The Week in #Careers - Episode 1

Welcome to The Week in #Careers! This newsletter is going to be my attempt at summarising all of the key #Careers-related news from across the #Careersphere each week and will be accompanied by a video highlighting my Top 3 stories/talking points (slightly truncated this week due to unforeseen tech issues!), as I look to expand the amount of video content I produce on the platform! So, without further ado, on to the news!

Results Day 2022 or 'How I learned to stop worrying and tear down the education system...again'

The past fortnight has seen #ResultsDay2022 in England, with young people finding out the results they have achieved in their T-Levels/A-Levels/BTECs/GCSEs/other vocational qualifications, accompanied by the usual deluge of commentary touching on everything from grade boundaries and pass rates to the value of GCSE/A-Level examinations and whether the education system is preparing young people well enough for the future workplace. The criticism of the current education system has been predictably vocal once again, with a mixture of thoughtful commentary and blanket generalisations, as always - I found the following helped me cut through the morass of #ResultsDay2022 content over the past week:

• Kudos to the Career Development Institute , who really stepped up this Results Day with a slew of media appearances from representatives including David Morgan , Carolyn Parry , Susan Alder and Caroline Green (RCDP, MCDI, Assoc. CIPD) , with other careers professionals like Jessica Pieri RCDP of Not Going To Uni also doing a cracking job of representing the sector across a couple of radio appearances during the past week. Seeing careers professionals share their expertise via national platforms like the BBC and GB News was extremely gratifying and hopefully a positive sign of things to come!
• Associate Professor Deirdre Hughes OBE writes in FE News about what needs to happen once the exam results dust settles - it's an important piece that emphasises the collective responsibility we have to tackle some of the challenges that have been highlighted in the wake of this year's T-Level/A-Level/BTEC/GCSE results, not least widening regional attainment gaps, particularly in relation to increasing investment in mental health/wellbeing support and dedicated careers advice and guidance for all young people, regardless of the path they take through the education system.
• There has been a lot of debate this week about the 'Future of the Education System', which always seems to rear its head around Results Day each year, often with similar arguments around the value of exams and how schools aren't teaching the 'right' skills that young people need for life. Much of the discussion this year has centred around two reports - Ending the Big Squeeze on Skills: How to Futureproof Education in England from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and Sam Freedman's report for the Institute for Government on The Exam Question: Changing the model of assessment reform. How we assess ability and the knock-on impact this has on our post-16/18 education and admissions systems are incredibly nuanced topics and I'd highly recommend checking out the executive summaries of both of the above reports if you are keen to engage with the debates around this issue.
• Finally, and somewhat linked to the above, 'the value of Higher Education' has also featured prominently in media/social media discourse over the past week, with a mooted rise in UK university tuition fees prompting speculation on a number of key talking points, including what this might mean for underserved (I'm not a fan of the 'disadvantaged' tag) students, whether UK HE institutions are overly reliant on international students (follow individuals like Alan Preece , Louise Nicol and Dhruv Krishnaraj for much better commentary in this space than I can provide) and how league tables and institutions like the Russell Group may be past their best. As always, nuance can be hard to find on social media when it comes to topics like this but there has been some lively debate on a recent post from Antony Adams sharing the results of an Instagram poll on the value of Higher Education and a sobering and reflective op-ed from Jason Wingard, President of Temple University in the US, which explores how Higher Education may need to adapt or die in face of a changing world, both of which are well worth checking out.

The 'Silver Exodus' (and what to do about it)

One of the more enduring stories in the #Careersphere this week has been around the number of individuals aged 50-64 in the UK who are currently economically inactive, many by choice (The Guardian - Number of unemployed over-50s surges in ‘silver exodus’ from UK workplaces). Many commentators, such as Tony Wilson from the IES, have been pointing out this phenomenon for at least the past year but there seems to have been a flurry of related news stories recently exploring this topic in more detail and analysing the reasons behind this trend and how it might be reversed (covering everything from the rise in long-term ill-health to age discrimination in the workplace and government plans to help upskill older workers to meet skill shortages). My recommendation for keeping on top of this topic is following Victoria Tomlinson, CEO of Next-Up on LinkedIn, who has been putting out some excellent commentary on the importance of using the skills and expertise of the over-50s workforce and ensuring they feel as valued and purposeful as other workers in the labour market.

Career Guidance for the 21st Century: Excellent FREE course for careers professionals!

I've recently finally got around to completing the Career Guidance for the 21st Century e-course, which gained a lot of airtime in the #Careersphere earlier this year (and for good reason!). The course, which is co-funded by the EU's Erasmus+ programme and features content from careers organisations in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Norway, as well as contributions from a range of careers professionals, including our own Tristram Hooley and Siobhan Neary !

The course is a nice mixture of video content, interactive modules and reflective activities and covers a useful range of topics related to being a careers professional in the 21st Century, including Navigating the World of Work, Professional Enhancement, Labour Market Information (as seen in the image below), Career Education and the Transforming Role of Careers Professionals.

The course is completely FREE to complete (and return to once you've finished it) and can be signed up to via the link below - check it out!

REGISTER FOR THE COURSE HERE

The Best of the Rest: My Hot Picks from the wider #Careersphere

Consultancy.co.uk - PwC removes 2:1 requirement for graduate staff - A positive move for more inclusive recruitment?

DMH Associates - PwC Green Jobs Barometer - An interesting breakdown of what can make an industry 'Green'; useful for helping to socialise what we actually mean by 'Green Jobs' and how someone might begin researching career paths in this space.

Alan Bullock's Higher and Degree Apprenticeship Review - Week 126: Higher & Degree Apprenticeship overview – a week of intrigue! - As always, CDI Fellow Alan Bullock provides us with an in-depth and fascinating walk-through of the new and existing Higher and Degree Apprenticeships available in the UK.

Prospects Luminate - UK graduate labour market update: 23 August - HE labour market guru, Charlie Ball, returns for another valuable update on the UK graduate labour market - featuring updates from the ONS, Labour Force Survey, REC, CIPD and more!

Sydney Morning Herald - Who do you aspire to be? Having a hero can be good for your career - Jim Bright explores how our heroes shape our careers and why 'no more heroes' could be a bad sign for fostering career ambitions.

I'm keen to hear what people think of this newsletter/weekly video format (e.g. Is it helpful? Does it add value to what is already out there on LinkedIn? What might make it better/more digestible?) so please do drop me a DM if you have any thoughts!

See you all next week for Episode 2!

P.s. I'm currently working on adding subtitles for the LinkedIn video, so please bear with me!