Career Guru
How to offer high-quality career advice for students
Getting students ready to enter the world of work has always been a priority for secondary schools, but what does this look like in reality? We recently conducted a survey to find out.
4 minutes
Written by Alex Oselton
Supporting your students with their career prospects
Out of the 75 schools who took part in the survey, 96 per cent had a dedicated careers leader. However, the majority of these leaders had this responsibility alongside teaching or other professional commitments, and just 36 per cent of these careers leaders had a recognised qualification in the subject.
Careers advice can’t follow a ‘one size fits all approach’ and needs to be tailored on a pupil by pupil basis. It’s the role of a careers leader to build awareness about the huge range of career choices on offer, helping pupils to identify their abilities and follow their passions.
With the help of career guidance software, time-poor careers leaders can access the resources and support they need to deliver up-to-date information on a range of job opportunities and prepare their students for the exciting next step.
In January, the Education Committee announced a new inquiry into careers education, information and guidance (CEIAG), with the aim of assessing the impact of current careers advice that’s given. This raises the stakes even more for schools across the UK.
How to give career guidance to students
Provide practice interview questions for students
Reassuringly, our survey revealed that 73 per cent of respondents did offer practical support such as practice interview questions for students, while only 55 per cent arranged workplace visits. The actual resources, time and capabilities within each individual school will differ greatly - as well as additional challenges such as behaviour and student literacy levels which may affect how much time each school has to dedicate towards careers.
School children between key stages 3 - 5 are already experiencing a wide range of emotions. With pressure to complete exams and make subject choices, career guidance sessions might be met with uncertainty and trepidation, or can feel like the bottom of students’ priorities.
Use career guidance software to help give career advice to students
One way to boost engagement in career studies is to personalise each session. Career software modules such as ‘personality insight’ challenge each pupil’s self-awareness and help to expose them to a wide range of careers to suit their passions, skills and working style. With over 90 career pathways logged in our Career Guru software, each student has access to a huge scope of potential career choices - rather than being limited to each teacher’s own knowledge and experience.
As well as educating users about the many different job prospects that could suit them, career software for schools can also prepare them with the practical skills needed once they enter the world of job seeking:
Automated CV feedback
A strong CV can mean the difference between securing a job interview or not. Specialist careers software saves time for teachers by feeding back on uploaded CVs automatically, checking it against over 50 criteria for quality. Templates also help students if they don’t know where to start, or they have the option to write their own from scratch.
Practice interview questions for students
Attending your first job interview can be very stressful for inexperienced students. However, by practising the scenario and rehearsing answers to many common interview questions, it’s easy to build confidence and feel better prepared when the time does come.
Huge database of internship opportunities
As well as gaining the right qualifications, many career opportunities require some level of work experience - especially if the job requires practical skills. Our survey showed that only 55% of the schools we spoke to arranged workplace visits. Look for good-quality career guidance software with a database of current internship opportunities to engage your students with real-world access to the world of work.
Career software for schools enables each academy or trust to form their sessions around their own individual needs, safe in the knowledge that each student has access to high-quality careers advice from a central online portal.
Why career guidance software can help schools give career advice to students
Even before the 2022 Education Committee inquiry, schools were under increasing pressure from other guidance and legislation such as the Gatsby benchmarks and DfE’s Baker Clause. Yet time constraints, staffing crises and stretched resources often mean that even the most well-intended schools can struggle to meet requirements.
Investing in careers guidance technology can reduce staff administration, while supporting teachers with practical tools so they can focus on each pupil’s progression.
