Inspire your children and their future careers – Introducing Plotr

Plotr is a free-to-access, highly engaging, careers information website for 11-24 year olds, that aims to connect young people with employers and jobs that fit their interests, skills and personality.

If you have children, or were ever a child yourself, read on.

The background to the idea

In 2011, David Cameron and Nick Clegg challenged business and civil society to encourage employers in both the public and private sectors to better inspire young people.

In 2012, McKinsey, in their Education to Employment report, confirmed what most business owners already knew – levels of global youth unemployment are high and yet key skills remain in short supply.

A report, by the charity Future First, found that over a third of state school young people do not know anyone in a job they would like to do and 69% of 16-19 year olds fear it will be difficult to gain access to a good career path. 95% of young people said that they would like employers to be more involved in careers advice.

In other words, young people have struggled to connect with people in work and, in some cases, make ill-informed decisions about their careers. Something needed to be done!

Calling Plotr!

Plotr was created with Government support in 2012 to address these issues and to help employers talk to young people about career choices.

Our aim is to democratise knowledge and information about careers and the world of work, and to inspire and inform every young person between the ages of 11 and 24 about the options available to them. How many of you had a careers advice session at school that started, “So, what do you want to do when you leave school – teacher, nurse or hairdresser?”

The www.plotr.co.uk website has been designed to meet three recommendations indicated by McKinsey, namely to:

• Provide better data about career options and training pathways to make informed decisions
• Create a solution that can be grown to scale
• Employ technology, the internet and game simulation

This is no easy task – there are 4,500 senior state schools in the UK and Plotr estimates that the potential readership for the website is around 9M young people. That’s a lot of people who could end up not finding a job that really meets their skills, interests and passions.

So how does the site work?

As well as tons of useful articles on subjects such as how to write a great CV, through to choosing the right GCSEs, to interviews with people in interesting jobs, Plotr also showcases thousands of opportunities for young people through a job finder.

Plotr profiles a wide range of employers, from large multinationals, to micro-businesses, as well as charities and also contains different business sectors that are explained through interactive graphics.

The website also includes more than 700 different careers that are described in detail and has, at its heart, a psychometric game that links preferences to this comprehensive database of different roles. Young people play the game to get ideas of what is out there for them when they leave education, and older people play it to find out what perhaps they should have done for a living.

Our site is interactive, engaging and totally free to access.

Anything else I should know?

Well, Plotr is a not-for-profit business and is funded by the organisations we showcase).

We’ve also launched an e-magazine too – which you’ll find in the App and Android stores.

Of course, the easiest way to find out how the site works is to visit it!

If you work with young people as a teacher, mentor, or youth worker – or maybe have children of your own who want to know more about career options, have a look at www.plotr.co.uk

If you are an employer who would be interested to support Plotr’s mission to better inform all young people about the world of work, feel free to contact [email protected]
www.plotr.co.uk
@plotr_uk