EOW Reflections: How about Starting out
Congratulations to the thousands of school leavers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on your results this week and to the Scottish students who had your results in early August. If you’re off to university have a brilliant time. If you’ve chosen a different route, that’s great and good luck. If you’re still wondering ‘what next?’ there are plenty of options and university isn’t for everyone.
I loved the story this week of Anna who left school with no GCSEs, cleaned pubs and now has a PhD and is a University lecturer. You can go back into education later if that’s what you want.
There are apprenticeships that might be up your street. You earn money, get on-the-job experience and get time off to study.
We didn’t all know what we wanted to do when we finished school and a gap year, if it’s an option, could be a good way to get a feel for possible careers you might not have thought of yet.
I would say this wouldn’t I: you could always consider setting up your own business.
Following on from conversations this week and last, it seems the shortage of young people we’re facing, in the UK and many other countries, is hitting home. The conversations around skills shortages are getting louder. Businesses of all sizes are worried about finding the skills they need to deliver the contracts they’re winning.
In the construction sector for example there’s lots of work but some firms are having to delay starting jobs or even cancelling projects. Skilled people went home during the pandemic and haven’t come back. People approaching retirement age are leaving the sector because it’s just too hard to carry on doing heavy jobs. People are winding up businesses because of problems getting paid, by business and domestic customers. Young people are starting apprenticeships or college courses and realising construction for them after all.
There are few women in construction which means that many of the 50% of the population that could be taught the skills we need may not even realise there are possibilities. The employment conditions can be tough and the culture on some sites is shocking.
We’re facing a talent drought, at all levels, sectors and age groups. The last thing we need is experienced people leaving, taking knowledge and experience with them. We need to make it attractive for skilled people to stay, to tap into they’re knowledge for longer and to show young people the possibilities. There may be options careers teachers don’t know about.
We need to grow skills at home rather than expecting to bring in skilled people from other countries because they are facing the same shortage of young people. Other countries need their own home-grown talent to stay at home too. However, it takes time to grow skilled people and qualifications are only the start. You need experience. Big firms are nervous about the levels of experience of their managers, supervisors and leaders, who may have qualifications but are short on experience. Who do young people coming into jobs learn from? There are vacancies to fill but the skills available are unlikely to match the vacancies, in the right locations without a lot of planning.
In the meantime, research shows that a large percentage of 16-34 year olds want to run their own businesses. It’s tough but a brilliant option. However, passion for what you do is only part of the road to success. Having the skills to run the business before you start will help you overcome the challenges you’ll be facing along the way. The help you need is out there on your doorstep. Check out your local LEP and Growth Hub, the library and job centre and find local help for start-ups. Getting paid for what you do is the most important thing. If you don’t get paid it’s a hobby. Negotiate good payment terms with customers, put everything in writing, put the right processes in place for managing your cashflow, and give yourself a fighting chance.