National Careers Week for Career Changers

Written by Calvin Bowers
Last updated March 1, 2021

National Careers Week is celebrated between 1st and 6th March to empower and advance careers education in schools and colleges. The week is supported by professionals in education, business, and career guidance, who will prepare students for life once they are no longer in education.

National Careers Week enables people to find high-quality career guidance and directs schools on how to implement the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks:

  • Education and guidance related to a stable career programme.
  • Learning from free careers resources.
  • Addressing the needs of every pupil.
  • Link curriculum and education.
  • Students should have opportunities to learn from employers about work.
  • First-hand work experience.
  • Further and higher education encounters.
  • Personal guidance.

What to Know If You Are an Employer

If you are an employer, connecting with local schools and colleges within your catchment area is a great idea to support National Careers Week, this is a fantastic way to facilitate employment. Further, working in partnership with educational organisations has many benefits for employers too:

  • Personal contribution – employers can make a worthwhile contribution by creating a sense of personal achievement and well-being and providing an opportunity to give something back. By helping employees develop their skill sets, you will boost their motivation and improve overall employee retention and business performance.
  • Recruitment and retention – Identifying and nurturing talent from an early stage of their professional development will help you recruit and retain the right staff for your organisation. As a result, you will incur lower recruitment costs while increasing the size and quality of the range of candidates applying for your vacancies.
  • Training – Providing opportunities to develop skills can boost staff morale. You can help employees feel that they work for a caring organisation by offering mentoring, coaching, role modelling and investing in qualification courses, such as apprenticeships.
  • Innovation and business growth – Promoting staff learning will allow you to plan more ambitious strategies for your organisation in the future. A more qualified and knowledgeable staff team increases the brand profile of your business.

I’m Looking For a New Career – How Does This Week Apply to Me?

National Careers Week focuses on career guidance activity and highlights the various career pathways and options available to people. This is vital to ensuring that many industries continue to work towards greater inclusivity and enable career changers to find the right opportunities for them.

During the pandemic, an increasingly vast number of online resources have become available for people looking for a new career. Assessing your skills can give you insight into your future career options. Additionally, it can foster several skills, such as reflection, critical thinking and self-awareness. You can carry out a skills assessment on the National Careers Service website to find out what interests and motivates you, identify your skills, and learn what you can do with the skills you have.

Whether you are looking for your first job or seeking a career change, apprenticeships are a fantastic starting point. While working towards a recognised qualification and learning a wide range of new skills, your employer will provide you with the support you need to thrive in your new role. You can explore apprenticeship opportunities on Employing an Apprenticeship’s jobs board. Alternatively, for those attending university, there are a wealth of online career events that can guide you through your journey and explore different career paths.

At Refreshing a Career, we recognise that job hunting might be a challenging experience for some people. Therefore, we have compiled guidance for individuals who are seeking employment, education, or training.

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Last Updated: Sunday August 20 2023
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