‘Short, sharp and fun’ career information at health and social care event
CAREER ‘speed dating’ events are certainly a novel concept for giving Shetland’s young people some hands-on information on future job opportunities.
They are obviously not speed dating in the traditional sense, but the events allow small groups of secondary school pupils to flit between tables – or ‘stations’ – where they can learn more about different career avenues.
The latest event, organised by Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) alongside NHS Shetland and Shetland Islands Council, took place in the Clickimin bowls hall on Tuesday morning, with health and social care the focus.
Youngsters from the Aith, Sandwick and Anderson schools attended and spent around six minutes at each table before moving on to the next.
Each table represented different elements of health and social care, from renal nursing and NHS estates to the ambulance and domestic services.
Many of the tables had hands-on activities – with one challenging folk to see how quickly they could get on NHS ‘scrubs’ gaining a fair bit of attention, for example.
DYW also hosts similar career events for other industries such as aquaculture, while there was also a recent engineering one in Brae.
Project lead Emma Chittick said the event gives young people a “short, sharp introduction” to various sectors with an element of fun added in too.
“Each station should have a hands-on activity, so it’s not just young people listening, and hopefully that activity gives them an opportunity to learn about the job,” she explained.
“For example one of the activities from social care is that they’re talking about how they work with people with visual impairment, and they have to try and match up socks with different goggles, which emulate different visual impairments.
“It’s just understanding that to work in that social care sector you have to have empathy, you have to understand what the clientele are working with.”
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The results seem to be positive; anecdotal feedback shows that there has been a “marked increase” in Shetland applications to Robert Gordon University regarding allied health courses.
Chittick also highlighted the example of one person with barriers to employment who now has an ambition to work in an NHS kitchen.
“That’s a really big achievement for that young person, because they went in thinking they were never going to have a job,” she said.
“And they’ve come out thinking they can access the world of work.”
She said the ‘speed dating’ events are generally for S1-3, with more bespoke visits for S4-6.
As Shetland News’ chat with Chittick reaches a close it becomes evident that she is the one in charge of keeping things running smoothly, as she bellows to the bowls hall with little warning: “Okay, time is up, you need to move please to the next station!”
Speaking as the event wrapped up, NHS Shetland board business manager Millie Boulton, who acts as the link between the health board and DYW, said a key aim is to show that jobs at the health board are not just reserved to clinical opportunities, such as nursing.
She added that the NHS tends to take part in the event around two or three times a year, with the aim of spreading it across schools.
Boulton said the children have been “really engaged”, while it gives them the chance to ask about future opportunities like work experience.
She used the example of how some young folk may not know they could be a carpenter or electrician in the NHS.
Shetland Islands Council’s adult services (learning disability and autism) manager Ann Robertson said: “We were delighted to be part of another successful DYW joint event with NHS colleagues, to help raise the profile of social care careers across both the council’s community care resources and adult services settings.”
Information about Developing the Young Workforce in Shetland can be found on their Facebook page.
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