Dr Rebecca Steer and Peter Colley from Talent Match Leicester have joined the Access Generation team to help us run the youth employment accessibility research project.

The pair have been instrumental in the pilot research project that assessed the job section on Leicestershire company websites. This month we will be publishing the results of the youth employment accessibility research and using the results to support and engage with businesses.

Dr Rebecca Steer, works for Talent Match Leicester as the monitoring and evaluation manager. Dr Steer is responsible for facilitating the monitoring and evaluation to measure the impact across 5 regional Talent Match initiatives.

Dr Rebecca said: “Access Generation were in a good starting point with their questions and I was impressed by the robustness. I have helped facilitate the research development to get it to a state ready to be used. Talent Match work with the hardest to reach young people. And this research is scoping the barriers to work that young people face and it’s become a huge sub-project for Talent Match. The research will make a big difference to what Talent Match can do.

“By helping employers become accessible, Talent Match mentors job to engage with employers about taking on a young person will become easier.

“Access Generation are bridging the gap between employers and young people. The door to employment is not open for young people on their own and with Talent Match we have been able to go over or under that barrier. This research will help unlock the door.”

25-year-old Peter Colley, is researching hidden talents and has produced content and spoken on behalf of Talent Match. Peter said: “I was intimidated by the research project at first because it’s a topic close to my heart and I wanted to make sure I did it justice. I’ve really enjoyed the process and it’s given me more skills and abilities around research methods.

“There are obvious patterns in the research results and its astute in company flaws.

“There are many ways the results can be used such as a report, blogs or graphics. Most importantly, it can grow. It’s progression and should warrant a long lasting life.”

Chris Tarry, founder of Access Generation said: “I’ve been really impressed by the contribution from both Dr Rebecca and Peter. It’s important to me that the work we do is well considered and robust. I feel their work has added to the quality of the research and has given me confidence in the results.”

Jemma Redden, Head of marketing and communications of Access Generation, said: “By speaking directly to young people about their job hunting experience our research has been built on a criteria set by young people themselves. With the help of Dr Steer and Peter we are now in a great position to help businesses straight-forward practical guidance to make and create employment opportunities accessible for inexperienced young people.”