1. Preparing young people for the world of work
Career Ready
Preparing young
people for the
world of work

2. The Career Ready Programme
Extended interventions with selected students
A Local Advisory Board
- link to employers
Aimed at young people
who have the ability to
go further than they
realise
Career Ready is a national charity that links schools and colleges with employers across the UK to prepare young people for the world of work.
Career Ready is an amazing opportunity, putting us directly in touch with employers from all areas of work. Career Ready can give our students the skills they need to get the career they want. We have been offering this programme for [X] years and [X] students have benefitted from it.
Through Career Ready we can make links with people from every kind of organisation – from the NHS to multinationals, including a quarter of the FTSE 100 companies. Local supporters include [INSERT LOCAL EMPLOYERS]
We have also joined a national network of schools and colleges across the UK who are helping young people prepare for the world of work and Career Ready provides CPD opportunities for staff.
Four elements make up the Career Ready programme: masterclasses, mentoring, workplace visits and experiences of work. None of these are stand alone and students have to take part in all of them.

3. The programme Masterclasses Sessions include:
Access to all masterclasses and resources from the masterclass programme
“The masterclasses opened my eyes and gave me an insight into the real world and how to prepare for it. The presenters showed me that hard work pays off and you cannot wait for success, you must work for it.”
Arjan Patel, Career Ready student at
Cirencester College
Masterclasses
Over the duration of the programme, students will take part in a number of masterclasses that will be delivered by employer volunteers, who have stepped up and want to share their experiences. Students take part in sessions such as personal branding, effective networking and communication, interview skills and preparation for work.
We can also invite non-Career Ready students to participate in the masterclasses.
Sessions include:
Know Yourself
Effective Communication & Networking
Success at Interviews
Preparing for Work
Brand YOU
Career Pathways
Success at Assessment Centres

4. The programme Mentoring
12 monthly focussed interventions
Career Ready DBS check mentors and allocate online
Student and mentor handbooks
“My mentor, Mustafa, gave up so much of his own time, giving me the confidence, courage and determination to pursue a mechanical engineering degree.”
Callum Christie, Career Ready student, Peterhead
Academy
Mentoring
A mentor is a student’s guide, sounding board and critical friend. Mentoring is the part of the programme that our students say transforms their thinking about careers and work more than anything else. Mentoring is a two way street – the mentor isn’t there to tell students what to do but to help them understand their options, work through how to make decisions and support them in fulfilling their potential. The result: a professional relationship which often continues long after the Career Ready programme finishes.
Students will be partnered with a mentor who is committed to supporting them and is going to give them an insight into the professional world of work. They will meet and communicate regularly.
We will recruit mentors for the local community, and Career Ready will support us to ensure every student on the programme has a access to a mentor.

5. The programme Workplace visits
Provide students with access to work environments
Usually a tour of the workplace followed by a workshop
“Employers need to be in direct contact with students and school staff so that they have the best and most relevant up-to-date information about what is happening in our industry.”
David Condell, Operations Director, McCauley
Engineering
Workplace visits
One of the main benefits of Career Ready is that it will give our students access to workplaces that they wouldn’t have the opportunity to go to without the programme.
They will visit various employers who will give you a chance to find out what it is like to work in their firm and gain an opportunity to speak to people who work there, all the time expanding their own network of contacts.

6. The programme Experiences of work
Combination of Career Ready sourced and locally sourced placements
Toolkits for supervisors and students
“The people at Santander became my friends – they made me believe I could do things that I thought were impossible.”
Mark Recometa, Career Ready student, St Mary’s
Catholic School in Newcastle
Placements
There is no point hearing about the world of work if you don’t actually get an opportunity to experience it. When a student applies for the programme they will have the chance to compete for work placements, ranging from one week to four weeks at companies in a huge range of industries.
Some of the placements will be found by us and the LAB, some will be found by Career Ready and some students may find their own work experience placements.

7. Creating a sustainable local employer network
The Career Ready LAB (Local Advisory Board)
Essential link between school/college and local employers
Group of business people and at least one member of staff
Helps to embed employer engagement throughout school/college – tangible benefits beyond Career Ready students
The Local Advisory Board (or LAB) is a fundamental element in the Career Ready programme. It is the essential link between our school/college and local employers.
It consists of a group of business people from the local area and members will support us to build sustainable relationships with individuals and organisations who can support all your students, not only those on the programme.
The LAB meets a minimum of three times a year and its members act as expert guides, helping us to set up and deliver the programme, acting as volunteers themselves and using their networks to find suitable mentors, people to deliver masterclasses, and employers to offer workplace visits and internships.
Career Ready will support us to recruit and maintain volunteers for the LAB and help embed employer engagement into the curriculum.

8. A platform for employer engagement
Employer-led careers education, embedded in the curriculum
Long term, sustainable partnerships, owned by the school/college, and benefits that reach across the whole student cohort

9. Improving careers education
Mapped to relevant government guidance, the Ofsted Common Inspection Framework and Gatsby benchmarks
Helps meet Ofsted and government requirements for impartial careers advice and experiences of work
Career Ready is cited in statutory guidance on employer engagement in schools
The programme:
Increases our careers capability
Helps develop our employer-led careers strategy
In 2014, nearly 20% of Career Ready students applied for an apprenticeship

10. “When I first started sixth form I had very little idea of what I wanted to do. The programme not only gave me a wider understanding of the engineering industry, but completely changed my career path. During my internship I was the only girl on the construction site, screaming at the men to get their helmets on. I loved it.”
Caitlin Sillitoe, Career Ready student, now studying to be a quantity surveyor with BAM construction

11. National Career Ready’s supporters:

12. For more information about the Career Ready programme at [INSERT SCHOOL /COLLEGE], contact [INSERT YOUR CONTACT DETAILS]