[3] How to thrive in the jobs market after leaving school with Barry Jackson

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How to thrive in the jobs market after leaving school with Barry Jackson Our guest today spent many years in the pharmaceutical business, both in sales and in setting up clinical trials, including a project set up to find the solutions to the MRSA super bug.

In recent years his attention has turned to helping young people access the jobs market. On his website, aspire-academy.net, he relates the scenario of speaking to a young woman working on the checkout at a supermarket. Close to tears, she related to Barry how she had a 2.1 degree but this was the best job she was able to find. She felt hopeless and despondent.

Barry’s mission is to try to stop this kind of thing happening to young people by giving them the tools that aren’t taught in schools to help them flourish in the jobs market.

These are the questions that Barry answers on the show…

Barry, can you tell us what you think the biggest mistakes are that you see young people making as they prepare from the world of work?
On your website you say that 50% of jobs are filled without even being advertised. What can young people do to find this jobs?
You also talk about the fact that in some sectors there are far more young people studying to have a career, whereas there are thousands of jobs in other sectors that young people don’t even know exist. I have the experience that many young people come to me saying that they want to be lawyers or doctors. This feels like a bit of a cliche. The careers sounds glamours, well-paid and important but I often suspect that these young people have no idea what they’re letting themselves in for. How do they discover equally fulfilling careers that might require fewer years of study but aren’t generally well known?
When you’re applying for jobs how can you tell which companies or organisations offer the best prospects as opposed to those who offer an insecure future and are likely to go bust or make you redundant?
When you’ve applied for a job, how do you make sure that you’re the stand out candidate and ultimately get the job?
What about social media? We all know young people are spending endless time on social networks like Snapchat and Instagram – but how can they harness the power of social media to actually get a job?
What about in person networking? How can young people do this and benefit from it in the pursuit of jobs?
Is there anything else you think it’s important for parents and young people to know as they prepare for the jobs market?
I’m sure loads of people listening will be dying to find out more. Can you tell us where to find you online?