The secret to boosting your future career and pay

Want to increase your chances of getting a job? Fancy earning more than others with similar qualifications?

A new report reveals the more contact you have with the working world when at school, the better you do when you start work.

Findings show contact with employers between the ages of 11 and 18 gives your career a lasting lift, with wage boosts worth thousands of pounds.

And the benefits don’t stop there. Links with the world of work also:

• Make you better prepared for work
• Help you develop skills valued by employers, such as the ability to communicate well
• Motivate you to study harder to achieve your career ambitions
• Help you make better decisions for your future

So how can you make these links? Nick Chambers is the Chief Executive of Education and Employers, the charity which carried out the research. He shares his tips on how to boost your prospects.

Nick’s top five tips to give your career a flying start

1. Be curious
Take every opportunity that comes your way to speak with people who can tell you what it’s like to do different jobs – especially jobs you know nothing about.

2. Get involved
If your school offers you the chance to engage with the working world in school or by going out into workplaces – take it!

3 Give things a go
Think hard about your career ambitions and how you can get as much first-hand experience of that world as possible, such as through shadowing or volunteering, while you are still in school or college.

4. Get application savvy
Try and learn as much as possible about how recruitment actually works – practise CVs and interviews before you need to do them for real.

5. Get experience 
Look for a part-time or holiday job – one that relates in some way to your career ambition is especially helpful, but any job can give you valuable experience you won’t get in school.

Find out more

Ask your teacher to invite some volunteers in to speak to you and your friends about their jobs. Your teacher can quickly and easily contact volunteers via the free Inspiring the Future service which connects teachers with 35,000 volunteers from the world of work, all willing to chat to you about their job and career route.

Watch real-life career videos to see people talking about their jobs on icould.

Find out more about Education and Employers and see the full report Contemporary transitions: Young Britons reflect on life after secondary school and college.