Teach Secondary - Issue 13.2

There’s a collective appreciation that inmany ways, life as teen in Korea, Colombia, Mexico or Nigeria isn’t all that different to what it’s like in theWest. There are still pressures around fitting in; parents who don’t understand you; sudden swings between feelings of helplessness and invincibility. Moreover, it’s about first love, and often about acquiring less binary views of identity and sexuality. Stoking the imagination. Against this backdrop, we recognise the eternal challenges awaiting people starting out on their careers. The transition from school to professional life presents the daunting prospect of having to personally reinvent yourself. We should never underestimate just how hard it can be for students to leap from the comfortable routine of full-time education into the scary unknown world of business. Consequently, we have designed three exercises to help students embrace the contemporary context, while demystifying the world of business. Exercise 1: The MACRO – Cause and Contribution We want to encourage engagement on consequential issues. The idea here is to ask students to scan newspapers, internet sources and information from their local community to identify those problems they feel are most in need of attention – whether they be global, local, collective or individual issues. We then ask them to suggest a contribution they can imagine making, however modest, towards solving the problem. • Ask students to maintain a weekly journal • Have them create two columns, headed ‘Cause’ and ‘Contribution’ • Give them an opportunity each week to explain and receive feedback on their journal entries This exercise can be undertaken over a month or a much longer period. Its power lies in creating an iterative process of discovery between students’ identification of issues, and subsequent debates with their classmates, teachers, or even an outside business mentor as to how they might be able to refine their ideas. Desired Outcome: Creating a list of potential career destinations and points of entry Exercise 2: The MICRO – Trying things on for size We can often overlook what opportunities there are for students to undertake careers activities now, in parallel with their schoolwork. Those who find the transition from school to professional life the easiest tend to be those who didn’t wait for a starting gun. Challenge your students to complete ONE of the following tasks over a 3- to 6-month period: • Volunteer for an NGO • Participate in a scholastic business plan competition • Pursue a job shadowing placement in a profession of interest • Solve a business problem for their family It’s essential that this exercise be carefully supervised to ensure oversight through the selection, participation and any post-completion closure. Desired Outcome: A reinforcing of the power to be had in doing things in parallel, and development of resilience in response to the oftenmundane realities of work Exercise 3: The PRACTICAL –How do you find and evaluate jobs? The single biggest assumption we would seek to challenge is that the process of finding a job is somehow intuitive and easy. It isn’t, and it’s not. Consequently, the one crucial exercise we recommend for all students is to help themunderstand how to use the following sources to identify and then pursue potential job opportunities. The assignment can be to set aside a week to review and explore each possibility in a classroom setting, or to ask students to form teams and research one source each, before giving a class presentation. • LinkedIn: Increasingly the most powerful online marketplace for jobs, self-promotion and networking • Professional networks: All major professions have organisations with programs designed to help kids start careers • Youth development NGOs: We have worked with the AFS Youth Assembly, but there are others. These organisations provide incredible opportunities for scholarships, networking and work experience. • Apprenticeship programs: Major government- supported programs that are focused on helping students launch their careers • Personal networking: Often, the best career opportunities will emerge from inspirations and connections we already have; helping students to identify them and overcome any hesitation in accessing them is hugely important Desired outcome: Demystify the process of identifying job opportunities and accessing them ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr Helmut Schuster is the former Group HR Director of BP PLC; David Oxley is a management consultant and specialist in organisational change; their co-authored book, A Career Carol: A Tale of Professional Nightmares and How to Navigate Them (£8.99, Austin Macauley Publishers), is available now 29 teachwire.net/secondary C A R E E R S TEACH SECONDARY SPECIAL CAREERS