By Julie Leggatt, Associate Director

At White Label, we value supporting and shaping young people because they are the future.

We currently engage with young people through work experiences, apprentice schemes and actively supporting events in partnership with educational institutions around London.

It is they who will bring in new ideas, renew practices using new technology, and keep business aligned with the present and the future, which in turn will propel economic growth, crucial to the success of businesses.

Alternatively, we know what it’s like to be young and just entering the professional world. It’s just becoming more competitive and harder out there, so being able to help a young person take their first step is becoming more important.

A common concern for smaller businesses is that they won’t have enough time to train them, finding they lack the necessary skills and experience or having difficulty adapting to the new environment.

A little extra work is sometimes required, but its value to the young person is priceless. They will remember the experience as the starting point of their career. 

It will be immensely rewarding to unlock their potential, but it will also assist in staff retention, through a sense of loyalty. In the long run, this can save businesses money on recruiting and training new employees.

You will also find that your business will have an improved reputation. A company that is known for supporting young people is more likely to attract top talent. This can give the company a competitive advantage in the job market.

There are multiple ways you can support young people

• Provide training and development opportunities through training programs, mentorship opportunities, work experience and apprenticeships.
• Create a supportive and inclusive workplace culture, allowing young people to feel welcome and valued in the workplace.
• Offer flexible work arrangements as they may have unique needs, because of their commitments to school/university or even other part-time jobs.

Tips to employers

Whenever someone comes in for a work experience at White Label, the team begins with a quick 15-minute brief to showcase different aspects of the business – knowledge bases and roles. We then ask them what they are interested in and what tools they need, allowing us to tailor our offerings around that. A wide range of work in the role is preferable, allowing them to know more about the role they potentially want to join.  

A full induction, just like the ones for new employees could be useful, providing them a sense of ease allowing them to know what to expect when they start their career and making space for constructive feedback at the end.

Remember what it was like when you started your first job and how nervous you were? Making them feel at ease is so key! Allocating them a mentor, someone they feel safe to go to, ideally not a manager could be a solution.  

We have supported eight young people for work experiences this year, and two apprenticeships have been successfully completed. 

Tips to young people seeking experience

• The CV should be presentable and your spelling should be in British English
• Do some research on the company, understand what they do, and demonstrate your interest and willingness to work with them
• Show up promptly to interviews
• Be sure to ask lots of questions
• Take lots of notes to help you retain information

Find out what our young people have said:

Event:

Croydon Careers Fair – White Label developed an event program targeting graduates and job seekers through a coordinated marketing campaign. The event was held at Feldberg Capital’s Mosaic East building.

“Really enjoyed the Careers Fair, I got to speak to the company I really had the most interest in and will be connecting with them going forward for hopefully a new exciting opportunity. Also was great to speak with our businesses and hear about what they were doing. Made some great connections.” – received from a young person through a post-event survey

Apprentice:

“Taking an apprenticeship course is a good first step when starting your career journey, you get the opportunity to learn on the job while earning. Discover aspects of your chosen career path that you can see yourself doing for years to come and areas you wouldn’t. It is an avenue for personal discovery as you find out how you fit in a work environment. You will also learn how to work as a team and how to handle conflicts. 

“In an apprenticeship, learning is more practical as you get to apply what you have learned almost immediately after learning it. If you face any difficulties along the way, you will be guided and mentored by experienced team members around you. You are also able to shadow colleagues whose roles are different from yours, giving you a wider knowledge of other career paths. This way if you are still unsure, you can find your path.

“My advice to anyone considering an apprenticeship course is to try it. You’ll be amazed at how much information you’ll learn about yourself and the world you’ll unlock.” – Excel Epelle, former apprentice, now White Label Project Coordinator.

Work Experience:

“Work experience provides you with an insight into day-to-day work life giving you the chance to work out if that job really is for you. It also helps with university and future job applications.

“My work experience at White Label has shown me that marketing is definitely what I want to study in higher education”. – Will Hayes, who is currently studying BTEC Business Level 3 at Nescot College.