A revolution in careers guidance is essential to halt further youth unemployment

It's alarming that I'm usually met with two responses; "No" or "Yes, but it wasn't very good!" It's a possibility that the young people I've spoken to were unaware of the advice available or simply they were not interested in it at the time. What frightens me most is how both the education system and the government are failing to prepare our youth to tackle a world that is rapidly changing around them.

What's most hard hitting for me, is the necessity for young people to have an understanding of what is needed, both in terms of qualification and skill set, in order to do the particular job which they aspire to do. When I received my careers guidance, I was in Year 10 at school.  I sat in front of a computer screen and clicked a series of buttons which magically told me that I should be a landscape gardener. Other than this one solitary moment of careers guidance, which was part of a PSHE class, I have not had a single other piece of guidance in my life and I don't think I'm the only one of my generation to be in this position. When speaking to friends about their experiences, the same wildcard job titles were suggested, "investment banker", "civil engineer" and "greengrocer" but I found no desire or passion from them to pursue these careers.