At a time when almost 20 percent of young people are out of work, we urgently need to re-think recruitment and employment in the UK and find new ways of connecting young people with jobs, new approaches to recruitment and new forms of employment and reward. Annika Small, CEO of social investor, Nominet Trust, explores.

Digital technology has already transformed how we communicate, how we learn and how we shop. Imagine how it might be used to fundamentally re-design how we recruit and how we work? According to a recent survey by Nominet Trust, almost 80 percent of employers believe it is important to look beyond academic achievement, not least because formal qualifications are an increasingly poor indicator of how someone will perform in today’s rapid changing workplace. While this focus on broader skills and experience is welcomed, it is not easy for young people to showcase their talents to prospective employers. The traditional CV, despite its billing as a summary of a ‘life’s course’, tends to be structured around work and academic qualifications. Young people spend 80 percent of their time outside school before they reach work age, yet there is little scope on a CV to demonstrate the broad range of interests and skills often developed away from the classroom.

Digital technology is opening up new ways for young people to articulate skills and strengths to prospective employers. For example, Discoverables (www.discoverabl.es) is an online platform that allows young people to show employers what they are made of. Built by the youth charity Spark+Mettle, Discoverables, helps young people from all backgrounds to translate their abilities and life experience into work-readiness. The website helps them discover their strengths, prove and improve them, and articulate these in ways that are relevant to employers. Too often the first step on the job ladder still comes from who you (or your family) know, rather than what you know. Digital technology is smashing through these traditional structures, with online social networks opening up opportunities for young people irrespective of their background. Step Up (www.nextstepup.co.uk) makes compelling use of online social networks, helping young people to connect with those who can help them achieve their career ambitions. Their website supports young people to define and express their career goals, create a marketing campaign and approach the right people through online social networks to ask for advice.

With employers looking beyond qualifications and placing a high value on experience, young people are often caught in the Catch-22 situation, of not being able to get work experience with previous experience. This is all the more difficult now that schools are no longer required to offer work experience. For companies currently struggling in a tough economic climate, it isn’t easy to take the long view and make time to train up someone fresh from school. So how are young people to get the work experience which employers are increasingly looking for? Evidence of volunteering can help to give employers confidence that a young person is responsible and committed. Online platforms, such as vInspired (www.vInspired.com) are opening up a range of volunteering opportunities that help young people to build up a portfolio of experience which they can use when applying for paid work.

But it doesn’t stop there. At a time when up to 70 people apply for each job, we need to find ways of creating new employment opportunities rather than simply getting people into existing jobs. In the digital sphere, Rewired Reality www.rewiredreality.co.uk is connecting SMEs and charities with young people’s digital skills; organisations post tasks, from building an app to refreshing a website – and young people pitch to take on these paid assignments. Digital tools are available that can create more meaningful engagement between young people and employers; and it is vital that employers, teachers, youth workers, policy-makers and community groups recognise these new approaches to help young people into employment.

Annika Small, CEO
Nominet Trust
www.nominettrust.org.uk