Throughout National Careers Week, Network Young has been inspiring the workforce of the next generation.
During last week, Network Young worked with over 200 students throughout Greater Manchester, visiting schools and joining the ‘National Careers Week’ tour bus based at Event City UK and hosting the Skills Show North West.
Priestnall High School and Wilmslow High School were two of the local schools visited where students heard how quality networks is paramount to future success; they learned networking techniques and how to use these skills to create opportunities for themselves, leading to more informed career choices.
Following the workshops, a Q&A forum was set-up. Students were asked how they now viewed careers and what they would now aim for. One student even said that they wanted a job in networking:
“It was an eye opening experience”, said a student from Priestnall High School.
“I found Network Young to be very useful and as for careers advice and making you think out of the box, it has been such a valuable experience ”, explained another.
Founder of Network Young, Duncan McCombe said, “National Careers Week is a great idea. Having a week dedicated to celebrating careers advice and sharing good practice is brilliant. It’s been great to work with so many wonderful young people and hopefully have a positive impact on their lives and future careers.
“I became frustrated at the lack of careers advice I was offered while in education.
“I felt that the only option that was really offered to me, when it came to deciding what to do after leaving college, was to go to university, but I knew it wasn’t right for me at the time.
“Instead of just following the crowd I decided to take a gap year and decide what it was I really wanted to do with my career. During this time, I discovered that networking was a really good way to achieve this. It made so much sense to speak to someone who does the job you are interested in, who knows it better than anyone else and who can tell you exactly what it is like. From that Network Young was born and my gap year turned into a gap 3 years.”
Network Young is a social enterprise, which was founded by Duncan McCombe 2 days after he left college in 2013.
Network Young runs programmes and events for students aged 13-19 aimed at helping them to develop a high quality, professional network which, in turn, will help them make more informed choices. NY also helps to develop the skills that young people need to succeed in work today and in the future.
Since it’s formation in 2013, Network Young has worked with over 850 young people from in and around Greater Manchester and attracted the attention of countless businesses such as Brother, UKFast and Kids Allowed.