8.5 Careers Advice
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Careers Advice
Many of the skills issues identified in this Strategy can be addressed in part through improved careers advice for photo imaging in schools, colleges, universities and adult careers services.
Better careers advice, informed by regularly updated intelligence regarding the skills and qualifications needed by industry, will help individuals make better careers choices. This in turn, will lead to more sustainable employment and over time will help to address industry skills gaps and shortages.
Once employers have clearly communicated their skills needs to Skillset through its ongoing research programme (this strategy being the starting point), Skillset will ensure that this information is communicated in turn to individuals, either through its own careers activities (including a help line, website, e-mail support and face to face careers guidance), or through other careers advisors working in schools, further and higher education and with adults.
Skillset will work to achieve this by supporting and better informing the existing network of general careers advisers in the UK and by directly providing careers advice and guidance to both new entrants and the existing workforce. These advisers include those working for Careers Wales, Careers Scotland, the Careers Service in Northern Ireland, Connexions and nextstep providers in England and those working in further and higher education.
Careers Advice
Many of the skills issues identified in this Strategy can be addressed in part through improved careers advice for photo imaging in schools, colleges, universities and adult careers services.
Better careers advice, informed by regularly updated intelligence regarding the skills and qualifications needed by industry, will help individuals make better careers choices. This in turn, will lead to more sustainable employment and over time will help to address industry skills gaps and shortages.
Once employers have clearly communicated their skills needs to Skillset through its ongoing research programme (this strategy being the starting point), Skillset will ensure that this information is communicated in turn to individuals, either through its own careers activities (including a help line, website, e-mail support and face to face careers guidance), or through other careers advisors working in schools, further and higher education and with adults.
Skillset will work to achieve this by supporting and better informing the existing network of general careers advisers in the UK and by directly providing careers advice and guidance to both new entrants and the existing workforce. These advisers include those working for Careers Wales, Careers Scotland, the Careers Service in Northern Ireland, Connexions and nextstep providers in England and those working in further and higher education.
- Employers should continue to communicate their skills needs to Skillset, in particular by participating in its research activities and especially by responding to the industry Census, the development of National Occupational Standards, the Occupational Map and detailed job profiles and by providing ongoing feedback on this strategy.
- Employers can also support accurate careers information advice and guidance by working with Skillset and the Education sector to make clear the preferred qualification levels and subjects needed for each part of Photo Imaging industry and the range of roles that are available to new entrants, and the transferable, and specialist and 'domain awareness' required for these roles.
- Skillset will work with careers advisors in education and training to improve their understanding of the full range of opportunities in the Photo Imaging sector, to enable them to give relevant advice and guidance before critical educational choices are made.
- Skillset will work with all publicly funded careers services to improve the advice they give about Photo Imaging careers. Skillset will:
- - Publish information about careers, education and training in photo imaging on the premier website for careers advisers in the UK, the National Guidance Research Forum (www.guidance-research.org), managed by the University of Warwick.
- - Hold regular workshops for careers advisers, with contributions from employers.
- - Set up a specialised e-mail service to help advisers answer enquiries from people wishing to work in photo imaging, linked with the trade associations.
- - Produce detailed information on jobs in photo imaging, including job profiles and case studies on www.skillset.org, linked to the trade associations.
- - Conduct focused research with groups of individuals and companies in photo imaging to other ways of providing individuals with careers advice and guidance. (One model is for experienced and respected practitioners from the sector to train as industry careers advisors so that they can offer careers advice and guidance).
- Dependant on demand identified in the focus groups, Skillset will offer one-to-one careers advice sessions to new entrants and those already working in the industry. Targets will be set to reach groups currently under-represented in the industry. Industry can support this work by making clear how practitioners already in the industry can progress their careers and what additional skills they need to acquire.
- Skillset will encourage email enquiries and establish a network of specialised practitioners to deal with them. Information generated as a result of this service could be used to develop a bank of Frequently Asked Questions available via www.skillset.org and trade association websites.
- Industry can steer this work by making clear through Skillset's research programme and regional skills panels which occupations are changing due to new technology or working practices and what new roles and skills will be needed to meet these changes (in addition to the significant information already provided in the development of this strategy).
- At the same time as building a comprehensive careers advice service for the industry through Skillset Careers, it is essential that employers, organisations and trade associations refer all speculative careers enquiries to the service, thus further building its profile and expertise.
