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John Storer Account Director, SAS
14 GRADUATE RECRUITER
BACK TO SCHOOL W
With a high level of youth unemployment the student marketplace can be fertile ground, and it was only a matter of time before those investing in academic talent replicated the consumer marketing trend for targeting a younger age group: school leavers. John Storer, Account Director at SAS looks at the lessons organisations need to learn if they are to successfully engage this audience…
hile the National Apprenticeship Service estimates that over 100,000 apprentice positions are available
in the UK, UCAS reports show a 3.5% increase in applications from January 2012 to the same time this year. These figures only serve to support what we at SAS have observed again and again in first-hand research: university is still the preferred route, despite the rise in tuition fees. While some students may be opening up to alternatives such as apprenticeships, broadly they’re not shifting from applying to university to choosing school-leaver paths. Instead, they’re applying to multiple programmes and hedging their bets, making last-minute choices that leave recruiters scrambling to fill positions. It’s no surprise that many companies are finding it difficult and daunting to attract young people. The schools landscape poses its own unique challenges: • Negative connotations – and sometimes even stigma – associated with ‘apprenticeships’. To make matters worse, companies are avoiding risky vocabulary and
creating their own programme names. This results in even more confusion around exactly what’s on offer.
• Schools and sixth form colleges can sometimes seem to put up thick, impenetrable walls, making it tough to find the right people and build relationships. Some schools are known to abide by unspoken quotas for how many students they send to university, putting pressure on organisations to demonstrate the value of alternative paths.
• Demonstrating the long-term value is problematic because most organisations haven’t been doing this long enough. So for parents and students who need reassurance, there’s often a limit to what companies can tell them.
• Multiple people influence the career decisions of schools students. At this age, they’re taking advice not only from their families, but also from careers advisors, teachers, peers and family friends.
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