Let's Build Bridges

Let's Build Bridges
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Friday 1 April 2016

My Vision for NEETs - How Qualified Assessment can help disadvantaged young people

Here's how i believe qualified assessment can be used to help the education, training and career development of disadvantaged young people (known as NEETs here in the UK.)

The standard approach my colleagues in receuitment would usually take, would be to find a candidate s strengths and then direct him or her down the appropriate career path. But while that is certainly the right thing to do, i believe it is only part of the solution we should consider.

There are several other themes i think are equally important, in the overall picture for the development of disadvantaged young people s careers. These are:

- Recognition of value

- No young adult left behind

- A job at the end of it

Recognition of value

Before we send candidates down a career path, i think it is very important to recognise the value of their achievements so far. If all young people s grades reflected their actual skill set, i believe that the overall qualifications NEETs possess - and hence their career potential - would increase dramatically.

After all, I'm sure careers officers would agree, that before you even send a job applicant on any kind of courses, you should first assess his or her skills and experience: what does this candidate actually know? What has he or she actually done and what kind of skills does he or she possess?

This is especially true for young people who are not in education nor training (or 'NEETs' as we know them here in the UK), because as my colleagues in recruitment know all too well, there is a no holds barred 'war' to find the best talent for the biggest organisations.

As a candidate, you have to sell yourself for every grade, qualification, every ounce of talent you possess, to a recruiter: and while brilliant in themselves, i submit that the downside to apprenticeships, is that they have raised the bar of employers' expectations - as has our globalised job market. Young applicants could now be up against some of the best qualified people in the world - including fully qualified apprentices with both the industry experience and the grades.

Fortuntely in their favour, and as statistics show, around 80 of 16-24 year olds in the UK have a job or have worked in one. Therefore, i submit that even those who may not have had eduction or training, have actually picked up a lot of skills from their experience, in the various jobs they have worked.

But experience alone is not enough. As one recruiting manager once told me, the hiring manager will be pleased that a young person worked in a similar job before, but will want proof that a candidate is actually at the required level (be this Level 1, 2 3 etc) for that particular role. This is why i believe that qualified assessment is the key.

If disadvantaged youg people were assessed on all their complete skillset, and qualified accordingly, they would be able to demonstrate a lot of career potential in all major key skills. I firmly believe this would help them.to stand out and hold their own when competing.for roles against fully qualified apprentices, and graduates of higher education.

No Young Adult Left Behind

Rather than be a 'nice to have' part of the support offered to NEETs, i submit that a full qualified assessment of their skills should be seen as a basic standard of further education to be offered to all young people between the ages of 18-24. 

Just as all 5-18 year olds in the UK have an absolute right to a school education, so too should all 18-24 year olds receive further education: be it in the form of a degree, an apprenticeship; or as a bare mimum, a free full qualified assessment, to recognise prior learning through experience.

For this reason, i believe that full qualified assessment for all skills should be an integral part of the support services offered to disadvantaged young people. Every service from social services, to young offenders institutes, should employ qualified assessors, to offer this to all young people they work to support.

Just as we once said No Child Left Behind, so i say no youg adult should be left behind either.

A Job at the End of it

Skills and qualifications are all very well, but as critics have often pointed out: what good are they if there is no job at the end of it? 

That is why i believe we need to use online recruiting systems to flag up newly qualified NEETs to potential new employers. The digital badging system for pathways that Kevin Field has told me about seems a novel idea for this.

I also think we could tie the pathways systems to start up databases, so that entrepreneurs can seek out NEETs to provide the labour for their start ups. This would give NEETs the entry level jobs into the industries they need, and would help entrepreneurs build their businesses.

Summary

This is how i believe that qualified assessment can be used to recognise the value of disadvantaged young people, and help their careers.


James M

Founder