Careers advice for care experienced young people
You have as much opportunity as any other young person to follow your dreams and choose a career you want to do.
Your Pathway Advisor (PA) will support you in accessing work but there are also some great resources that you can look at to help with your CV, interview skills or choosing a career.
What if I don’t know what I want to do?
Talking to your PA is always a great place to start when thinking about starting working. Some young people know what they want to do but some don’t and that’s okay! Why not try a few careers quizzes to see which jobs match your interests and skills:
- National Careers Service: Skills assessment
- UCAS: Careers quiz
- Careerpilot: Quizzes that match your skills and interests to jobs
What support can I get in Swindon?
- Get Ahead at New College Swindon - if you are aged 16-25, you can work with Get Ahead to gain of qualifications, experiences and range of skills from money management to building confidence and resilience. Get Ahead is a stepping-stone to employment, full-time education or an apprenticeship
- Adult Community Learning - offer free courses to care experienced young people including arts, cookery and digital skills. You can access these free course is you are:
- living with mental health or emotional difficulties or have a long term health condition
- unemployed and actively job seeking who wish to develop their skills
- holding below Level 2 qualifications (less than 5 GCSEs at grade C or above including Maths and English) who wish to return to education or employment
- wanting to develop their own skills to help their children or grandchildren to learn
How can the JobCentre help me?
If you apply for Universal Credit, you will visit the JobCentre where they will support you in finding work. Your PA can support you in filling out the application.
As a care leaver, as soon as you apply for Universal Credit you should send a journal message to let them know you are a care leaver and share your PA’s name, email and phone number. This way your PA can support you at your first commitment meeting.
The JobCentre can support you by:
- providing weekly meetings with your Youth Employment Coach (YEC) who works specifically with 18-25 year olds and care experienced young people
- talking to you about what help you need to get a job
- teaching interview skills
- providing skills based training
- providing Disability Employment Advisors – these staff have had training to help people with social educational needs
You can contact them at the following address:
Swindon Jobcentre Plus
Spring Gardens House
Princes Street
Swindon
SN1 2HY
Tel: 0845 604 3719
What other careers support can I look at?
The National Careers Service provide information, advice and guidance across England to people of all ages, to help them make decisions on learning, training and work opportunities. Their page for 13 to 19 year olds is a great starting point, helping you think about your options.
They can help you with:
- CVs
- skills health check reports
- action plans
- course searches
Tel: 0800 100 900 (8.00am to 10.00pm, 7 days a week)
Text: 07766 413219
Youth Employment UK have a Skills and Careers Hub that provides 14 to 24 year olds with free resources, advice and guidance. Their service was designed with young people and offers practical tools to support with education, transition into employment and beyond.
StedyChefs Learning Centre offers a range of courses for adults with disabilities based around catering and hospitality. The courses provide great hands-on experience and can lead to gaining employability and independent living skills.
Careerpilot provide expert careers information for 11 to19 year olds.
Getting in touch
For more information or advice, please contact the Positive Futures Team on 01793 466715 or email pfduty@swindon.gov.uk.
