Youth Unemployment

Youth unemployment has fallen in the last 3 months as we might have expected given the time it takes to find a job after school or university.  The figure is small however, only 17,000, leaving the overall youth level at over 1 million.

The government plans around apprenticeships, work experience schemes and changes to the mandatory school leaving age will have an impact, but the future continues to look bleak for those lacking in real work experience and employability skills.

Female Unemployment

The latest figures show that unemployment is falling but disproportionately between men and women.  In the last three months male unemployment fell by 42,000 whilst female unemployment fell by only 3,000.  When you consider that there are 1.5 million men unemployed and 1.1 million women in the same situation there looks to be a rather concerning statistic.

Unemployment has risen overall in the last 12 months by 5.2% for men and 9% for women.

The world of work looks to be giving women a harder time and there are no firm reasons to explain the situation but it might be worth considering that many women look for flexible work to fit around their family commitments and in the current climate employers are not as keen to be flexible.

Long Term Unemployment

The figures today show that the trend towards long term unemployment continues, the number who have been unemployed for more than 12 months has risen again by 27,000 to 887,000.  This figure is over one third of the total unemployed figure and is the worst since 1996.

It looks as if employers are keen to recruit people who are fresh with experience.  Advice I provide to clients that are unemployed is that they should consider voluntary or part-time low skilled jobs just to keep the work-habit going.

Increasing Underemployment

The number of part-time jobs has again risen to 7.99 million, up by 118,000 and is a new record.  Sadly the number of people in part time work but looking for full-time work has risen in the last quarter by 73,000, again the highest on record at 1.42 million.

This underemployment reflects the weak economy but looks to be a trend that could become more of a norm for people across the job market.  There are many stories of people taking up to 3 or more part-time jobs just to make ends meet.

The employment landscape continues to look challenging, but the most constructive attitude appears to be one of considering yourself as self-employed, investing in yourself and the skills that you have to offer the market and then being prepared to accept instability and uncertainty as a way of life.

Where I grew up in the late 1970s and early 1980s the dreary expectation was that the boys would leave school and either work in the local drift mine or head for the army.  In reality most just joined the unemployed queue. I confess I have no idea what the girl’s expectations were, I fortunately moved out of that low-expectation environment.

What I remember was that the sad expectation of work was what children saw around them, do what your family had always done.

Mrs Thatcher and Norman Tebbit changed that world forever, or perhaps changed many of us to meet what became the  modern world.

Today, young people have better expectations.  According to a report entitled Ways Into Work published recently by City and Guilds, over 70% of young people believe they will be successful at whatever they end up doing.  They are ambitious and entrepreneurial with nearly half claiming that they want to run their own business eventually.  The report claims that young people are aware of the hard work that is required to achieve their successful career.

What the report also highlights is that 88% of young people want better access to employers to bridge the gap between education and employment.  Sadly only a quarter of young people are given that opportunity, and the “work experience” experience is often of little value.

Now work experience programmes are always going to be difficult to get right, particularly when the onus is on already over-stretched schools to arrange them.  The funding and mandatory expectation for this has of course been dropped.  So what is the alternative?

I’d like to suggest that employers could shoulder a greater responsibility towards young people, contributing more to work related learning events such as enterprise days and perhaps signing up to the Positive Youth Charter that has been proposed by Youth Employment UK.

Whilst economic challenges remain tough, it would still be short-sighted to ignore the future of our workforce.  The positive side to engaging with the world of education is that employers can feed back directly to young people what the world of work is really like, what skills and experiences are particularly valuable and contribute to both the employability and the optimism that young people need for the future.

What can you contribute?

Whilst I work with my clients to create a CV that uses the correct keywords and demonstrates their strengths and successes, I am very aware that it is all too easy to overstate events.

Hence my question, is your CV verifiable?  Whilst at one turn you should provide evidence of your capabilities it is becoming increasingly important that the claims can be proven.

There are of course many examples of people being fired and worse for falsifying information on their CV.  Sadly Scott Thompson, the CEO of Yahoo is likely to face difficult times ahead for falsely claiming he held a computer science degree http://news.yahoo.com/yahoo-ceo-scott-thompsons-bogus-resume-claim-firable-123300420.html.

But the advice I am offering goes beyond the simplicity of factual truth, and actually hits a little deeper.  We can overstate the impact of our actions, create a little extra fluff around events all too easily.

The real test will always come. A new employer may not be able to prove that what you state is true.  However a new employer will be able to see the truth for themselves when you start the job.  Are you really as capable as you have said?  Is your impact consistent with the claims you have made?

In short, you will always verify the CV content by your future actions and results.  It is worth the time and money getting a professional to help you understand the risks you might be taking with what you write on a CV.  It is not just a job offer that is at stake, your lifestyle can be impacted by landing the wrong job.

I would like to introduce and hopefully inspire you to join our Youth Employment UK Campaign.

The aim of Youth Employment UK is to support young people by developing more work opportunities and helping them to find the services and support they need to be successful.

As you know we have a real issue in the UK with young people not in employment, education or training (NEET), the numbers are at their highest levels and continue to rise. A recent report suggested that the cost to the economy was in the region of £10b, without taking into consideration the long term damage being unemployed can cause people.

I believe that Youth Employment UK could make a significant difference.

The vision of Youth Employment UK is to:

• Galvanise UK businesses, public sector and charity organisations to sign up to our Positive Youth Charter to show their support of young people, the charter includes a commitment to supporting local schools, having a positive recruitment policy etc. In return as businesses sign up they are able to use the Youth Employment UK logo, receive free advice on recruitment and education support, get a quarterly newsletter and are invited to an annual conference and awards ceremony.
• Create a database of all of the service providers who support young people. In every region there are a number of organisations (Connexions, Princes Trust, EBP’s Apprenticeship Providers and many more) who have exceptional programmes that support young people but there is no central register or source of information for the young people to find out what is available to them in their area.
• As organisations and service providers join the Youth Employment UK campaign we will showcase their work, encourage the sharing of information, best practice and collaboration to ensure that the work is supported and replicated wherever possible, offering the best opportunities to more young people.
• Young people and schools will be able to search the database of organisations or service providers and identify exactly what is on offer in their area or what businesses are supportive of youth employment, giving them the opportunity to build successful contacts and relationships.

We have already secured the support of many organisations and high profile people, such as the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and Claire Young ex Apprentice Star amongst others.

With over a million young people not in employment, education or training and with a struggling economy this figure is predicted to rise, the future is not bright for our next generation of employees, entrepreneurs or consumers. Together through Youth Employment UK, we could change that future.

Inspire2Exceed is the managing organisation of Youth Employment UK and is supporting the start up costs, organisations will be charged a nominal fee to join the campaign a cost which will help drive Youth Employment UK forward and ensure its sustainability.

I would welcome any support that you can offer, urge you to consider joining our campaign and sending this email on to your own network of contacts, please also join our LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter feeds and get involved in the conversation.  The more organisations that support this, the greater the impact we can have.

The website is www.yeuk.org.uk

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards,

Laura-Jane Rawlings

Inspire2Exceed

01536 745377

www.inspire2exceed.co.uk

Inspiring young people about their future

1. Prepare to interview the organisation

Yes, I did intend to imply that you are interviewing the organisation.

An interview should always be a two-way process.  You are there to find out if you really want to work there.  Its not just about the last 2 minutes of the interview where they ask you if you have any questions, be prepared to query the interviewers about what they are looking for based on the questions they ask you.

Use the time to see if you click with the people that interview you, you may have the benefit of meeting some of the team as well as the hiring manager and HR people.

You need to do as much as you can to understand the company before the interview.  Be familiar with their website, products and services and find out about their customers.  Try to find out about the culture through sites like Glassdoor.com (but be careful what you believe) and see if you know anyone who works there already to chat and get a feel for the place.  You can always ask your network on LinkedIn for information and connections too.  You can use the information you gather to ask really informed questions.

2. Prepare to be interviewed properly

There are many organisations that will be looking for people that:

• take time to understand them and their market
• will fit easily into their unique culture
• be able to demonstrate the value that they will bring to their organisation

All of this requires proper preparation and research on your part, picking apart the job description if you have it and being able to sell yourself to the highest degree.  Research suggests that interviews are one of the few times where you can get away with boasting!

But there are also several kinds of interview being used these days.  It is being recognised that the old 30 minute awkward chat with a panel of 4 starting with “Tell us a little about yourself” is not the best recruiting approach.

So what sort of interviews might you face?

1. The Structured Competency Interview

   These are widely used in the UK for entry level through to middle-management roles.  Candidates are usually asked similar if not the same questions about specific competencies and ways of doing things.  A good interviewer will then probe your answers for more details and specifically you should be able to supply great examples of your work and the benefits it brought to the company or project.  You need to know the job-description well to prepare properly for this style of interview.

2. The Extended Interview based on Career History

   This style of interview is less often used and typically used for senior management roles.  The  interviews ask lots of detail about your career history, your successes and failures at each point and are keen to find what you have experienced and learned along the way.  You need to be able to sell yourself as well as talk about your career journey.  You will also need to be prepared for a long interview, often as much as half a day.

3. The Conversational Interview

   Having said that the old-fashioned chat was losing favour, a newer approach is to be much less structured and more conversational in style, taking an interest in the candidates role and aspirations.  You will find the conversation will be leading towards the key components of the job description but will feel much more friendly.

So there is a lot to consider in the world of interviews.  Take time to prepare properly for each and every interview and if you can, seek the advice of a professional or take part in an Interview Preparation programme.

What have you done to prepare for interviews in the past?

Peter Tate Discussing Redundancy on BBC Radio Surrey

An often quoted piece of interview research from 1958 by Dr B M Springbett found that untrained interviewers decide on a candidate during the interview itself, and in many cases this is during the first 4 minutes.  It comes as sad news that further studies have revealed that similarly untrained interviewers will do 90% of the the talking in the first 5 minutes.  This of course suggests that many candidates don’t have a chance to present themselves properly before the decision is made.

Clearly many interviews are poorly conducted.  Interestingly, many interviewers stick to a rigid set of questions that do not elicit the necessary information they need to make judgments based on information that allows for meaningful comparison.  Despite good intentions it is feelings rather than facts that sway the final job offer.

This all works in your favour

We can conclude that effective preparation and the development of good social skills for interviews puts you at a great advantage in many interview settings.  In real terms the following 4 points could make all the difference to your interview success:

1. Make sure you have clear answers to the “standard” interview questions.
2. Ensure that you maintain open body language, smile, use good eye contact and have a practiced handshake.
3. Learn to use the NLP techniques of mirroring and matching at the beginning of the interview to encourage rapport.
4. Maintain a comfortably confident composure throughout.

Now do any of these suggestions indicate that you could excel in the job?  Of course not, but they give you a great head start in winning the approval of an untrained interviewer.

The sad fact is, however, that even if you have the good sense to ask you are unlikely to find out the real reason why. Of  course another candidate had more appropriate experience or was better qualified, but in actual fact the real reason could be something very different – but the interviewer won’t tell you.

What You Won’t Be Told

Are you sure you want to hear this?  It may not be pleasant but here goes.

1. You have a horrible handshake

First impressions count more than you realise and that limp or bone-crushing handshake in reception can really set the tone.  Don’t worry, you can fix it with practice – but you need to ask someone’s opinion and advice.  The recruiter won’t tell you.

2. Your eye contact is terrifying

Yes, eye contact is really important but you don’t need to stare them down like a cat.  Keep your eye contact light and natural, don’t think about doing it unless you are one of those people that always looks at their shoes – always.

3. You talk like a machine gun

Naturally you are nervous but be conscious not to rush what you say, or say it too slowly or quietly.  An interview is about communicating effectively, so that means talking effectively.  You can practice your speaking with answers to common questions.

4. You talk too much between breaths

I tried to hold my breath during the monologue of a candidate once – just for fun – his lungs must have been huge!  Nice guy but boooooring to listen to.  It was also difficult to discuss anything because by the time he finished his “sentence” I couldn’t remember the point.

5. You p*@$ed them off with your language

Inappropriate language such swearing or being overtly negative can be a failing.  Business language can often be colourful but it is best always to avoid the latest “jargon” at interview because not all workplaces appreciate being brought up to speed.

6. You dress like a Dallas extra

Today’s catwalk fashion is not necessary, but an old tired suit or 80′s shoulder-padded power-dressing might make you stand out in a less than positive manner.  Keep it smart and pressed and not too noticeable.

7. You have a B.O. problem – no really you do.

Stressful situations can cause excessive odours.  You have been warned.  But please don’t over-compensate with the perfume or after-shave. Please.

8. You are full of yourself

The impression you make by your sincerity and self-confidence counts for a lot.  Aggressively confident body language is a natural put-off, but then so is a timid mouse posture.  Don’t worry a good video will put you in your place.

9. You laugh like a horse

Humour in a job interview can be a valuable tool in your toolkit.  Laughing like a horse, or a pig or a hyena is not so effective.  Nor is that nervous giggle.  Sorry but time to control yourself.

10. You just don’t know how to answer a question

You got so far and so close.  Did you take the time to listen to the question?  Did you consider thinking before you opened your mouth?  Did you get advice on how to structure your answers?

All of these problems can be resolved with advice or practice.  Investing time and money in Interview coaching is a great method of helping you find out if you face any of them before you go to the job interview – and the process can help in so many other ways too.

There is a lot you can do in your job search; networking, cold-calling, sending out speculative applications and more besides.  I’m sure you can tell me a lot more. The biggest challenge I see is that people start acting like headless chickens – often running in several directions at the same time achieving little.

I often advise people to treat their job search like a full time job – a job that has certain boundaries such as how much time you put into it, what you focus on and what procedures you follow. There is plenty of good advice if you just reflect on that approach alone.  Yet it doesn’t help you avoid the panic.  Whilst you are under pressure it’s easy to let the activity run away with you, and your emotions run you ragged.

So how do you avoid the panic?

1. Gain a Better PerspectiveThe very best plans are designed and executed with a clear head.  If you can have a clear view of the challenges you face you can often better resolve the issues and more quickly.   You need to avoid knee-jerk reactions at all costs as they only heighten your sense of panic, you will feel like you just lose control and you certainly don’t give future employers a good impression – would you hire a desperate-sounding, heavily-perspiring rabbit caught in headlights?  Me neither.

   Gain a clear perspective on where you want to be and what you need to overcome and do in order to reach it.  Use a good friend or career coach to be a sounding board.  Write down your thoughts.  Then when the panic-inducing thoughts emerge (and they probably will) you will have something firm to tackle them with.

2.   Realise that some things are completely out of your control… and be grateful!  The time a company takes to review your application or respond to your email can not be controlled by you.   There are many such events in a job search.  Your priority is not their priority.  The fact remains that you can only do so much and no more.  Accept it.  Even find ways to enjoy it.  Pressuring a recruiter for a decision will only increase your stress levels and probably create a poor impression. You will do well to accept that there may be a delay and let off steam on the golf course or playing with your children.

   Don’t just let go and be fatalistic, make time to let go and positively enjoy other things.  You could well be surprised at the opportunities that come at you from places you didn’t expect when you do.

3. Let the past be just thatI’ve never made a howling mistake in an interview, or sent the wrong covering letter to a potential employer, or had a really bad phone call with a recruiter.  No never.  You might do though, and when you do you need to remember that it happened and has now gone.  You can’t change it, you are probably better off not trying to fix it and certainly best to leave the worry of it alone and focus on today’s next activities and what the future can bring with the benefit of hindsight.

   Worrying about the past just piles lots of unhelpful “stuff” into the panic fuel-store.  Instead, always try to focus on what is important now, after all your future depends on it.

The most important thing to do if you do get into a panic is to find a way out of the panic state before anything else.  Perhaps have someone you can turn to for support.  It is the only way you will be able to make sense of your situation.  You won’t be the first, nor the last to feel the stress and sometimes agony of a job search; but at least you can do something about it.

Mr Deputy Speaker, this Budget rewards work

and a few statements later  suggested

This Budget supports working families and helps those looking for work

Now I’m not an economist but there were certainly statements that indicated he was trying hard to help businesses grow – investment in infrastructure, tax reductions for companies and those that invest in companies;  Investment in private sector growth funds and enterprise zones.  They all sound good and many of us wait to see the outcome.

However, the employment picture remained rather bleak in the short term.  The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast unemployment continuing to rise, to peak this year at 8.7% but that 1 million new jobs may emerge over the next 5 years.  There were also signs that employment law may be “relaxed” to allow employers to become more flexible.

What this really means is that the job market will remain tough.    Consequently the working population will probably need to work harder to keep their job and perhaps look at more flexible methods of working altogether, for example holding multiple part-time jobs.

There has never been a more important time to call on the services of professionals such as Career Support Services to assist you in your career choices and your career management.  Having a sounding board for your ideas and the knowledge to give you the edge in the changing landscape of work could not be more critical.  A job hunt is no longer about touting your CV, it’s about creating a solid strategy for your search.  You need to change how you perceive your current career – it is now a series of temporary jobs that need to be planned and ordered and executed to your best advantage.

The sort of work that will be rewarded is changing from our traditional understanding to something far less stable, much more dynamic and, if you have the right support alongside, potentially more energising and satisfying. Career Support Services can help you see how, call today.