TESTER

1. Understanding the Labour Market
Today TUTOR’S NAME HERE

2. Understanding the Labour Market Today
Unit1: The Changing World Of Work
Unit 2: The Skills Employers Need
Unit 3: The Concept of Career Pathways
Learning Objectives

3. • There are three units:
• Unit 1 The Changing World of Work considers labour market
trends with respect to demand and supply mismatches,
technological change, international mobility and the emergence of
new career pathways.
• Unit 2 The Skills that Employers Need. Notes that employers can
be rigid in their thinking. To overcome this candidates have to
emphasise their interpersonal skills and to differentiate
themselves from their competition. Two exercises will help your
training group to consider the recruitment challenge from the
perspective of an employer.
• Unit 3 presents a Careers Pathway framework for your training
group to consider. It lays particular emphasis on planning,
resilience, flexibility, hard work and having an innovative mindset.
Two exercises will focus each individual on understanding his/her
own make-up as a vital first step to enhancing their strengths and
ameliorating their weaknesses. A case study presents a number
of short videos of employees in various sectors in Northern Ireland
explaining how they got to where they are in their careers.

4. Unit 1 (U.1)
The Changing World Of Work

5. • Labour Market Trends - Demand/Supply
mismatches
o Changes in the pattern of demand
o Demand can surge then weaken
o Usually a lag between supply meeting demand
o Phenomenon of over-qualified manual workers (often
graduates) and the growing socio-economic exclusion
of the unskilled and under-educated
o Many employers undervalue their people assets
U.1
The Changing World Of Work

6. • Think about which labour market supply and demand
mismatches you are aware of. Emphasise that change in
the pattern of demand is particularly fast-paced in some
sectors (e.g.: financial services) and some countries (e.g.:
UK). Make the point that surges in demand don’t always
sustain. Cite construction booms as an example. Also the
‘dotcom’ bubble of 2000/2001 as another. Educators have
to adapt to change in the labour market and inevitably this
takes time.
• These changes have social consequences some of which
have yet to be revealed and understood: the disaffection of
underemployed highly educated graduates on the one hand
and the social exclusion of the unskilled under-educated on
the other.
• All of this is further complicated by the tendency among
many employers not to appreciate the asset value of their
workforce and employees generally.

7. • Labour Market Trends – technological
change
o Disruptive technologies: media (citizen
journalism); printing; retail; advertising
o Ubiquity of free information has seriously devalued
much of what used to be valuable intellectual
property
o In many economies in EU new or evolved sectors
have emerged
U.1
The Changing World Of Work

8. • Think about new technologies or business models
that have displaced once profitable product
providers. Examples you might want to consider
are Airbnb and Uber.
• Furthermore think about how the internet has
helped to devalue intellectual property – internet
users expect high grade information to be
provided for free.
• Consider examples of sectors in the EU which
have been subject to great change:
Lifestyle/personal services; biomedical; agri-
food; renewables; ICT; leisure tourism.

9. • Labour Market Trends – international mobility
o In EU free movement of labour has led to large shifts
of populations of young, fit often very well educated
workers from low-wage regions to high-wage regions
– this has changed the expectations of employers in
some sectors; has led to skills shortages in new
‘supplier’ regions and over-supply in new ‘host’
regions
o Ease of movement (air travel) and communication
(internet; mobile telecomms) has changed how
business is transacted
o Competition for jobs in some sectors in some labour
markets has now increased
U.1
The Changing World Of Work

10. • Consider the effects in your local labour market
of in or out migration - Is your region losing
skilled people or is it hosting an influx of new
people hoping to find employment?
• Competition in the labour market increases those
seeking to secure employment have to become
more competitive in their behaviours.
Demonstrating an understanding of how to ’work’
the new systems of transacting business (such as
e-commerce; e-marketing; social media) can be
important.

11. • New career structures:
o Pluri-activity – holding down more than one job at a time
and expectation of having many jobs over time
o Emergence of unpaid internships and zero-hour contracts
o Career advice in schools is an issue - Schools can be too
grades obsessed and not up-to-date with respect to labour
market trends and what employers need
o Rigidity of the educational system in responding to changes
in the world of work
o Cultural message that everybody can be what they want to
be
o Too little early constructive challenge with children/young
people with respect to what they might do in the future
U.1
The Changing World Of Work (cont)

12. • Few people today can expect to stay in the one career for
life or with the one employer for more than a few years.
Careers will be journeys marked by changes in direction,
periods of stop/go. Careers will be increasingly
kaleidoscopic. In some countries zero hour contracts and
unpaid internships present a further challenge for people
trying to make a career.
• Remember that everyone can be what they want to be and
to follow their dreams. However is it unrealistic to believe
that ‘Everyone can be a winner’
• Could it be that proposing that ‘Everyone can be a winner’
will not prepare the young people for the Darwinian realities
of today’s EU Labour Markets?

13. Unit 2 (U. 2)
The Skills Employers Need

14. • The intention of Unit 2 is to focus on the
perspective of employers. Employers are the
buyers and they have a lot of choice. What are
they looking to buy? By understanding their
needs prospective employees can increase their
chances of getting ‘that job’.

15. o Importance of STEM (Science Technology
Engineering Maths) - greatest demand, highest
wages
o Employers are often very precise as to what they
think they want
o But sometimes employers are too rigid – can
expect too much too quickly
U. 2
The Skills Employers Need

16. • Some interesting facts to remember is that:
• - Demand is greatest and wages are highest in
Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths–based
disciplines (STEM).
• - Employers tend to be very precise in what they
think they want but they can also be too rigid &
expect too much.

17. o Interpersonal ‘people’ skills
o Confidence (but not too casual)
o A commercial understanding : for example, that deadlines
are deadlines with financial implications if they are not met
o An understanding of professional etiquette
o Good written and spoken language
o Numerate
o Evidence of good judgement, of common-sense, of
capability to take the initiative, of ability to think
independently
o Evidence of ability to work with others and take instruction
U. 2
The Skills Employers Need
The ‘ideal’ candidate?

18. • Think about the question ‘what constitutes the
ideal candidate for a job?’
• Consider these points:
• The importance of interpersonal skills and
demonstrable confidence;
• Evidence of appropriate competences;
• Evidence of an ability to make good judgements,
to demonstrate common sense;
• Evidence of being able to work both on one’s own
initiative and as part of a group as well as under
instruction when appropriative.

19. o Graduates can often sell themselves poorly by
not seeming to understand the employer
o At interview:
 They need to demonstrate that they understand what the
employer is looking for
 They need to show evidence that they have done research
on the employer and the job
 They need to show that they have those competences
U. 2
The Skills Employers Need

20. • Exercise: Identify and rate skills that employers
require for different jobs (10 minutes)
 Marketing executive
 Policy researcher
 Administrator
 ETC
 ETC
 ETC
U. 2
The Skills Employers Need

21. • Exercise: Write a Job Description from the
perspective of an employer (20 minutes)
U. 2
The Skills Employers Need

22. Unit 3 (U. 3)
The Concept of Career Pathways

23. • This final unit, Unit 3 presents a practical ‘what’
and ‘how’ perspective for your audience with
respect to their preparing themselves for their
career journey.
• The concept here is that a career maybe a series
of destinations rather than a single place.
• Today’s graduates need to scope out pathway
options and prepare themselves for what will be a
journey with challenges, changes of direction and
some unforeseen destinations.

24. oToo often pupils/students make subject
choices without clear rationale
oThis can carry through into decision making
with respect to employment and wider life
oFor humanities graduates to develop
successful careers in the current labour
market they will have to be INNOVATIVE
U. 3
The Concept of Career Pathways

25. • Too often the subject choices which have led
humanities graduates to where they are today
were not thought through.
• This approach can no longer be an option if one
wants to secure gainful and rewarding
employment in the future.
• Because the labour market in the EU is so
challenging for humanities graduates, they more
than almost any other group need to be
innovative in their approach to ‘breaking
through’.

27. The responsibility to map your journey lies in YOUR hands

28. Things to think
about…..

29. There are jobs!
There are careers!

30. oIn almost all EU jurisdictions there are, if one
looks in the right places.
oThey may not be the ‘dream jobs’ that
graduates may have expected to secure after
graduation.
oBut careers today are about progression along
pathways along which there may be some less
attractive destinations. The important thing for
graduates competing in tight labour markets to
demonstrate is their preparedness to work hard
and to be flexible.

32. o Even within sectors that don’t appear to be growing retirees
are leaving on an ongoing basis and some of those will need
to be replaced – however such jobs are difficult to predict and
some may not be advertised externally.
oSo sometimes submitting speculative CV’s for employers to
keep on file can be a good approach so that organisations
know that there is a pool of potential new recruits whom they
can make contact with when they need to.
oJob hunting graduates should also lodge their CV’s with
recruitment agencies as these are increasingly used by
employers to source replacement staff.

33. It is important to
demonstrate that you are
sociable and work well
with people.
Outside activities (sports;
hobbies; volunteering) are
important!

34. oRemember: beyond qualifications it is the ‘real
you’ which will determine whether or not you
get the job.
oYou should assume that they will be
competing with others with qualifications at
broadly the same level and that therefore it is
the other differentiators which will decide
whether or not one is selected for interview.

35. Working life is like a journey – it
needs planning…

36. Are you going in the right direction?

39. • Be prepared for obstacles – overcoming
blockages, some deliberate and others
unintentional barriers.
• This is a normal part of making a modern career.

41. • The skill that all seeking to carve out a rewarding
life in our complex, hyper-competitive world,
need is resilience.
• Always keep in mind the importance of a
positive attitude and learning from failure.
• If one fails it is for a reason – try to identify
that/those reason(s) are for you individually.

43. • Being flexible and being prepared
to change route is also essential.

45. • ‘The harder you work, the luckier you get’ – so
many of today’s successful people were knocked
back, discouraged by others, but they picked
themselves up and kept trying – they just didn’t
give up!

47. • There are three essential human factors that
differentiate the successful and self-fulfilled from
the unhappy under-achievers – resilience,
flexibility and hard work.

48. • The 'innovator mindset‘
o Reflect – understand your own make-up
o Positive Attitude – see failure as a form of helpful
feedback; be prepared for some who will be negative
for the sake of it
o Flexibility – be prepared to change route to
destination or change the destination
o Resilience
o Scanning
o Analysing
o Deciding
o Acting
U. 3
The Concept of Career Pathways

49. • All of us will gain in our lives if we adopt an
‘innovator mindset’ i.e. to understand yourself,
be positive, be flexible and be resilient.
• Thereafter one should scan for opportunity,
analyse what one sees, clarify one’s decision
options and then, critically, act. It is
indecisiveness that so often neuters ambition.

50. • The 'innovator mindset‘
o See value in doing (rather than doing nothing) – life
skills: sports, volunteering, part-time work, caring –
from all of these experiences value can be mined
o Research
o Listen
o Value third party advice – collaborate where possible
o Its YOUR responsibility
o Time is a precious, finite resource – don’t waste it &
have a sense of the value which you would like to
place on your time
U. 3
The Concept of Career Pathways

51. • It is always better to be seen as someone who
does rather than someone who does nothing.
• Furthermore it is of great importance not just of
researching options but also of listening to the
perspective of others and of being open to
collaborating with others. Ask have any in your
group who have been recent students benefitted
from group study. Finish by stressing that time is
not an infinite resource – ‘procrastination is the
thief of time’.

52. • Exercise: ‘Mapping Me’
U. 3
The Concept of Career Pathways

54. • ‘Mapping Me’ is a very powerful exercise to help
people better understand themselves – the
central proposition here being that self-
awareness is the first step on the path to
fulfilment and success.

55. • Exercise: Compare the career path you thought
you would have been on at 12, 18 and now (20
minutes)
U. 3
The Concept of Career Pathways

56. • CASE STUDY: Research different careers (what
do they involve? How did employees get to where
they are now?)
• http://www.newrycareers.com/
U. 3
The Concept of Career Pathways

57. • As a concluding task it would be a useful exercise
to write down what career path you thought you
would have been on now back when they were 12
years old and when they were 18.
• What path do they actually think they are on
now? You should hold onto this also for review in
years to come. What it will demonstrate is how
almost inevitability they will have had to adapt.
If they expect to have to adapt then it won’t be a
destabilising shock when it has to happen.