Careers advice for school-leavers: U-Explore has moved things on

"I aint goin down t'pit"

Some may remember careers advice at school being something akin to the scene in Kes which ends with a bemused advisor suggesting a future in mining for young Casper, short of any other ideas.

For others – me included – careers advice at school extended as far as: “You can go to college or you can get a job. Or you can stay with us and do sixth form.” But it seems things have moved on.

I recently sat through a demo of U-Explore given by former rave-organiser and Tidy Records founder Andy Pickles. These days Andy runs a service providing online support for young people at school and college, though he does still turn out on the decks as the Tidy Boys every so often.

I found the way U-Explore helps students discover and understand careers options to be really impressive.

Full of rich content – video interviews with professionals, 360 degree workplace tours, detailed job descriptions – it allows learners to explore industries and careers that match their interests and skills, as well as related occupations that they might not have considered. All via the kind of online navigation journey they are so used to as digital natives.

On the back-end, U-Explore have access to juicy user stats that help inform regions and industries about the next generation of workforce.

And for employers, there are meaningful ways for them to engage with young people through the platform.

Check out the video below which explains U-Explore in detail.