Did you know we have a peer panel of young people aged 18 to 30 who make sure our work represents the views of young people?

Every time we have a new member join the team, we ask them what they would like employers to do differently when it comes to recruitment. 

Meet Immanuel.

We first met Immanuel who was volunteering with the Prince’s Trust. Immanuel enjoys getting involved in youth forums and wants to have his voice heard by businesses.

Immanuel’s messages to employers

Look beyond someone’s academic attainment

Qualifications and grades are not always everything. Young people’s hobbies, interests, volunteering and work experience could be relevant to the job. For example, they may not have Cs in English and Maths but all the above can show the young person has exceeded C grades.  

Don’t be offended or disheartened when a young person does not respond

Young people these days go through all sorts so don’t be disheartened if they don’t reply to an email or don’t turn up to the interview. Not all young people are the same. They could be living with hidden conditions, problems at home, family issues, sofa surfing, becoming homeless, having a lack of social connections, money issues, debt, dealing with problems around mental health. You never know what could happen that may stop a young person from replying. Not all young people are lazy to reply. 

Feedback is important to young people

I know you can be extremely busy with all the applications but think of it this way, giving feedback could help decrease youth unemployment in the UK. Giving feedback to young people on why they didn’t get the job, what is wrong with their CV or any improvements they could do before applying for another job. All this is extremely important since a young person could take the feedback on board and get an interview or job next time around.

By young people, for young people

Since launching, we have listened to young people and shared valuable insights on their views with businesses.

More recently young people have designed, built and delivered assessments for businesses and contributed to our training events.

Now the peer panel will help us make our future vision a reality which is to have Access Generation run by young people, for young people.

The peer panel members represent the voice of young people, help us to validate our research findings and will soon run a campaign to promote our new accreditation.

For employers

Do you know how to meet and match young people’s expectations? Find out more about the accreditation here.