Bursting with careers...

Transcription

1 Bursting with careers... From healthcare to creative From construction to retail From armed services to zoology From maritime to finance From music to environment From floristry to engineering From sport to transport

2 Hello... We have produced this booklet to help you to think about, and plan, your learning, training and work options after you are 16 and beyond. We have included some questions you may want to ask about learning, employment or Apprenticeships. The answers will help you to decide on the options and pathways that will work best for you. We hope that you find the information useful for your own research or to help you to prepare if you are able to join us at a Skills London event. Are you still in school and thinking about your options after 16? You know that you will be participating in learning until you are at least 18 but what do YOU want to do? You may want to: carry on with full-time education in 6th Form, at college or with a training provider. You could follow either an academic or work-related route. You might opt to earn while you learn with employment as an apprentice or by looking for a job with training. If you are not quite ready for work or an Apprenticeship, you could be suitable for a Traineeship. You could even choose to do some voluntary work or start your own business alongside your studies. Are you already planning for after you are 18? You could be planning on starting or continuing employment in an Apprenticeship or job with training. You may want to continue with your studies and move on to a higher education course. You could be thinking about a work-related learning course or a Traineeship to help to get the right skills for the workplace. You might consider voluntary work at home or abroad on a gap year or show the world your enterprise skills by starting your own business. The London Job Market You will need to know about the types of employment on offer now and how the London Job Market might change in a few years. Changes in the labour market don t just affect you as you start your career. You may need to carry on improving your skills and qualifications throughout your working life for jobs that haven t even been invented yet! Contents: Full-time education after you are Page 3 Following the academic route... Page 4 Work-related learning... Page 5 Apprenticeships... Page 6 Traineeships... Page 7 Looking for a job... Page 8 Voluntary work... Page 9 Start your own business... Page 10 Higher education... Page 11 The London Job Market... Page 12 Start planning your future!... Page 13 2

3 Full-time education after you are 16 You already know that the government has raised the participation age so that you will need to continue in learning until you are 18. This is not the same as saying that you can t leave school until you are 18. A very high percentage of young people do however decide to carry on with education on a full-time basis in 6th Form, college or with a training provider. Wherever you choose to study after the age of 16, you will be following a Study Programme. Study Programmes offer everyone the chance to progress to a higher level of study. They are a way of organising education at all levels of achievement and have 3 essential elements: You will spend most of your time taking one or more substantial qualifications, such as A levels or vocational qualifications or taking part in a Traineeship or doing extended work experience. You will also do a non-qualification activity, for example work-related learning, tutorials or work experience activities. You will also continue to study English and maths if you did not get at least a GCSE grade C by the end of year 11. If you have additional needs that mean you are not ready to take a substantial qualification, you will follow a Study Programme that includes a lot of work experience or other non-qualification activities. This will help you to develop skills for employment or independent living. You will continue to develop your literacy and numeracy up to GCSE grade C if possible but you could be offered other non-qualification courses in English and maths. Study Programmes? See the Department for Education website: Traineeships? See the Apprenticeships website: Other options after you are 16? See the young people s pages on the National Careers Service website: 3

4 Following the academic route After 16, most young people choose to follow either an academic route or to do vocational (work-related) learning. Some choose to take a mixture of the two routes. If you take the academic pathway you may study: AS and A levels There are many different A level subjects not all of them are on offer in every school or college. You might continue with the subjects you studied at GCSE level or choose new courses. You will need to have good grades at GCSE level to get onto a course. A levels are usually taken over 2 years. In the first year, you may pick 3 or 4 subjects and study for AS levels. You can count these as qualifications in their own right or continue on to a second year to get the full A level award. If you decide to take AS/A levels in the subjects you did well at GCSE, make sure that you talk to your teachers and subject tutors about any differences at A level. Go along to any talks or taster sessions, read course guides carefully and talk to current A level students to help you to decide. Extended Project Qualification The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is often taken alongside A levels. You would be researching a topic of your choice (agreed with your tutor/teacher) and then presenting a detailed report or other piece of work. You will need to show your independent research and learning skills, be able to plan your work and usually produce a 5,000 word dissertation for assessment. GCSE English and Maths If you didn t get English and maths GCSEs at grade C or above, you will continue to study those subjects alongside your A levels or other academic qualifications. International Baccalaureate Some schools offer the opportunity for you to study an International Baccalaureate (IB) as an alternative to A levels. Students taking an IB all study a range of subjects, including languages, sciences, maths, the arts and humanities (history, geography etc). There will be assessment tasks, an extended essay and written exams. Higher Education After 18, you may decide to use your academic qualifications to go into employment or an Apprenticeship or to go on to higher education. Academic routes after you are 16? See the young people s pages on the National Careers Service website: 4

5 Work-related Learning After 16, most people choose to do either vocational (work-related) learning or follow an academic route. Some choose to take a mixture of the two. Vocational qualifications are related to a work area and are supported by employers and professional bodies. Examples are OCR Nationals, BTECs, and City & Guilds qualifications which are available for you after the age of 16 at a range of different levels. Work-related qualifications are on offer in a range of subjects covering: A general, broad area for example art and design, engineering, or hospitality and catering. These are often on offer in school or college and may include practical assessments and tests as well as written exams. Or a narrower job-specific area linked directly to an occupation for example graphic design, car mechanics or food and beverage service. There are unlikely to be any exams to take but you will have to produce evidence to show that you have gained the skills you will need to do the job. You may be able to study while you are at work or your employer may send you to a local college or training provider to complete your course. You may take vocational qualifications as part of an Apprenticeship or as part of your Study Programme in full or part-time education. Vocational or work-related qualifications can lead to the same opportunities on offer to anyone who has followed an academic route so you can go into employment, an Apprenticeship, to further training or into higher education. Apprenticeships? See the Apprenticeships website: Study Programmes? See the Department for Education website: Other options after you are 16? See the young people s pages on the National Careers Service website: 5

6 Apprenticeships An Apprenticeship is a real job with training so you can earn while you learn and pick up some nationally recognised qualifications as you go; working alongside experienced staff to learn job-specific skills. You will have help and advice to make sure that you develop into a successful employee. As an apprentice you will be paid at least the Apprenticeship minimum wage of 2.68 per hour, but many apprentices earn significantly more. You will also get most of the same benefits as your fellow workers including paid holidays. You will work towards valuable nationally recognised qualifications for example a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) and a technical certificate such as a BTEC or City & Guilds (relevant to your specific Apprenticeship). This usually means that you will be spending some time at a local college or a specialist training organisation, often either one day a week or in blocks of a few weeks. Apprenticeships take between one and four years to complete depending on the type and level of Apprenticeship. There are 3 levels of Apprenticeship, covering 1500 job roles in a wide range of industries, from things like engineering to ICT, veterinary nursing to accountancy. Apprentices study at Intermediate, Advanced or right up to a Higher Level that can include studying for a degree. You can find out more about the range of roles and levels on the National Apprenticeship website. You can apply for an Apprenticeship if you are over the age of 16 and living in England. You can t start an Apprenticeship while you are in full-time education but you can start applying as soon as you are ready. Talk to the employers and providers at the Skills London event or search for vacancies on the National Apprenticeship website or through the Apprenticeship Vacancy Search App available for iphone or Android. Apprenticeships? See the Apprenticeships website: What it is really like to be an apprentice? See the films at The Apprenticeship minimum wage? See (search for national minimum wage) Applying to be an apprentice? See: The Apprenticeship Vacancy Search App? See: 6

7 Traineeships Something new for this year is the opportunity to apply for a Traineeship. A Traineeship is an important stepping stone for anyone who is almost, but not quite, ready to get an Apprenticeship or a job. Traineeships last anything from six weeks to a maximum of six months with the content tailored to your individual needs, including: Work preparation training which ensures you are ready and have confidence to take the first step in your career, such as an Apprenticeship. English and maths support to help give you the literacy and numeracy skills needed for the workplace. Meaningful work experience which provides insight and experience of the world of work and makes you more attractive to potential employers. Traineeships can prepare you for your future career, helping you to get ready for the world of work and improving your chances of getting an Apprenticeship or other job. Vacancies are advertised on the national Apprenticeship website or you can contact your local college or training provider to see if they are offering opportunities. There is more information from the National Careers Service. If you are getting benefits, you can ask your Jobcentre Plus adviser about Traineeships. You won t be paid a wage while on a Traineeship but your work experience employer may be able to support you by paying for transport or other expenses such as your meals. Depending on your circumstances you could be eligible for financial support from the Bursary Fund or for Discretionary Learner Support after you are 19. Traineeships? See the Apprenticeships website: Vacancies on the national Apprenticeships website? See: Bursary Fund? See Discretionary Learner Support? See: Other options after you are 16? See the young people s pages on the National Careers Service website: 7

8 Looking for a job Job search skills are crucial to help you to find a job or an Apprenticeship. Even if you are only looking for a part-time job to help to fund your studies in 6th Form, college or university, you will need to know how to write a CV, fill out an application form and be able to do well at interviews. Your CV (Curriculum Vitae) is important because it is a way of advertising yourself so that employers will want to meet you. A CV usually includes your contact details, a short personal profile, a list of your education and qualifications, and information about your skills and work experience. You can also give details of anyone who is willing to give you a reference. The National Careers Service can help you with creating an effective CV; there are some great tips on their website. You may need to fill out a paper or online application form for a job, course or an Apprenticeship. There are some basic rules to help you for example always read the instructions first, make sure that your spelling is perfect and that you complete every section of the form. Read all the information you have about the opportunity and try to match your skills and abilities to those that an employer is looking for. And before you post, or click send make sure you read, check and check again if possible get someone else to read the application form for you before you send it in. Employers will be looking for you to show that you have the right qualifications and a range of skills that would make you a good employee (for example are you a good team worker, are you punctual and reliable?) They may also be looking for job-specific skills for example a games designer would need creative design and technical skills, whereas a doctor would need scientific, medical and technical skills. These are the skills that you mainly develop once you have finished full-time education and are doing a job. Most employers are keen to offer training to the right person for example as part of an Apprenticeship or a work-based training programme. The important bit is being willing to carry on learning once you leave school, college or university. Hopefully, your CV or application will result in a letter or inviting you to an interview. You will need to reply to confirm that you will be attending and then make sure that you prepare thoroughly. Find out as much information you can about the employer, check that you know how to get there and try to think about the questions you may be asked (and a couple of questions that you would like to ask). If you are offered the job then congratulations! If you didn t get it, try not to let it get you down, think of the interview as practice for the next time. Some people are happy to contact the employer and ask for feedback that might help them the next time around. The National Careers Service? See their website: Apprenticeships? See the Apprenticeships website: or download their guide to writing winning applications from: 8

9 Voluntary work Whatever your plans for your future, you may benefit from giving up some of your time to volunteer part-time or full-time or during school, college or university holidays. You could volunteer in your local community, in another part of the UK or even overseas. Some young people opt to take a year out before they go on to university some of that time can be spent working on a voluntary project. You won t be making money while you are volunteering, although you may get help with expenses but you will gain personal benefits which will last well after your placement ends. You will be developing your confidence, learning new skills and may even have the chance to get some extra qualifications. Employers may take extra notice of a job application from someone who has given up their time to volunteer it shows that you have made the effort to get some work experience and build your employability skills. You will also find that applications to some courses, for example at university, will be greatly helped if you can provide details of relevant voluntary work. Remember, you will be supporting a good cause which will make you feel valuable but you will also be developing confidence and hopefully having fun! Want to know more about volunteering? See these websites: Vinspired: Team London: Greater London Volunteering (GLV): Community Service Volunteers (CSV): Volunteering England: 9

10 Start your own business A recent survey by The Prince s Trust 1 reported that 30 per cent of year olds want to work for themselves and that many of those same people expect to achieve that goal within the next five years. Other surveys have put that percentage even higher, especially among teenagers, where 77 per cent showed an interest in starting a business in the future 2. Are you the sort of person who would love to be your own boss? You may have a great idea for a new product or service. You may plan to use the work-skills gained from an Apprenticeship course to start up a small business. You know that you are dedicated enough to succeed and are excited by the challenge of running your own business enterprise. Television programmes such as Dragon s Den and The Apprentice have made the idea of self-employment very popular. Famous entrepreneurs, including Londoner Sir Alan Sugar, are as famous as sports and film stars - there has even been a Hollywood film made about Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg! You may also be inspired to have a go after reading the enterprising stories of those who have taken part in the London Leaders programme. The Prince s Trust: See: London Leaders? See the website: Start Up Loans from the government? See: 1 The Start-Up Generation: why the UK could be set for a youth business boom. A report by The Prince s Trust and the Royal Bank of Scotland: London: Ambition AXA Awards survey: 10

11 Higher Education You may already be thinking about whether higher education is going to be the right choice for YOU. If you have already made the decision to continue your learning after the age of 18 by doing a degree course, you will probably have dozens of questions to ask! You should try and find out as much as you can about your options. You can talk to tutors, teachers and careers advisers or go along to open days. If you are able to join us at Skills London, you will be able to chat to representatives from a range of colleges and universities. There is a huge range of courses and subjects to choose from from general subjects for example maths, English or biology to courses linked to a specific career for example teaching, dentistry or architecture. A good starting point for your research is the UCAS website which handles all full-time and many part-time courses. If you want to find out more about student finance or the help on offer to anyone with special circumstances (for example if you have additional needs) your first port of call should be the guide available on the website. Apart from traditional 3 year courses taken at a university or college, there are other ways to achieve a degree level qualification. Your options may include taking BTEC courses at levels 4 and 5, Open University study or other distance learning or even study abroad for all or part of your degree! And don t forget the exciting opportunities offered to get higher level qualifications on a Higher Apprenticeship. UCAS? (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service): Student Finance? See the student finance section of BTEC qualifications? See Open University? See their website at Higher Apprenticeships? See The National Careers Service? See their website: 11

12 The London Job Market Are you thinking about your future career and planning the steps you ll need to take to get you to where you want to be? Do you know what sort of vacancies are on offer now and also how the London job market may change over the next few years? Our capital is a very crowded city, there will soon be over eight and a half million people living here. The number increases each working day as commuters flood in from other parts of the south-east. If you were to add up all the jobs across London and compare them to the rest of the country you would find that they account for almost 16% of all employment in the UK. London has a higher percentage of workers who are qualified to a high level and who work in well-paid professional occupations than the rest of the UK. Wages tend to be higher in London but then so does the cost of living! There is likely to be a continuing demand for workers with good qualifications at degree level or higher. Unskilled job vacancies are few in number and continue to decline. It is vital to carry on learning and training, not only to reach the highest level you can now but throughout your working life. Unemployment in London among young people is very high at the moment, but there are plans to build more offices and create many thousands of new jobs. Most workers in London work in jobs where they are providing a service rather than in other jobs where they manufacture (make) something, or take part in farming or fishing. Experts predict that there will be more demand for employees in health and social work; in scientific and technical activities and in ICT. More Londoners will work in accommodation and catering (food and drink services), and in administrative and support services. Although they don t employ as many people, the arts, entertainment and recreation (leisure) sectors will grow as will services relating to property (real estate). There will still be jobs in education and in public service and defence but these areas are not predicted to grow very much. There are likely to be fewer jobs in future in: retail and wholesale for example shops, transport and storage, and in the financial and insurance sectors in London. Future opportunities in a job or sector you are interested in? Look at the National Careers Service Job Profiles: The London Job Market in more detail? See the information on growth industries and skills demands in your area on the National Careers Service website: For more details, facts and figures about London see: the London Dashboard: or search for your borough on: 12

13 Start planning YOUR future! If you are able to visit us at Skills London, you may want to prepare a few questions to ask the exhibitors. Even if you can t get along on the day, these are useful starting points for a conversation with......an employer What does your company do? What careers do you offer? Do you offer Apprenticeships? What type? What qualifications do I need? What skills and attributes do I need? What training is available? Where could I be in 5 years time? How much can I earn? Where do I find out more?...a training company offering Apprenticeships What sort of Apprenticeships do you offer? What qualifications do I need? What skills and attributes do I need? How do you recruit new apprentices? At what time of year do you advertise opportunities? At what age can I start an Apprenticeship? Where do I find out more?...a Careers Adviser from the National Careers Service How can the National Careers Service help me? What sort of advice and guidance can I get? Do you have a website? Can I talk to someone over the phone? Can I get advice any other way?...a university or college Who is the best person to speak to about a course I am interested in? Could I get any financial support with a course? How will I be taught? Is there an option to do distance learning? Will I be able to get any work experience or have a paid placement in the workplace? Will there be exams or is most of the work done as coursework or practical assessments? Will I have an interview to get a place? When is your next Open Day? Do you have a website? How many of your students go on to get good jobs after they finish their course? 13

14 National Apprenticeship Service: National Careers Service: Prospects All information correct at time of going to print (September 2013)