate to share this information as these could be fantastic opportunities that may have passed by them had it not been for your intervention!

Overall, these three ways of supporting people into work are fairly simple and non-time-consuming; however, the impact they may have on a person could be huge! You could be the piece of the jigsaw puzzle in their professional development that leads them to a fulfilling career, so don’t hesitate to make a meaningful change!

Sources

Unsplash (2018) Link: https://unsplash.com/photos/y_6rqStQBYQ

The Guardian. (2021). Youth unemployment: the young workers hit hard by the Covid crisis. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/apr/21/youth-unemployment-the-young-workers-hit-hard-by-the-covid-crisis. Last accessed 17th June 2021.