Sometimes, whole days go by without someone asking to read my submission of written evidence to the Parliamentary inquiry into Careers advice (held by the sub-committee on Education, skills and the economy).
Panic not, here it is!
In the vastness of the world wide web, the results of this inquiry take some finding. This topic is so “dry” and specialist that it will hold very little appeal for the job-seekers who are so seriously affected by it (I tell my customers that I read this stuff, so that they don’t have to).
My evidence is nestled amongst a good number of other submissions that are very unlikely to see much daylight. This Government web archive might be considered as the very definition of the “long grass” into which so many ideas get kicked **
This is a shame. Not because of my pride, but because the stakeholders contributing to the debate (the people who decide the future of the careers system) don’t, in my opinion, have a great track record of promoting the best interests of individual job-seekers.
Careers provision is important to young job-seekers, even if they aren’t often invited to contribute to the debate. I think that’s part of the issue.
I must confess that I haven’t yet read every piece of evidence, so I welcome the chance to be proved wrong, but my fear is that the necessary and overdue changes to the careers system may not fully cater to the needs of the individual job seeker (you, or your child).
If you’re aware of the shocking statistics about the poor conversion rates of young people into careers, about their early career (dis)satisfaction, about youth unemployment and about employer satisfaction with levels of work-readiness, then you’ll possibly agree it is a shame!
Hopefully, this rising anger will encourage you to seek a solution to the absurd obstacles facing you (or your child). If so, please consider the training seminars available through bizenko. Details of which can be found here.
(** – It is flattering to realise that this blog has attracted some readership from outside the UK. For their benefit I feel a need to explain some idioms and phrases that might be a bit “too British” to understand. The phrase “kick a ball into the long grass” is used to describe situations where, possibly deliberately, an issue is relegated to an obscure location so as to halt any meaningful progress. The game can’t continue whilst everyone involved is looking for the ball in the long grass).
