Inspiring talks and workshops at Careers Live 2023

Uni Connect staff recently attended Careers Live 2023 at Leeds City Museum. The event, which had the theme of A Future for All, was organised by The Opportunity Centre and aimed at careers advisors of school and college learners. 

The day was packed with talks and networking opportunities. There were also a number of workshops led by experts in the field. 

Keynote speaker Professor Tristram Hooley (University of Derby) spoke about the challenges for careers advisers following the pandemic and the need for social justice within careers guidance. He later led a workshop on positioning careers guidance within social justice. It gave me food for thought about how mental health and inequalities exist, and how career guidance can make changes to people’s lives. 

David Andrews OBE, an authority on careers education and guidance in schools and colleges, delivered a session on leading an outstanding careers programme in schools or colleges. He discussed various tools that can be used to plan and create a sustained and relevant programme for learners. 

Dr Jonathan Hopwood-Lewis from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) delivered a workshop on regional and national labour market trends and future skills. Enterprise Coordinators from WYCA gave good examples of how to work with SEND (special educational needs or disability) learners and signposted to their careers and learning materials. 

Best practice that was shared included using LinkedIn to approach speakers and role models who had attended your school or college, and using an internal job shop to advertise jobs in school and using a proper application process to give learners real life experience and skills. 

It was a wonderful opportunity to network with colleagues and take time to acknowledge the great practice and care for learners that is upheld in the profession. I went away feeling more knowledgeable about the careers picture locally, nationally and internationally and inspired to look to the future.  

Find out more about the event and access the slides.

 

Jenny Scannell, Go Higher West Yorkshire Project Officer