How employers can bring entry level opportunities to more young people

For some young people, especially those from lower social economic backgrounds, the cost of accessing work in itself is a barrier. There was one story that really resonated with me. A young person I spoke to over the summer told me they face multiple barriers in education, but also accessing work. They mentioned the anxiety around being able to wash a uniform for work and having clothing for an interview and the cost of travelling to an interview… When we think about young people, we really need to think about the support we have in place for them to access good quality work.

Eilish Peters, Policy and Youth Voice Coordinator at Youth Employment UK

The responsibility of employers is changing, because post-pandemic, the world changed forever. But we have gone back to the same practices on how we hire early level talent. The fact that 40% of employers still require a university degree as part of the process of entry level roles is ridiculous, it’s redundant. Because there is a plethora of fantastic undiscovered talent that have chosen not to go to university.

Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, CEO at Career Ready

There are positives and negatives to both universities and apprenticeships. My degree got me where I’m now, but it wasn’t essential to get me into my career. So, what are the other options? Apprenticeships, work experience, career days, networking. These are all tips and tricks to show young people that university is an option but not the only way.

Marcell Edwards, Global Talent Acquisition Specialist at Adidas

Particularly lower socially mobile profiles can’t afford to make expensive mistakes, where they are studying a course at university and having to pay it off for 30 years. They don’t have that luxury. So, for us, it’s about giving them the opportunities to get that exposure, something simple like going into your local schools and doing assemblies or having an outreach programme where you’re mentoring young people from the local community.

Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, CEO at Career Ready

I think the challenge lies for some young people in accessing level two or three apprenticeships. Although there are a lot of degree apprenticeships, there are fewer opportunities to move into good quality level two and level three apprenticeships. There is also a disparity where they are in the country. A lot of young people told us they would have to travel far for apprenticeships, which deterred some of them from applying.

Eilish Peters, Policy and Youth Voice Coordinator at Youth Employment UK

Once you connect and engage through whatever medium you can with schools, showcase what you can do for that school. Be very descriptive; we can do CV creation, we can do interview tips and guidance, we can do employability sessions, so you won’t have to do anything apart from maybe be in the room or allow me in that room. Take the burden away from the teachers so they don’t feel there is extra work on their plate.

Marcell Edwards, Global Talent Acquisition Specialist at Adidas

There is a stigma around apprenticeships, and it’s interwoven into the fabric of our society. So, we need to have a whole marketing campaign on apprenticeships for people to be able to make informed choices and realise the breadth of the fantastic opportunities that are out there.

Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, CEO at Career Ready

When I’m recruiting talent, on interviews they ask about my policies around inclusion. So, the onus is on us about setting a culture that’s fit for purpose and that culture looks very different to what we had in early 2019. You need to think about your brand. When a young person thinks of your business, what words do they immediately associate with your brand? That could be the distinctive difference between them proactively applying for one of the roles you’re advertising or ignoring you.

Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, CEO at Career Ready

Video recruitment is growing. With Gen Z, people are moving away from traditional methods. This generation is comfortable with video interviewing.

Katy Broadbent, Early Talent Specialist at Totaljobs

Not everybody matches a job description 100%. I very rarely hire people based on the job description. You want someone who can grow and learn in the role. So, bring the job descriptions alive, and use storytelling and video content. Gen Z is watching videos more, so keep it short, keep it simple, get onto TikTok, and get on social media platforms.

Marcell Edwards, Global Talent Acquisition at Adidas