At Reed Talent Solutions, we work with multiple schools across the UK, at both primary and secondary level, offering insights into careers, mock interviews, and raising aspirations.
From linking students Year 9 options to careers, to providing inspiring videos of women in engineering, we work alongside schools to offer a tailored insight into employability and trends - at both a local and national level.
We are also a passionate supporter of the Care Leavers Covenant, offering free one-to-one, or group session, career advice.
Reed Talent Social Values Lead, Megan Metcalfe-Roberts, said: "The work we do with schools is extremely important to us. By offering careers advice and opportunities to students we can advance their future prospects and help to ensure there is a steady stream of talent available across the UK."
Our social value partnership with Sheffield City Council is an excellent example of the work we do.
This work focuses on one key ethnically diverse ward in the city, which struggled with high levels of unemployment and unrest within the community.
The social partnership focused not only on helping the community, but our other core social values:
Help in the community
Supporting local and national charities
Increasing employment levels
We worked with Chaucer School in the city and spent two days providing career support to help raise the ambitions of the young people there. The project was all part of the vitally important ‘Levelling Up’ initiative in Sheffield. Our team talked to pupils about the transferable skills they were learning in school and how they can use them in future employment. During the sessions, the pupils created a series of inspiring hashtags including slogans such as #confidenceiskey and #teamworkmakesthedreamwork.
We have also previously worked with the council and Fir Vale Academy, conducting future career prospect lessons with 120 Year 9 pupils.
Our work included delivering ‘Your Voice’ citizenship lessons in the school, which included discussions around Sheffield City Council and some of the issues students felt needed addressing within the community.
Jenny Cassy, the Director of Learning at Fir Vale Academy, said: “Reed delivered lessons to Year 9’s regarding employability skills and the labour market. This supported the school in meeting national Gatsby benchmarks and gave the students valuable information from the ‘real world’.
“They also provided support to staff for Year 10 mock interviews and to support their transition into Year 11. Students were thrilled and excited to be dressed as construction workers, electricians and plumbers for the day.
“It opened up conversations about apprenticeships and aspiration generally.”
Read more about how we're giving back to the communities we work in.