Hope for a bright future: National Career Week

National Careers Week has begun – a week devoted to empowering young people with careers education.

This week, social media will be full of content by London’s businesses, academia and social mobility charities that highlights the opportunities for young people to follow their passions into engaging careers.

Our partner, Career Ready, is a social mobility charity delivering mentorships, masterclasses and internships to empower young Londoners who face barriers to their career or education. This week, they are providing a range of?digital careers sessions, including digital masterclasses, activities and resources for young people, and free resources for schools.

A message of hope

The theme for National Careers Week this year is Hope, and it’s a much needed message. Career Ready commissioned research by Opinium into the “Covid Generation,” which describes the pressures on young job seekers who’ve faced two years of drastic inconsistency. Career Ready’s research found “only 33% of people think that the future of work is positive for young people in the UK.”

Career Ready suggests businesses can have a hand in giving young people hope, by reviewing their recruitment pathways and boosting opportunities for young job seekers from all walks of life. They say, “69% of people think that investing in young people should be an important part of the UK’s post-Covid recovery” and, “69% think that employers have a responsibility to support young people’s skills development.”

We chose to partner with Career Ready because we strive to provide a working environment London’s young people can thrive in. Foxtons are?Youth Verified?and 84% of our new hires are aged under 30. Many entry-level hires seek us out because we prioritise potential and deliver exceptional training to make a strong start in real estate.

This year, Foxtons employees have been matched with students to mentor, so they can share what they’ve learned and give the student a chance to ask questions and build confidence. We’re delivering masterclasses around London, using Career Ready’s wealth of information and our team’s own experiences navigating the workforce. We have another round of internships set up for the coming summer in a variety of departments around Foxtons.

We’ve discovered, from our work with Career Ready, that there is a wealth of undiscovered talent coming into the workforce. We are meeting inquisitive, driven young people and learning, as a business, how to better support this generation.

Resources:

See the Hope film, download a wealth of resources, engage in activities and keep up with Careers Week on the official?National Careers Week Website.

Career Ready says, “Let’s make careers everyone’s business.” Get involved in their week of?digital activity.

An important message of hope comes from Career Ready’s research into the COVID Generation, which we’ve referenced in this article. Read the?introduction by Career Ready CEO Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa?and the report,?Investing in the COVID Generation.