Failing careers advice compounding UK skills gap, warns Harvey Nash

Young people lack direction and support in their career development and are turning online for help according to new research from professional recruitment consultancy, Harvey Nash (i). One in ten (11%) young workers claim to have received no careers advice whilst in full-time education and of those that did, nearly half (48%) thought it was confusing and unhelpful.

The YouGov research, launched today at a Harvey Nash roundtable event jointly hosted with Professor Mike Campbell, Director of Development at the Sector Skills Development Agency, revealed that two thirds of young people (62%) hadnít decided on a career by the time they left full-time education. This may result in many young people failing to settle into careers early and being unsure where to turn for future job advice.

Furthermore, only a third (35%) of respondents felt that the formal careers advice they received helped them make decisions about their career. Amongst those who sought careers advice from both formal and informal sources, most (62%) gained more value from informal careers resources, such as the Internet and their peers, and only one in five (20%) would consider going to a careers adviser for help.

Albert Ellis, CEO, Harvey Nash commented: ìWithout direction and advice, not only are young people missing out on potential career opportunities themselves, but businesses too could be missing out on the next generation of skills they need to compete. The rudderless approach young people are taking to the early stage of their careers has a serious knock-on effect for the recruitment industry and business in general. We need to engage young people in their career choices early and in a focused way to ensure we get the right talent in the right places. ì

When seeking careers advice most respondents would look to friends and colleagues first (72%) and online job sites second (52%). The vast majority (74%) are regular users of social networking sites with well over a third (40% and 36% respectively) regularly logging onto Facebook and MySpace. Some young people (5%) are already using these sites for careers advice and professional networking and the research shows this figure is likely soon to rise ñ a quarter of young people would use a networking site (26%) as a channel to receive careers advice and a further third (31%) would consult online forums or blogs.

Professor Mike Campbell, Director of Development, Sector Skills Development Agency and recent adviser to the Leitch skills review added: îExcellent information and advice for young people, and adults, is crucial in both helping them to make good decisions about jobs and learning and ensuring that employers have access to a workforce that is skilled and fit for the future.

Web 2.0 and the advent of social networking have changed the way in which young people embark on and develop their careers. Young jobseekers are becoming increasingly disengaged from traditional careers services and practices. They want a personalised approach, customised to their own ëprofilesí, and as a result more and more are resorting to their own initiative to develop their careers and contacts online. UK careers services and employers alike need to ensure they keep pace with these changes or risk losing touch with the next generation of jobseekers.î

(i) All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,054 UK working adults aged between 18 and 30. Fieldwork was undertaken between 30th May - 6th June 2007. The survey was carried out online. The figures have not been weighted.