What Employers Want –
Employability Skills for Young
Unemployed Adults
Realising Impact Conference
10th-11th September 2015
Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults
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!”
Employers want...
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.
Employability Skills for Young Unemployed Adults
www.whatemployerswant.org
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