Employment as we know it, is over. How This Impacts School Leavers.

How we recruit, screen and employ people over the last 5 years has shifted focus and there is more to come. Covid has become a catalyst that has forced our hand to make that shift way faster than we expected.

I’m not trying to scare anyone; this is the reality we are faced with.

In this new upside-down world the entire way we do business, perceive ‘a job’ and create careers is already changing.

Alongside the way that we now connect, (via zoom, skype, googlemeetups and facetime), what we value as human beings has been pared down to what we consider most important. Genuine, practical, authentic, tangible interactions. Why? Because interaction is limited and we have to put in more effort to stay connected.

We’ve seen some businesses ability to pivot and future proof themselves quickly, use technology to reinvent themselves. Yet many more businesses haven’t been able to and will fail. We don’t want that for our school leavers, we need to start preparing them now.

As businesses we rise and fall with innovation, we accept this, but...

education has to rise now to meet the new way employers are recruiting

and assessing candidates by addressing the skills we already know they want, being:

‘real life, real world skills’.

High School curriculums are already jam-packed, leaving little time for teachers to prepare Year-12 students for actual job interviews or students leaving in year 10 or 11 trying to gain sought after apprenticeships. 

There is simply not enough time in the day for career advisors and high school teachers to provide that level of support.

Some of the real world skills we’ve identified as missing for our teens are:

-      How to practically prepare for a job interview.

-      How to answer difficult questions under pressure?

-      What employers are looking for in a candidate?

-      And how to get across my ability and to stand out?

In many cases, this is the very first time any of these students have been thrown headlong into the stark realities of the job market. Helping a teen feel confident walking into their first job interview instead of a ball of nerves not knowing what to expect, is something they can prepare for.

We know that it is not part of the national school curriculum.

I feel for parents taking on the mantel of ‘interview or job coach’ with their teenagers, a tough gig for sure.

What is hard to impart for a parent is way simpler for us to do, as we’ve have been teaching real world job interview skills for 20 years. 

In this new reality, the employer of the future will expect real skills and aptitudes. Many industries do this already, they sift candidates based on aptitudes, competencies, personalities traits, talent, whatever you want to call them. It comes down to the same thing - ‘real world skills’.

A saying I love is “You will get into the room based on your potential and education; you will stay in the room based on your real world abilities, character and communication skills.”

Real world skills can be taught and we want to ensure we help schools and parents to fill this gap. Start preparing now for the new realities of employment.

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