Career Aspirations

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the focus we place on thinking ahead, career paths are consistently prioritised by Aspirations students – with 88% including at least one as an area to focus on last term. In addition, even though a lot have an idea of what they’d like to do, most want further guidance – with 68% of the c.4500 students surveyed saying they’d like more help and information on their options after school. In this blog, we’ll share some resources you might want to encourage your students to use – helping them use some of this time away from school to explore career paths and get excited about entering the world of work. This blog was born from the Aspirations Newsletter, which you can subscribe to here ! Part 1: For students who aren’t sure what they want to do A Quick, Fun Careers Quiz Panjango offers a quick, easy quiz which matches students’ interests and skills to a selection of potential careers. Good for a quick activity to give KS3/4 students an idea of their options. Panjango also have a series of online and board games , although these may be more appropriate for use with a teacher or parent. Non-Office Career Ideas For students who know what they don’t want to do, Target Careers’ list of non-office careers might offer some inspiration. A Comprehensive Career Guide Similar to Panjango, Start Profile uses students’ interests, skills and preferences to suggest potential careers, but at a more detailed level. It also stores their profile and provides a platform for them to build and record skills, explore career options and get a better understanding of how to achieve them, and set them on the path to professional development. Part 2: For students who know what they want How To Become… Just About Anything! This series of articles from Graduate Prospects Ltd outlining the steps needed to start a wide range of careers, from accountant to zookeeper , and everything in between! Videos and Stories From Professionals For students who prefer videos to written guidance, iCould contains a series of videos and stories in which successful professionals from a wide range of fields offer insights into their roles, and how they got into them. For Students Who Want A Career In Sport Sports, Health and Fitness is the most popular career path among Aspirations students, with 27% considering it as an option. This article from Target Careers outlines some of the possible careers in this field, and paths to get there. Are Your Students the Future of the NHS? NHS workers are getting a lot of well deserved praise at the moment, and 21% of students were already interested in a career in healthcare – but there are plenty of non-clinical options, too. Step Into the NHS provides stories about what working in the NHS is like, a platform to explore potential roles, and a quiz which matches students up to roles which might suit them. All of the above resources are available as online resources to Aspirations students, through the Aspire platform. Interested in personal development? Sign up to the Aspirations Newsletter for regular(ish) updates including recommended resources, great practice from our schools, and trends on student needs and interests across the country Sign Up!