Sam Challinor shared her experience as a volunteer employability coach for young people attending BBC Outreach drop-in sessions during National Apprenticeship Week 2016.
‘If a young person had one new idea, made one new change to their CV, or came away with a greater sense of their potential, I will consider my contribution to have been valuable.’
As a Talent Co-ordinator in the BBC I am acutely aware that for every applicant to the schemes, apprenticeships, and external partnerships we run to open the doors of the media to young people, there are countless others who never reach us.
'It's too competitive for me’ or 'I'm not good enough for that’ or ‘that can’t be for me': these are just some of the assumptions which lead young people to abandon certain career interests or aspirations at an early stage.
We need to tackle this by working positively with young people who are facing decisions about ‘what next?’ at all stages of their education and career.
Having previously volunteered on similar projects, I jumped at the opportunity to become one of the 18 volunteer coaches at BBC Outreach’s employability event at the BBC in Salford.
I was to work with a group of four young people from a local sixth form college where they are at a crucial bridging point between education and work. We would carry out reflective activities around employability and career aspirations to help them to approach their next steps with confidence.
It was with some trepidation that we read through the briefing notes beforehand, realising that we staff – who, let’s be honest, are still eighteen in our heads – had been entrusted with having something valuable to offer to the next generation!
But as soon as we met the young people, the brief helped to ease us in and the students were great in offering lots of thoughts and questions to keep the activities flowing.
Most valuable, in my eyes, was the time spent thinking about their personal strengths and aspirations. Yes, employability is about CVs, cover letters, and interview techniques, and having the tools and techniques to convey your strengths and potential fully to an employer - but it is also about unlocking awareness of that potential, and its incredible market value in an economy which needs young people.
Following a mind-map activity around strengths, the previously doubtful students were genuinely surprised at the picture they had built of themselves once they had considered the full range of their activities – some of the young people had already had several part-time jobs, carried out a range of work experience placements, volunteered in nurseries and hospitals, and had hobbies ranging from dance to art and design.
It seemed that many of the students’ perceptions of their employability still rested upon their academic ability, in spite of their wide range of other achievements. If the young people took anything away from the event, I would hope it was: 'I have something to offer'.
We spent an hour with the young people – and this can leave room for doubt about whether we had a significant impact in that time. But in my view, much of employability is about sparking curiosity.
If a young person had one new idea, made one new change to their CV, or came away with a greater sense of their potential, I will consider my contribution to have been valuable. As always, I will return to my role with a renewed sense of the importance of reaching young people at an early point in their careers and promoting high aspirations.
BBC Outreach ran employability drop-in sessions for young people in Salford, Birmingham and London, harnessing the skills and expertise of BBC staff volunteers, the BBC Academy, and the Job Centre.
The BBC’s own apprenticeship schemes are open for recruitment from 14 March to 18 April 2016 – more details at: bbc.co.uk/getin
