One in six employers won't hire young people

treliac

VfM4meplse wrote: »

17 jobs in 8 years?! I would be seriously concerned if I saw that on a CV.

That wouldn't be the case if you gave careful thought to a career structure and stuck to it rather than taking anything that makes ends meet. I can appreciate the harsh reality of life but there may well have been opprortunities you overlooked whilst making a living temping.

I would imagine these were temp, student jobs. dawyldthing sounds like my two, who've worked hard at all sorts of holiday jobs etc. so that they could help themselves get through their studies, put some by for when it's needed and have something to socialise with. All in context it shows clearly how well it would be worth giving them a chance

If I'm right, good on dawyldthing , if not... oh well!

VfM4meplse wrote: »

A week's trial (work experience) usually tells me all I need to know.

That's good that you would provide a trial, it's not something that's widely available to the masses.

ILW

A trial is not that simple with current employment legislation.

dawyldthing

treliac your right. I did it to pay for 3 summers of summer camp and to get me through uni. I've worked in 2 factories, 4 offices, 3 seasonal customer service roles in Leeds, 2 supermarkets and a 3rd in a office, 2 summer camps, been a student ambassador, student mentor, volunteered at music festivals, been an interviewer for sending people to summer camp and done bar work at racecourses around the country, so my CV reads somewhat of a book, but I wouldn't change it for the world, but it does mean i've got skills in many areas but not that many specific skills as that why I did my degree.

laurel7172

The problem is...and I like my current job...everybody has days when they wish they didn't have to go in. And on those days, you just have to haul your tail out of bed and get there. Everybody has days when they're bored, or at least have to do things they don't enjoy. And that's when you put a smile on your face and crack on.

I know there are other reasons for poor qualifications, but if somebody couldn't be bothered to attend school regularly, or work hard when there, there's no reason to imagine they'll stop believing the world owes them ease and entertainment once they're in the workplace.

Personally, unless there was a statement of special needs, I'd make all benefit payments to or in respect of anyone who left school without qualifications dependent on attendance and progression at remedial classes.

Blobby8_2

laurel7172 wrote: »

The problem is...and I like my current job...everybody has days when they wish they didn't have to go in. And on those days, you just have to haul your tail out of bed and get there. Everybody has days when they're bored, or at least have to do things they don't enjoy. And that's when you put a smile on your face and crack on.

I know there are other reasons for poor qualifications, but if somebody couldn't be bothered to attend school regularly, or work hard when there, there's no reason to imagine they'll stop believing the world owes them ease and entertainment once they're in the workplace.

Personally, unless there was a statement of special needs, I'd make all benefit payments to or in respect of anyone who left school without qualifications dependent on attendance and progression at remedial classes.

You got my vote ! And I bet you have'nt ever been out of work for long either.

richardvc

Was it Tescos who said that they were fed up having to re-educate the UK's young as they were so inept at basics like reading and writing ?

mostlycheerful

Halight/Telegraph : “One in six employers won't hire young people”

Which, as avantra points out, implies that the other five in six do. So that’s good news. It would be a shame if young people were being excluded from the workplace. But, according to this survey, 83% of employers are currently taking young people and only a small minority are not.

Halight/Telegraph : “One in six employers deliberately exclude young people aged 18 and under with poor qualifications from the recruitment process over fears they will be useless in the role, a survey has found.”

Which implies that 5 out of 6 take young people with poor qualifications and don’t exclude them. That’s interesting, you would have thought that as there’s a distinct shortage of jobs that employers would be taking only people with qualifications. And probably only more mature people and not kids with little or nothing to show for their 11 or 13 years of schooling.

So is this true? Do 5 out of 6 employers really take young people with poor qualifications? On the face of it that sounds unlikely. Maybe the survey is bogus and has been falsely constructed by people with an interest or agenda. However, if it’s true then that’s good news that people without qualifications, and especially young people without qualifications, are nevertheless being recruited by 5 out of 6 employers in this time of recession and acute shortage of jobs.

I wonder how they get on. So how many of them last and for how long. A lot of our top business leaders left school at a young age with few or no qualifications so the old adages cream rises and you can’t keep a good person down and where there’s a will there’s a way and such like apply. Good.

dawyldthing : “I'm 24, have been to uni for 4 years got my degree and can't find permanent work for the life of me, and many of my friends are the same.”

“I've worked in 2 factories, 4 offices, 3 seasonal customer service roles in Leeds, 2 supermarkets and a 3rd in a office, 2 summer camps, been a student ambassador, student mentor, volunteered at music festivals, been an interviewer for sending people to summer camp and done bar work at racecourses around the country, so my CV reads somewhat of a book…”

Is there any relationship between how much employment you and your friends have managed to get and how vocational and non vocational were the degree courses that you took?

If the people who took vocational degrees have mostly found employment, either in the same subjects as the degrees or in other subjects, and the people who took non vocational degrees mostly haven’t found employment or have had to do any old job whatever they can get, like you, or have had to train for something else then this may indicate that vocational degrees have a tendency to be useful and a tendency to lead to jobs and careers and that non vocational degrees are often not useful and often do not lead to jobs or careers or fit people for work.

If this is so then therefore perhaps the government, educationalists, education establishments and students should be putting more emphasis on vocational degrees and courses and training and phasing out and avoiding the non vocational ones.

People’s interest in non vocational subjects can be fulfilled in their own time as hobbies by use of books from libraries and bookshops, by joining societies and interest groups and by use of the net. Education could perhaps better be spent learning trades and business and work and fitting students for life and for being productive tax paying members of society rather than making them do low paid dull boring dead end jobs with no prospects or going on the dole and being entirely useless and using up yet more taxpayers' money on top of all the money they wasted on their useless wasted "education".

Running_Horse

treliac wrote: »

That's also quite hard to demonstrate if no-one will give you a chance.....

I remember exactly the same complaint in the 70s and 80s, when we had real unemployment.

The thing is to get into an industry where the employer will give you basic skills for rubbish money (my first job was 0.65p an hour). Then leave after 12 months for an employer who will pay a little more and give you more skills (my second job was £1 an hour). Then after 18 months leave for an employer who will teach you more skills and pay a little more (my third job was £2 an hour). Then after 18 months leave for another employer who will teach you new skills and pay a little more (my third job was £8,500 pa). Then after 18 months go for the employer who offers a proper career and a decent salary.

It's not easy, but never has been. Now everyone has a degree and thinks it's a passport to a dream career. Employers can be incredibly picky, and you have to work harder than ever to find your niche and compete with everyone else out there. Just as important as the qualifications are the solid work history and work ethic.

Generali

OP misses a common newspaper trick.

First we have the dramatic headline:

One in six employers won't hire young people

Then we have the actual survey contents:

One in six employers deliberately exclude young people aged 18 and under with poor qualifications

If you're looking to employ someone and considering someone under 18 then they have had one main way to show their abilities; that is their school performance. If someone has gone through 11 or 13 years of education without achieving very much at all then you have to wonder whether they have the ability or inclination to achieve very much in the workplace.

I find it more impressive that over 80% of employers would consider taking on someone with poor qualifications and no track record. I guess the only reason why they can afford to do so is that they can always get rid of someone hopeless.

In places like France, if you take someone on then you're stuck with them so best make sure they're exactly what you're after. As a result, youth unemployment averages between 25-30%, long term.

Shakethedisease

I find it more impressive that over 80% of employers would consider taking on someone with poor qualifications and no track record. I guess the only reason why they can afford to do so is that they can always get rid of someone hopeless.

I think it may be yourself who's missed a trick or two..

The ONS said the unemployment rate using the internationally agreed yardstick supplied by the International Labour Organisation rose by 0.1 points to 7.9% in the three months to October – the first rise since spring. The number of 16- to 24-year-olds out of work increased by 28,000 to 943,000, one of the highest figures since records began in 1992, giving a youth jobless rate of 19.8%.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/16/jobless-total-rises-public-sector

Hardly painting a wonderfully 'rosy' picture of 5 out of 6 employers welcoming youngsters ( any ) with open arms into their workplace at the moment, is it ? The figures are rising very rapidly.. and then of course there's a massive shortage of University and College places to come as well.. further upping the figures long-term.