Work experience boosts confidence and opens doors for teenagers willing to try their hand at professional life
Teenagers want only two things in life: a ticket to see tousle-haired popsters One Direction, a diet without vegetables and 15 hours’ sleep a day. Technically, that is three things but popular depictions suggest they are also lacking mental arithmetic ability so presumably they will not know the difference.
But scratch lightly at this portrayal of contemporary adolescence as slothful and vacant and a different image peeks through: one of ambition and intelligence, devoid of Justin Bieber.
Take Mia Forbes. Mia is only 15 years old but has a clear idea of where she is heading: she wants to teach Classics.
A pupil at Nonsuch High School for Girls in Cheam, Surrey, Mia’s love of the ancient world grew from a voracious appetite for textbooks about classical civilisations.
She has her heart set on the University of Cambridge. “I will stick at it,” she says. “And I’m really passionate about Classics, so it won’t matter if I’m not earning a huge amount.”
James Milburn, also 15, is equally focused on his chosen career, but it could hardly be more different from Mia’s — James wants to be a football referee. He has been a passionate fan since going to watch Liverpool ten years ago. “We lost 1-0 to Ipswich,” he says, sadly.
His teachers at St Margaret’s Church of England Academy in Aigburth, Liverpool, have been hugely supportive. He developed a taste for refereeing after one of them invited him to a school coaching session. The school then put him on a refereeing course and he is now qualified to take charge of some games in local Football Association leagues.
Work experience last year at an outdoor activity centre gave him insight into his own character.
“I definitely came away from there feeling more confident,” he says.
Confidence is an issue for many young people seeking to achieve their ambitions, according to a survey of 2,000 teenagers by Barclays. Few respondents thought that writing a CV, teamworking or showing initiative would present many hurdles. But 44 per cent believed self-confidence could be a problem.
Work experience appears to help. Nasima Hyder, 18, attends City and Islington College in London, and was inspired to be a primary school teacher by an aunt who teaches.
“I love what she does,” Nasima says. “She always talks about how every day is different and how she gets so much from it.” Nasima found it hard to get work experience in a school but a two-week placement in a law firm opened her eyes to the reality of work. “It was really good,” she says. “Very different from a school environment. It made me realise that I have a lot of things I need to improve upon. You have to think hard about how you present yourself.”
She has also used volunteering to develop her skills, working with the Ministry of Stories, a charity that uses storytelling to build confidence among children aged 8 and upwards.
The Barclays research suggests that, far from being beguiled by dreams of fame, young people are grounded enough to realise that it is parents and teachers who offer the best guidance.
Matthew Baker, 17, at Shrewsbury Sixth Form College, may follow his father into surveying, although his favourite subject is history. “But I am a bit worried that if I do history there won’t be many job options.
I’ve thought about the civil service fast stream, or maybe a conversion course after doing a history degree — but I’m not sure.”
At Langdon Park School in East London, four Year 11 girls are sharing their thoughts on career options. The school is in a deprived area but the girls aim high in their aspirations.
Thahmina Islam, 15, and Amina Begum, 16, both want to study law.
“I’ve wanted to be a lawyer since I was about 8,” Thahmina says; while Amina says an older brother at university has inspired her to do a degree.
Annabelle McCourt, 16, has considered medicine but now thinks she wants to be an actuary; while Jessie James, also 16, is intent on a career in the Army. During work experience organised through the school, Annabelle spent two weeks in a day centre for elderly people — “I was thrown in at the deep end a bit, but it was good” — while Jessie was in a primary school: “One of the things it taught me is how well I can teach others and lead them.”
Good qualities in a soldier — and an indication that teenage aspirations can amount to much more than a comfy bed and three days in the same socks.
Head start for youth
The Times has teamed up with Barclays to support its LifeSkills campaign. By 2015, LifeSkills aims to equip one million young people with the skills they need for work and to connect them with opportunities, including 50,000 work placements for 14 to 16-year-olds this year.
LifeSkills will give teachers access to curriculum-linked resources to develop the skills that employers seek. There is also a matching service to link students with local work experience.
barclayslifeskills.com
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