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Chapter Eight Career Adviser's comments and views
In addition to interviewing Headteachers, Principal Teachers and staff responsible for enterprise in education within each of the schools we also interviewed the Careers Advisers ( CA) linked to that school. For practical reasons these interviews were carried out over the telephone. A structured interview schedule was used and interviewee's responses were written down during the interview.
In total seven Careers Advisers were interviewed. The interviews covered a range of topics including which pupils had part-time jobs, the type of work they did, the value of the work, whether it was used by the Careers Advisers and their views on the issue of recognising part-time employment. Summaries of the main comments and issues raised are noted below.
Who works?
In order to establish current levels of awareness of part-time employment amongst the Careers Advisers ( CAs) we asked them for their views on who they thought worked in the school they had contact with.
The majority of the CAs commented that it was the senior pupil who was most likely to work, that is S6 and S5. A small number mentioned the employment of S4 pupils but only one suggested that younger pupils were involved in part-time employment. To some it was the more academically able pupil who was likely to work.
There was some evidence of between school variations with CAs suggesting that pupils' part-time employment was linked to local labour market conditions and the degree of competition for adults for part-time employment, therefore some groups of pupils were less likely to work
When asked to identify the type of jobs that were done examples included supermarkets, catering, general retail work, travel and tourism, hairdressing, fishing, office work, lifeguards and football club assistants.
Views on the quality of employment
While the CAs identified a wide range of jobs there was some consensus amongst the interviewees that the jobs themselves were not very demanding and in some respects quite menial. However, there were some cases where the CA did identify specific types of work that they perceived as being of higher quality, for example, working in a pharmacy or in IT sectors.
Some of the CAs acknowledged that the issue of the quality of the experience was in part influenced by the individual pupil. Some pupils may get a lot out of the experience and enjoyed being in the adult world and being treated like an adult.
However, the general tone of the comments indicates that the CAs did not perceive the experience as being of high quality. For at least one the caveat to this was that if the part-time job was linked in some way to future career ideas or occupational choices then it would be of more importance.
Reasons for employing school pupils
When asked why they thought employers recruit pupils employees a range of explanations were put forward. For some CAs the explanation was linked to the cost of employment. Employing pupils was perceived as a cheap option. An additional motivation is that this group of employees is flexible in terms of the hours they work, they can be asked to work a lot of hours and they may be more compliant when it comes to doing what they are told.
For others the motivation for employing school pupils is explained in a more positive way. Employers can gain access to pupils with an academic pedigree, providing them with a more able and intelligent workforce. The reliability of these employees may also be an issue if they are recommended through family networks.
Some CAs linked employer's motivations to wider issues and longer term goals. For these CAs the local labour market shortages may mean that employing school pupils is a way of tackling labour shortages. Employers may have an eye to the future, employing pupils part-time with the aim of recruiting to their full time workforce later on.
What do young people gain?
When asked what young people gain from the experience of part-time employment a common response was to highlight potential gains in confidence, self-esteem and maturity. For some it was the attainment of people skills, while others drew attention to the development of communication skills. In at least one case a CA thought that there may be gains in terms of numeracy.
A range of other gains were identified including:
- engagement with the adult world
- broadening horizons
- more confident about moving on to a new situation such as leaving school, being interviewed
- more enterprising in enterprise activities
One CA drew attention to those pupils who do not have part-time employment. In their view some young people who are 'difficult to place' have their difficulties compounded by not having had a part-time job.
Use of part-time
In order to gain some insight into the use that was made of this experience we asked CAs about their awareness of part-time work in school and their use of this experience in careers sessions.
(i) Use in School
Many of the CAs felt that they were unable to address this issue because they have little experience of or access to this type of information. However, it was apparent that they were of the view that there was little use of part-time work by schools. They suggest that schools may have a negative attitude to this idea.
(ii) Use by Careers Advisers?
In contrast when asked about the use that they made of part-time employment all of them said that they referred to it in some way or other. The majority indicated that they made regular use of this experience.
Examples given of the use they made of part-time work included:
- in interviews;
- in induction sessions with upper school pupils;
- in CareerBox;
- use when advising on CVs/ UCAS/Personal Statements;
- mapping part-time work to the Career Planning Journey;
- Get Ready for Work ( GRfW) action plans.
For some CAs there was a concern that pupils may not be aware of the link between part-time employment and learning in general.
When asked about the use of part-time work in the context of enterprise in education a number of the CAs we interviewed were unable to provide us with any comments since they do not know what happens in enterprise in education. They explained that different Careers Scotland staff deal with this, it is not the adviser's role. For those who did express a view it was clear that they thought little use was being made of part-time employment in this context.
Impact on career thinking?
For some of the CAs there was little linkage between part-time employment and future career ideas. This was due to their belief that the motivation for having a part-time job was instrumental, it was about getting money. The exception to this was if the part-time job was directly linked to some future career aim, for example working in a pharmacy.
Other CAs were more positive suggesting that part-time employment may help pupils focus and may even help some of them to exclude certain ideas. In at least one interview it was clear that the CA thought that good and bad part-time work experiences could be of value. If a young person has a positive experience, it could help them to focus on 'where they're going' and if negative, would encourage better planning for the future.
Recognition
As in our previous interviews with school staff we asked the CAs about the issue of recognition. There was a positive response to the idea of using part-time work in a more structured way within school. For some this could be by linking part-time work with the S4 work experience programme.
Another CA thought that recognition would be a positive step since it would encourage the articulation of skills:
' recognition would help young people articulate their skills, it's the West of Scotland syndrome, you can't boast about your achievement'.
For another CA making more use of this type of experience was important. For them school was a place where pupils were 'spoon fed' and part-time employment would provide an 'injection of reality' about the world of work.
However, we also found that CAs added some caveats to these positive responses. In some cases the concern was with the quality of the jobs, they are of limited value and involve routine work. For others the problem with recognition was whether the tools were available to allow this move to take place.
At least one CA noted that the idea of recognising part-time work may have to combat existing views on part-time employment. They cited the example of the Headteacher in their school who was of the view that part-time work was not to be encouraged. In effect part-time work is recognised, but it is viewed in a negative way.
When we asked CAs about their views on the Models of recognition it was apparent that no consensus emerged. Some CAs felt that their views had to be tempered by an acknowledgement that they were not teachers and as such would not be aware of some of the impacts of the models.
Across all of the CAs no specific model emerged as a dominant preference. The potential costs and benefits they identified for each model were comparable to those identified by other teaching staff.
Other issues
A number of other comments were made by the CAs. In this section we highlight some of these.
Work experience presents similar challenges to part-time employment, but most could not see a link between part-time employment and work experience. For many the main difference between these two activities is that work experience allows young people to get the chance to prepare, think and review their work experience. In contrast there is no equivalent for part-time work.
Flexibility in S6 curriculum in some schools the flexibility in senior pupils' timetables was being used to allow them to do a range of activities under the heading of 'S6 enhancements'. These included involvement in voluntary work and taking driving lessons. Part-time employment was also viewed as an 'S6 enhancement'.
Impact on social life was a concern that emerged amongst CAs. Some were of the view that there was little time for leisure for most pupils when balancing part-time work and schooling.
Legislation on part-time employment. There was a general lack of awareness amongst CAs of the legislation in this area. Some were unaware of it, others were unclear what it was or whether it was used.
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