Sign up to boost career prospects (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Sign up to boost career prospects

4:00pm Monday 23rd January 2012 in Education

SCHOOLS across Hampshire are being urged to take advantage of a pioneering free scheme designed to boost pupils’ employment prospects by getting them to think about their careers at an early age.

The Young Chamber UK already works with some schools and colleges in the region to provide expert advice from business leaders on the skills needed to get ahead in the increasingly competitive jobs market.

Crestwood College in Eastleigh, Fareham College, and Southampton’s St Anne’s Catholic School, Regents Park Community College and Taunton’s College, are all signed up to work with the Young Chamber.

Regents Park’s head of business and enterprise said the secondary school has benefitted greatly from its four-year relationship with the not-for-profit organisation.

Now the school has signed up to the organisation’s new 5th Matrix – a social networking site aimed at encouraging young people to take independent responsibility for their future careers, interact with others who have similar aims, and get tips and help from experts.

They can also build their own portfolio exploring careers they could be interested in.

Laura Lomer, a curriculum leader at Regents Park, said annual interview days for Year 11 pupils, where business people hold workshops and carry out mock interviews with all students, have proved a big hit in helping youngsters.

She said: “It’s preparing students for the real business world.

There’s a big gap between the safety of school and going out into the big wide world, which is so competitive.

“They need these skills to get ahead, so it’s so valuable for them and they respond to the business people so well.

“5th Matrix will give them the independence to go away and take control of what they want to get out of it, so it’s really promoting independent learning and gathering information,”she added.

Kevin Smith, chief executive of Young Chamber UK, said he wants to see as many schools as possible to sign up to the scheme.

He said: “I see it as being very important to enable young people from 11 years of age, and younger, to start to think about what they would like to do when they grow up.

“By doing this I believe that a young person is then encouraged to aspire to achieve their ambitions as well as being supported by the Young Chamber framework which provides access to business men and women who can then encourage them and inspire them to achieve their goals.”

É For more information call 023 8030 2478 or email john.cun