Connecting kids to careers was on the agenda when the Skillsroad Show visited Forbes last week.
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Forbes and surrounds areas have a youth unemployment rate of about 10.8 per cent, according to ABS statistics, compared to an overall rate of 4.5 per cent.
Skillsroad Show is a travelling careers hub that uses workshops and digital career planning tools such as a Resume Builder, Job Fit Test, and Career Quiz to help young people align careers to their interests and skillsets.
“Job churn is on the increase with young people and so is unemployment,” Kirstin Casey, Skillsroad Show’s Careers Expert, said.
“All too often this is because young people have not been encouraged – nor had the opportunity - to sit down and think about what they’re good at and what suits their values and personality type.
“Making it more likely for young people to end up in the wrong job for them, create churn, and put them at risk of unemployment due to a rocky transition from school into the workplace.
“Using career planning tools and encouraging young people to think about careers and pathways early on can help create a smoother transition.”
Skillsroad Show is an Australian Government program designed to provide regional young people with career advice and connect them to local employment opportunities.
The program also urges local businesses to support the program by opening their doors to young people by creating new opportunities such as: work experience, open days, or offering positions of employment.
Vicki Seccombe, NSW Business Chamber’s Regional Manager for Western NSW, said there was an urgent need to support young people and help them develop career skills.
“Research has shown the more exposure students have to the workplace during school the more likely they are to find successful employment as an adult,” she said.
“Career-readying young people will help transition them into successful jobs and help make Forbes a more productive business hub by lowering rates of unemployment, and reducing the cost of churn associated with poor job retention.”
Your business can be part of it, go online to www.pledgeforyouth.com.au and sign up.