Over forty five leading businesses and organisations attended a Work and Careers Fair at Newbury College on Wed March 28th and it was the biggest of its kind ever to be staged in West Berkshire. The organizations that were present represented a wide range of sectors; many were familiar high street names including new comers to the area, Harrods Distribution and John Lewis, alongside two of the largest employers in the region, the AWE and Vodafone.
Last November, some very insightful research was conducted amongst young people aged 16-18 who were studying in West Berkshire, as to their perception of the skills that were considered of most value by employers. This survey was constructed following two sets of comparable research amongst employers on the subject of "employability skills", by the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) at a national level and at a local level the Berkshire Education Business Partnership Organisation. From these studies seven sets of skills were presented to local young people, who ranked them in order of importance:
1. Self Management
2. Communication and Literacy
3. Team Working
4. Business and Customer Awareness
5. Problem Solving
6. Application of IT
7. Application of Numeracy
When compared to the employers feedback there was a consensus that self management and communications skills are key, there was a concern from employers that amongst young people communications styles are too highly influenced by social media and texting, resulting in people struggling with basic skills required to write a good CV and covering letter. Equally and perhaps more importantly, employers see numeracy skills as being at the top of their list of preferred skills.
These young people were also asked what local employers could do to help them get the skills they'd need when they start work. The resultant feedback included CV practice and interview tips as well as the opportunity to talk with employers both at their place of study and at local careers fairs.
With the budget recently having revealed very little in the way of short term improvement for unemployment levels, the West Berks Work and Careers Fair, couldn't have been timelier. Dawn Ray who organised the fair on behalf of the West Berks Skills and Enterprise Partnership, said, "The event unquestionably helped to address many of the points raised by this research. By meeting employers in person and through a full programme of workshops throughout the day, the event helped visitors to find out what businesses are demanding in terms of the right skills to meet the needs of today's economy and how to perform better in this challenging job market".