Young People - Careers & Work

What Help and Support You Can Expect

You have the right to impartial careers advice, education and guidance. This means that the person you are talking to is not trying to influence you to make a decision in favour of their place of learning or for any other reason. This can be difficult for you to manage because, for the most part, adults are supposed to know best. However, sometimes they may not be aware that they are biased and do not know the whole picture. This not only applies to people you know, but people on TV, in newspapers and magazines and on the internet. You need to make informed decisions, it’s your future after all, and you don’t want to start down one career pathway only to find in a year’s time that it was not right for you and you have top start all over again. Of course, no experience is wasted; you will have picked up useful skills and strengthened your qualities, so all would not be lost.

All of this leads to the importance of talking to people whose job it is to know about all the options open to you and provide guidance towards what is best for you. These people are professional careers advisers and professionals who have a good understanding of careers and the emphasis is on guidance. This website is full of information and advice and links to sites that give you information and advice. Do as much research as you can and you can make up your own mind but if you find this very hard then contact your Connexions Careers Adviser, if you are in a school or college, or your Connexions Personal Adviser or Connexions Adviser, if you contact your local Connexions Hub. An individual interview might help or you there may be a lunchtime drop in session that you could go to.

You could also talk to:

Your tutor, teachers, careers coordinator, if there is one, Head of Sixth Form, learning provider
Your prospective teachers and/or trainers if you are moving on
Family and friends, it can be useful to get advice from the people who know you best, but they won’t always know a lot about the career you’re interested in. Remember – it’s your career. You know what you’re
Connexions Direct on 080 800 13219 which is a help line especially for young people aged 13-19 .