Anyone else feel like they have/will have no idea how to help their kids enter job market now?

Yes, but you and they have the internet to help get current information and learn. Previous generations just had their parents outdated advice.

Worth saying universities do not set the students up with placements. The students need to apply themselves and placements are competitive, the interviews are rigorous and as considered as graduate roles.

Eh? I’ve got 2 kids who did it in the 90’s, and 5 grandkids that are doing it now.🤷‍♀️

None of this is new. 🙄

Same as ever. Kids need to get the best qualifications they can, and then apply for jobs.

It wasn’t easy when my kids had to do in the 90’s and I don’t suppose it’s any easier now. They need to persevere.

My parents didn’t direct me into my career and I didn’t direct my children into theirs. I expressed an opinion about choosing subjects at GCSE and A level but they didn’t take a lot of notice and my parents wouldn’t have had a clue.

I wouldn’t worry. They’ll pick up relevant information from school and peers and media.

I think it’s weird to pick random jobs (HVAC engineer, plumber) and direct your children towards them.

Think of all the people who ended up working in the many different strands of IT who started in other jobs and developed an interest and aptitude whilst doing something else. They don’t have to choose an as-yet unknown specialism from the get go.

I’d suggest going into the military and eventually becoming an arms dealer as I reckon sadly there will just be more wars…

And they did some relevant work experience before starting uni.

I advised mine to have a specific job in mind that they're aiming for and a back up plan if it's hard to get into.

We aren't a family who can afford for them to study something they like with no obvious career path at the end of it.

So far it has worked.

I think some of this is misguided too - I’d be telling them to look on websites of local chain stores, particularly around Christmas and applying on there.

DH works in retail and wouldn’t be advertising jobs in the shop window, and if a contact asked him for a job he’d say to apply through the website first as he can’t help anyone past that initial screening for fairness reasons.

I would be advising them to do a first aid course then do babysitting, part time teaching assistant work or life guarding around their 6th form and uni work. This will really help them with grad job applications. I would also get them careers coach to help with cv and interview prep

Well university should be setting them up with placements and connections for work. This is a quality that you should prioritise when selecting a university IMO.

In terms of helping them get their first job - I have a 13 year old and these are some things ill be doing to help:

Helping them create a CV, which lists at the very top of the page in bold, they are "searching for part time work around school and college" - then uploading this to a CV website.

I'll be asking around friends, family, work connections about little jobs for them around schooling. Id also encourage them to do the same amongst their circles.

I'll be encouraging them to look around when they're out and about in shop windows.

Registering themselves with an agency that does temping. Depending on your location - loads of temp agencies will take on a 16-18 yrs old for one off events like town festivals and corporate events for things like catering.

I think having a strong history of work before you actually enter a workplace is one of the biggest factors in being successful finding work and always has been.

We have the same problem. Ds2 is autistic and doing a theology degree because that's his passion and he's happy and doing well. Don't know where it will lead, but even if he'd gone down the stem route we wouldn't be able to predict things either due to AI advances. I wanted him to go into plumbing or heating engineering work, but that's not really him. He might as well be happy for the time being then we can fund him on a training course later perhaps.

I think young people are being badly let down in this country. Nobody seems to factor them into anything.

I think they need to know how to be open to change, resilient and prepared to constantly learn, with the expectation that the world will change and so will the workplace so they need to be ready to adapt.
They need to be critical thinkers. I would worry less about specialism and worry more about personal characteristics.

It was ever thus.

The world we understand isn’t the one they’ll be living in.