70% of young people know someone stuck in ‘no experience, no job’ cycle
Published: 20 January, 2013
Many young people searching for a job in the New Year may have a frustrating year ahead and limited prospects in 2013, says new research from one of the leading engineering recruitment specialists in the UK. The study of 2,000 people found that 70% of young adults know someone who has been frustrated by the phrase: ‘get some experience and come back’ from potential employers. One in two young adults echoed the lack of options and also felt as frustrated when they left school. Nearly 80% of adults say that young people are more likely to get their first job more easily if they can prove they have hands on experience, showing a vicious cycle that needs to be broken, according to the research’s sponsors.
The study, carried out by One Poll for Advanced Resource Managers (ARM), also found that 70% of adults said that work experience should feature more heavily in the school curriculum.
Lynda Ennis, International Director from ARM said: “Young people need to make themselves stand out from the crowd by identifying practical things to do that they can show a potential employer; this starts at school. Simple steps taken early on can set someone up for life and give them the edge on other candidates for the same job. Companies such as ours have a role to play in providing outlets for young people to showcase their abilities.”
This is underlined by the research, which found that seven out of ten adults felt that young people could make themselves stand out from the crowd by getting practical experience.
The Designing Tomorrow competition, recently launched nationally by ARM, is an example of how young people can start to build their CV at a young age. It encourages young people from local schools across the UK to demonstrate their graphic design abilities on an international scale. The competition underlines the growing quality of graphic design in the UK. ARM Marketing Manager Simon Withers added: “Designing Tomorrow provides all entrants with physical examples of how they apply themselves to a national brand. The winner will have the opportunity to see their design used in an international marketing campaign. You can’t get much more hands on that that. And what a way to build a reputation that will excite potential employers.”
Designing Tomorrow has been devised with the Design & Technology, ICT and Business Studies curricula in mind. Teachers can register their school until January 2013 at www.arm.co.uk/designingtomorrow where they can gain access to online materials. Schools will then have until the end of February to submit their entries, and the prize giving ceremony will be held at the Gaydon Headquarters of Aston Martin Lagonda Limited in early April.
More than 100 schools from up and down the country have already registered for the contest, which offers several exciting prizes including an Apple iPad with a cover and stylus pen. The overall winner will have a work placement at ARM, where he or she will be able to see their design made reality while they get hands-on work experience at each stage of the design process. And the winner’s whole class will receive free skills training provided by ‘The Method’, a programme that uses actors to increase the realism of role play training. There is a range of runner up prizes too.
