We’re continuing to run workshops with young people to get their feedback and perceptions of employer accessibility online.

In our latest workshop, young people being supported by Talent Match Leicester told us their perceptions of applying online and three messages that they wanted us to deliver to potential employers.

Talent Match is a Prince’s Trust initiative funded by Big Lottery to help 18-24 year-olds who have been out of work for more than 12 months.

Here’s what we heard from the young people about their experiences and perceptions of applying for jobs online:

Lack of appropriate feedback

“After I send my application online I never hear anything back and I didn’t know who I could talk to about it at the company.”

“I’ve been approached by agencies before but once I apply they never give me any feedback.”

“A training company looking to promote apprenticeship opportunities in the city centre, first of all were really enthusiastic and it made me feel like they would get me a job. But then as soon as they took my details they didn’t want to know. It felt like I was just another number on their list.”

Social media

More than half the young people in the workshop told us they would search on Facebook and Twitter for job opportunities. But only 20% were on Linkedin.

Company website

Young people who said they knew which industry they wanted to work in said they would go online to research and look for a company. Young people expect job opportunities to be posted on the company website.

As part of the workshop, we asked young people to tell us their top three messages they would like us to give to potential employers. Here’s what they told us:

Consider try before you buy

Young people want opportunities to try work placements, for example work experience, internships or trial periods. This takes the pressure off making a big commitment to a full time role for both the employer and the employee.

Provide opportunities to prove their worth

Young people said they wanted an opportunity to prove their worth. They want to see more employers offering entry level positions to allow them to show what they can do and develop their skills.

Give mentoring and support

Young people want to know there is a clear induction to the company and the Job role is explicit, so they know what is expected of them.  

They also want to know who to go to for ongoing support and advice which may not necessarily come from a line manager and the reason for that is they may want to discuss things that are not necessarily directly related to their job role.

Summary

So, what are young people trying to tell employers?

• Be prepared to dip your toe in the water when it comes to employing young people.If you’re not sure then make the decision a smaller one (e.g. work experience first)
• Find an employee internally who can provide that early career support as a champion or mentor
• Provide clear instruction, straightforward responsibilities and what is expected within a job role. Avoid jargon or unnecessary complexity
• Acknowledge applications, inform candidates of success or otherwise and offer feedback to unsuccessful candidates. It’s good manners and reflects well on your company and can help a young person improve their subsequent job applications
• Look at your online content. Are you happy that it represents your company in the way you would like?

The feedback we have collated from young people so far has shown us that applying for jobs online is overall a bad experience.

For employers, having a poor careers web page and content can present a reputational risk. Who owns your company’s careers webpage? (We’ll be talking more on this later this month).

During our workshop with the young people it was clear that it was difficult to apply for a job with any size company without going online to do so. The experience they had of doing this was far from a good one. Having put the effort in to fill in a form, write a letter or submit their CV it would appear that this process does not automatically include some form of communication or feedback.

We know from our discussion with other young people that this is a major cause of demotivation and anxiety. Imagine if you’d applied for 50 plus jobs online and not had any feedback – put yourself in the position of an inexperienced young person. Sadly it’s easy to see why mental health and wellbeing is a big issue in relation to our young people (Prince’s Trust Youth Index results).

Are you a Leicester based company who has a vacancy for a work-ready young person? Contact us and we will pass your details on.

Coming up

If you’d like to hear us talking about our findings from the employer accessibility research then join us at a CIPD Leicester branch event on 3 May – book online