Career Mentoring
Career Mentoring is a unique group mentoring programme that matches business mentors with groups of local school students aged 12 to 15.
We work with schools across Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath & NE Somerset.
How does it work?
The programme consists of 6 in-person 1-2 hr sessions that take place for targeted student groups, five of which are held in the workplace and the sixth in the school, over 6-12 weeks.
Career Mentoring helps young people:
Gain an insight into workplaces and career pathways
Build confidence and self esteem
Explore skills and knowledge
Motivate progression and attainment
Relate school to future careers
Encourage aspiration and achievement
Understand what employability means
Why is it needed?
In 2022, the Prince’s Trust found that 1 in 5 young people feel they will fail in life, with this rising to a third of those who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET).
Yet, research has found that a young person who has 4 or more meaningful encounters with an employer is 86% less likely to become NEET (Contemporary Transitions, Education and Employers Research, 2017).
What’s more, participation in career interventions with volunteers from the world of work can influence student’s future plans and subject choices, motivate them to study harder and support an improvement in academic attainment.
Importantly, lower achievers and less engaged learners responded best to this type of intervention (Motivated to Achieve, 2019).
How you and your team can inspire the next generation
Our volunteer business mentors impart knowledge of workplace skills, employability opportunities and pathways, inspiring and motivating students to raise their aspirations.
They can inspire and encourage students to realise the clear benefits of school, build their confidence and self-esteem and enable them to develop a clear and achievable career plan.
We ask businesses taking part in our programmes to pay a small contribution towards the costs of setting up and running their partnership. This contribution covers some of the costs of training and DBS checking volunteers; managing the relationship between the business and the school; assisting you in tailoring the workshop materials to your industry; and reporting to the business evaluating the impact of the partnership.
We can organise bespoke partnerships to meet the needs and capabilities of both the school and organisation. As well as in-person programmes we can also set up hybrid programmes so that your employees can get involved wherever they are based across the UK.
The total time commitment is 12-18 hours per mentor depending on the agreed programme.
We ask the company for a contribution towards the cost of training, resources and programme support.
Support throughout
A dedicated Ablaze Project Manager introduces and supports this partnership from start to finish ensuring that all parties have a positive experience
Impact
Schools report that behaviour and confidence dramatically increase for the majority of students that take part, with many students re-engaging with school.
Evaluation data collected to date shows that Career Mentoring has a tangible, positive impact on young people who take part:
97% of students become more confident in themselves and their ability to take part
100% of students finished the programme with a better knowledge of careers
98% had an increased understanding of the skills needed for employment
Contact us to find out more.