The latest GCSE and A level results have been announced and another crop of students move onto the next stage in their lives making choices about future direction into work or further education. The options people take at 14, 16 and 18 affect their futures so fundamentally that it’s depressing how little attention is paid by schools and potential employers to raising awareness and offering advice and guidance. So much is left to chance and to the best, but often limited, efforts of parents and carers.

With the reduction in the Connexions service and the scarcity of funds available to offer career advice and guidance to young people and to adults, how can people be encouraged to find the right path for them and to reach their potential?

All too often a young person takes the road most familiar, and at 14 when GCSE subject choices have to be made, most information will come from home or friends or school. How many people at the age of 14 know what it’s like to be an opera singer or a neuroscientist, a photographer or a carpenter? No wonder so many young people say they want to be celebrities when they grow up – it’s what they know.

Some of the more enlightened employers such as Microsoft and Channel 4 run brilliant schemes to offer young people a taste of what it might be like to work in computing or in the media. Some universities invest effort in outreach programmes to encourage young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds to visit and see for themselves what might be possible. KPMG has done a great deal to raise awareness amongst young people from local communities in East London near its City offices. There are many such examples and long may they continue to be developed.

Some apprenticeship taster days and visits to local employers could be organised at or, still better, before the point that educational choices have to be made. This will take time and energy and some creative thinking about how to bring the world of work closer to the world of education. NESTA too have spent some time looking at innovative ways to bring young people into the world of work.

In the voluntary sector we have the advantage of volunteering as a route into employment and, for career changers and young people alike, arranging a volunteering placement can be invaluable. Recently there has been much debate about the potential for exploitation in unpaid internships and a fine balance needs to be achieved to ensure that the volunteer and the employer both benefit from the deal. If, for example, you think you might want to work with young people what better way of finding out than to volunteer with a youth charity, gain some experience to put on your CV and get a taste of what it actually entails. Charity employers could do much more to raise the profile of careers in the sector and encourage people at every stage of their lives to get involved.

A recent and successful example was a work placement scheme, Reach In, organised by Hact to place and train refugees in housing associations. The programme met the needs of both refugees seeking employment in the UK and housing associations looking for new recruits with relevant skills and experience.

In the current climate it’s understandable that organisations are focussing on survival but those organisations intending to have a future will be seeking ways to engage with the next generation of workers and invest in attracting career changers by offering accessible work placements. It’s not only important to manage existing talent but also to raise awareness amongst potential employees and volunteers too.

On 22 September there’s a one-day conference in London, The Future of Work in the Third Sector, organised by University of Southampton and Third Sector Research Centre. It will explore the future of work in our sector and I’ll be facilitating a workshop in the afternoon. I would encourage anyone interested in this topic to come along. Hope to see you there.