A generation of young people is at risk of being lost and we want to do our bit to help. That's why we are offering free careers support and research-proven career tools to 16 to 24 year olds and their parents and carers via our newly set up our FaceBook group, INSPiRED Teenager Plus.

We have a team of twenty highly trained and experienced careers advisers already helping young people and their parents find a new "career why" by working through our research proven programme, INSPiRED, so they can get their working lives going again and create a brighter future.  

Since Covid 19 hit, millions of people's jobs and career prospects have been left in tatters with young people aged 16 to 24 being the most badly affected as UK employers across the board withdraw job offers and furlough staff.

Supported by the HM Government and The Cabinet Office as part of the Inclusive Economy Partnership, and endorsed by the Institute of Student Employers and supported by the Career Development Institute, the professional body for the sector, INSPiRED Teenager Plus is an innovative digital community learning approach is helping hundreds of parents/careers and their teenagers across the UK to work through a specially adapted version of the INSPiRED Teenager programme live together to create exciting futures and find a way through the upheaval they have experienced as a result of COVID-19.

Developed and delivered by Carolyn Parry RCDP, Founder and Lead Coach, the INSPiRED Teenager programme is a research-proven and structured approach which helps individuals create happy, successful and purposeful working lives that last by finding their "why". The content for each unit is taught via twenty minute Facebook Live sessions online each week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with each live session being recorded for those who want to watch later.

The programme includes interviews with special guests where they share magic and challenging moments about their career journeys. Guests to date have included Elizabeth L Wright, paralympian medalist, inspirational speaker and disability rights activist and Daisy Claydon, the PR mastermind behind Captain Tom's news story.

Jan Ellis, Chief Executive of the Career Development Institute says: “The Career Development Institute welcomes the ethos of INSPIRED Teenager Plus as a sector wide initiative in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, it focuses on using qualified career development practitioners to support and steer families and their teenagers through these uncertain times and beyond. We wish them every success.”

 If you are in need of careers support, please join our free community here and please help others in need to do the same:

Universities UK, the voice of UK universities, has just published a survey undertaken by ComRes sharing the insights from 2270 graduates and undergraduates which covers the reasons why people choose to study at university and what information they wish they had had beforehand. And it makes interesting reading..

​Adam Bytheway is a mechanical technician at Chemoxy International, one of Europe’s leading chemical contract manufacturers. He was able to train and qualify for his role through an engineering apprenticeship with the company.

​Here, he takes a look at why an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering could be a rewarding career choice for your child.

This month’s guest blogger is Jenny Karlsson from EngineeringUK who outlines what a career in engineering is all about and how to see if your teen is a budding engineer in the making.

​Engineers are at the forefront of shaping the world we live in, helping to solve our biggest challenges. From dealing with cyber security and minimising the impact of natural disasters to developing sustainable energy, food, housing and products; engineers help pave the way to a better future for everyone.

Alice in Wonderland: Which way should I go?
Cat: That depends on where you are going.
Alice: I don’t know.
Cat: Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.

​The same advice applies to your child’s career. Which is why students that don’t like to think about work and careers, that assume work will work itself out, often struggle to get the kind of job they want. And the world of work can be confusing. Did you know that 80% of employers don’t mind what students study? This means that your qualifications won’t always determine what job your child will end up doing.

​Today’s young people have a world of opportunities before them, which is great, but also daunting.  With so many options, it can be difficult to make sense of them and choose the most fitting, so we asked Dr Brooke Storer-Church, Senior Policy Advisor, Subjects and Skills at HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council For England) for advice.