Many students hold a nonchalant attitude towards their futures and feel they will walk straight into university then walk straight out into a high paid job, which just isn’t the reality these days. It has been suggested that school children need to spend less time on Facebook and other social networking sites and instead use their time researching possible career options. This effort should be a joint exercise between pupils and teachers, with teachers having a responsibility to keep up-to-date with current affairs within education and career paths to ensure they are clued up on what is available and what is relevant.
Careers advice in private schools tend to be more focused and available to pupils than that available within the state sector. According to the Institute of Career Guidance, careers advice in schools in England is “patchy and inconsistent.” And it is thought that this may be the reason why many state pupils are being rejected from university due to the bad advice they receive on A-Level choices. However, it is argued that teachers cannot be expected to be experts in employment in addition to being excellent teachers in their field.
Over the past 10 years the government has concentrated on aiding those most vulnerable to end up unemployed, or not in education or training but this has affected the level and standard of help available to mainstream pupils. Teachers, do need to be aware that times are changing and they cannot continue to espouse the same career guidance year after year. This advice needs to be relevant to where society currently is now, not 20 years ago.
One platform for teachers to keep updated on careers and career guidance for the 21st century is using CAFE via IMJack.com. Thousands of job descriptions are uploaded monthly to a careers library for pupils and teachers to gain information on the requirements, regarding qualifications and experience, of various job industries. Students can also conduct Q&A sessions with business mentors for more information about specific roles and they may also receive eMentoring from business professionals within the sectors pupils may be interested in.
CAFE may well be the solution to all career guidance needs with a wide array of information available at the fingertips, displayed in a simple, fun, comprehensive format.
For more information on CAFE, please contact us via http://www.cafe.imjack.com.
Saphra Bennett, Stewart Boutcher, September, 2010.
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