What Employers Want – Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults Realising Impact Conference 10 th -11 th September 2015

What Employers Want – Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults

Realising Impact Conference10th-11th September 2015

Welcome and introduction from theChair - Dr Fiona Aldridge, AssistantDirector, NIACE

Twitter - #EUlearning

Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults

Objectives - by the end of the workshop participants will

have:• Heard about NIACE research that outlines ‘what employers

want’ – what employers are looking for when they recruit a young person.

• Gained insight into the approach that was developed, how young people benefited from engaging directly with employers and wider impact.

• Received a presentation from the NOW project in Northern Ireland, outlining how the project is being developed to support a group of young people with learning difficulties, to progress towards employment.


What Employers Want – About NIACE’sResearch with and by young adults

Nicola Aylward, Head of Learning forYoung People, NIACE


• What does an ‘employable’ young person look like?

• What are the skills and attributes that employers are looking for when they recruit a young person?


Phase 1 - NIACE recruited and workedwith three delivery partners, who workdirectly with unemployed young people:

• Southway Housing, England.• Glasgow City Council, Scotland.• ACT Training, Wales.


• 31 young people took part in three one-day training sessions.

• They conducted interviews with 30 employers.

• They discussed and reviewed the interview responses, agreed the key messages and fed them back to NIACE.

• Findings informed ‘Guide for young people...’ and the ‘What Employers Want’ website.


Employers like youngpeople...

“I never look at a young person and say no. Young people have a lot to offer. We like to give them a chance to prove themselves and do well. They often surprise you with what they have to offer!”


A positive attitudeShow enthusiasm, commitment and energy.

‘Soft skills’ Including communication, problem-solving, time management, teamwork and working well under pressure.

‘Hard skills’ Sometimes specific to certain jobs but almost all employers highly value literacy, numeracy and digital skills.

Experience A range of different types of experience, particularly work experience and volunteering.

Qualifications Even though not all the qualities they are looking for can be measured through qualifications, qualifications are valued by employers.

Employers want...


www.whatemployerswant.org

http://www.whatemployerswant.org/

http://www.whatemployerswant.org/

Impact on young people:• Practical skills.• Breaking down barriers with employers.• Improved understanding of what

employers are looking for.• Confidence in interviews.• Links with employers – work experience.• Jobs!


Impact on delivery partners:• Enhanced their provision.• Repeated the activities with new groups.

• Feedback from the Scottish partner – “The young people all enjoyed the experience and said they gained confidence. Employers and young people alike said that they learned some new and valuable insights into each others’ perspectives. As a result of the project, we are now planning to introduce “young person-led” question and answer sessions with employers. We have also presented the idea to other Activity Agreement projects from different local authority areas across Scotland and hope partners will consider this approach as a meaningful way to involve employers in meeting young people and sharing views and opinions across the generations.”


Impact on employers:

• Keen to offer feedback on the interviews.• The young people were impressive.• Young employees bring many positive

benefits to their companies.• Dialogue and listening is important.


Next steps:

• Northern Ireland – the NOW Project – young people with learning difficulties.

• Enabling more young people, organisations and employers to get involved with the project.



What Employers Want – Northern Ireland

Setting the context

Niall Casey, Northern Ireland ImpactForum Member


What Employers Want – Northern Ireland

Emma McCabe, NOW Project

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Discussion, question and answer session

What are the main messages for policymakers?

Chair, Dr Fiona Aldridge, AssistantDirector, NIACE


Summary of five main messages –agree feedback to conference

Chair, Dr Fiona Aldridge, AssistantDirector, NIACE

Documents

What Employers Want – Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults Realising Impact Conference 10 th -11 th September 2015