Quick summary:
- Engaging with schools allows you to make a real difference in the lives of young people and introduce talented prospective future employees to your organisation.
- Many organisations think they can only work with schools if they have a huge budget or a lot of resources, but this is not the case. In fact, there are suitable outreach activities for companies of all sizes.
- Careers talks, work shadowing, and judging enterprise competitions are great options for organisations with smaller resources, while those with more at their disposal may wish to get involved in careers fairs, create employability workshops, or offer mentorship.
- For large and high-resource companies, offering work experience and internships or creating your own careers event can lead to valuable ongoing strategic partnerships.
- Whatever your level of resourcing, remember that your time, expertise, and show of support for young people are the most valuable things you have to offer.
Connecting with schools is a vital part of many employers’ early career strategies, and can benefit both your organisation and local young people.
When you work with schools, you have an opportunity to shape young people’s career aspirations, offer them valuable insights into your sector, support them as they transition from school to the workplace, and show them opportunities they may not otherwise have known about.
Engaging with schools can also help you build a talent pipeline for the future, improve your reputation as a great employer for young people, and play a role in shaping the education of tomorrow’s workers and leaders.
Many employers, particularly smaller organisations, think that a school engagement strategy is too large a commitment for them to take on. However, you don’t necessarily need a huge budget or a lot of time – small actions can make a big difference!
Read on to discover ways you can work with schools regardless of the resources you have available.
Tailoring your school engagement strategies to your resources
Each business or organisation has its own pool of resources from which to draw. This includes money, but it also includes resources such as time, staffing, space, and equipment. The resources you have available will inform which school engagement strategies will work best for your organisation.
School engagement strategies to get started
Small organisations and those with smaller resources often assume they cannot work with schools. But if you think strategically, you can still make a significant positive impact. Here are three ideas for employers with smaller resources:
- Offer a careers talk. Giving a talk at a school will cost you nothing but time. If you or a member of your team can put together a simple presentation and spare an hour to deliver a talk, you can make an impact on an entire class or assembly of young people.
- Offer work shadowing days. On a work shadowing day, a young person visits your place of work and spends the day observing a member of staff or team. This allows them to understand more about a particular role or career path, ask questions, and make more informed decisions about their career aspirations. Work shadowing days are a great way to support an enthusiastic individual or small group.
- Judge an enterprise competition. In an enterprise competition, small groups are challenged to come up with and pitch a business idea. These competitions allow students to work as a team, think creatively, and learn more about important business concepts such as budgeting, marketing, and product development. Think of it as a youth version of Dragon’s Den. Volunteering as a judge, choosing the best business idea and offering constructive feedback to all the participants, can allow you to make a big impact with minimal time (an afternoon or day is usually enough) and no financial investment. And who knows, you might discover the next great entrepreneurial mind!
If you are working with a small resource pool, remember that your knowledge and expertise are the most valuable things you have to offer. Even an hour of your time could inspire a young person.
School engagement strategies to expand your efforts
If you have some resources to work with, such as a larger team or a bigger financial budget, even more school engagement activities open up to you.
Here are three ideas for employers with medium resource budgets:
- Take part in careers fairs and other events. Careers fairs allow students to explore lots of different career options and find out about opportunities they may not have been aware of. You may need to pay a small fee for your stand and allocate some money for printed materials, freebies, and similar resources. You’ll also need to factor in employee time to attend the event and staff your stand. However, this is a fantastic way to reach a lot of young people relatively quickly.
- Create a mentorship scheme. A mentorship scheme pairs students with members of your team who can provide advice, insights, and support. This is a great option for businesses looking to work with older students or engage those who are already interested in your field. A strong mentor relationship is a big commitment for your staff members to take on, and you may need to allow them time away from their regular duties to fulfil their mentor role. However, it can also be tremendously valuable to both parties and lead to lifelong working relationships.
- Develop careers and employability workshops. Many young people feel that they did not leave school with the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in the world of work. You can help ensure that the future looks brighter for the current generation of students by creating employability workshops to deliver in schools. You might focus on skills such as finding opportunities, writing a CV and cover letter, or interviewing well. These activities are a great way to equip a class of young people with skills and confidence to empower them for the future.
Employers in this category should consider whether they want to prioritise making a small but significant impact on a larger group (such as through taking part in careers fairs), or a bigger impact on an individual or small group (such as through mentorship schemes).
School engagement strategies to build your commitment
Large organisations are more likely to engage with schools than their smaller counterparts as they have a larger resource pool to work with. However, more resources do not necessarily mean more impact. It is important to think critically about the best ways to allocate money, staff time, and other resources to create the most impactful engagement strategy possible.
Here are three ideas for employers with more resources to spare:
- Create a work experience or internship programme. Work experience or internships allow enthusiastic young people to spend time (anything from a day up to two weeks, or occasionally more) immersed in your organisation, learning about your industry and gaining hands-on experience. A work experience or internship programme is a huge undertaking but is one of the most impactful things you can do for young people. Most schools in the UK offer students work experience in Year 10 or 11. If you would like to offer a work experience placement, contact local schools in plenty of time as there is likely to be an approval process before you are able to host a placement student.
- Organise or host a careers events. If there are no local career fairs or events for you to take part in, why not host your own? You might choose a general careers event or a focused event for your industry. You will need a large space, which could be at your premises or elsewhere, and relevant equipment such as tables and display boards. Consider contacting other local businesses and invite them to take part, too. Liaise with local schools at every stage of the organisation process to ensure that your event aligns with their needs and will be accessible and valuable for their students.
- Form an ongoing strategic partnership. Strategic partnerships are ongoing relationships that benefit both parties. As an employer, a strategic partnership with your local school can allow you to support more young people and gain access to the best young talent year after year. If you have never engaged with schools before, it may take some time before you reach this stage. Starting with smaller but impactful activities can help establish your credibility, demonstrate your value to the school and its students, and lay the foundations for a valuable relationship.
Regardless of the options you choose, take the time to evaluate each activity and measure its impact. This will allow you to improve your offering, refine your strategy, and provide more benefits for both young people and your organisation in the future.
Engage young people more effectively with Youth Employment UK membership
At Youth Employment UK, our job is to help you become a better employer for young people. Our employer membership gives you access to hundreds of exclusive resources including content, webinars, events, and more. If you want to successfully engage with young people to make a positive difference and build your talent pipeline for the future, check out our membership page for more information and sign up today.
