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

Welcome and introduction from the Chair - Dr Fiona Aldridge, Assistant Director, 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. Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults

What Employers Want – About NIACE’s Research with and by young adults Nicola Aylward, Head of Learning for Young People, NIACE Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults

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? Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults

Phase 1 - NIACE recruited and worked with three delivery partners, who work directly with unemployed young people: Southway Housing, England. Glasgow City Council, Scotland. ACT Training, Wales. Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults

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. Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults

Employers like young people... “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!” Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults A positive attitude Show 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...

Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults

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! Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults

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.” Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults

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. Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults

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. Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults

What Employers Want – Northern Ireland Setting the context Niall Casey, Northern Ireland Impact Forum Member

Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults What Employers Want – Northern Ireland Emma McCabe, NOW Project

Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults Discussion, question and answer session What are the main messages for policy makers? Chair, Dr Fiona Aldridge, Assistant Director, NIACE

Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults Summary of five main messages – agree feedback to conference Chair, Dr Fiona Aldridge, Assistant Director, NIACE