Lessons from working with teenagers

1️⃣ 1 in 4 is worried about “what if I don’t like what I study to become?”. The answer is understanding how to transfer skills, articulate it and be excited that you can have many jobs even with the same employer (as Damien Joyce and MacDara Howley CPA from Medtronic always tell our teenagers).

2️⃣ Many worry about hashtag

#LeavingCert Central Applications Office points. It’s important to note that 80% of people who apply for a Level 8 get one of their top 3 choices and this number increases to 97% for a diploma or cert.

3️⃣ I find they have a blind spot around the employment opportunities in the green economy and social sustainability sector.

4️⃣ They see the workplace as an environment for them to apply for and be accepted into as distinct to a place they can influence. I see this when I ask them how they want to see the SDGs implemented.

5️⃣ In school, they don’t work in teams, don’t give feedback to each other and don’t “work” like we do in the workplace… therefore we need to teach them how to do all three (and not expect them to know how to do this on their first day).

6️⃣ The phone is where it’s all at - their friends, answers to everything and constant messages. They are embarrassed to say how much they’re on it but also wonder why the adults who complain they are so do the same.

7️⃣ They question if AI will take the jobs they’re working towards but don’t yet know how to work “with it”.

8️⃣ They aren’t proficient with the tools that are available to self-direct their career questions. Qualifax, salary guides and career webinars are all out there (and we give lots of direction on this in the Society of Actuaries In Ireland Senior Cycle webinar).

9️⃣ They really, REALLY want to make their parents proud. That’s probably the Number 1 Career Goal we see in teenagers. Doone O'Doherty and I have discussed this on the PwC Ireland Careers hashtag

#CAO webinar.

🔟 They would love to travel in their jobs… for a while. Rarely, we hear of a teenager who plans to emigrate to another country completely.

1️⃣1️⃣ There are great life skills being taught in schools today. Teachers who bring hashtag

#MoneyMatters to the classroom tell us all about the hashtag

#financialliteracy initiatives and hashtag

#STEM activities that bring a whole new dimension to academic education.

1️⃣2️⃣ Still they connotate apprenticeships with trades, so there is still some work to be done here.

Thank you Emanuela E. Rinaldi for the opportunity to work with you and your teenagers today as well as to Mairead McGuinness for offering a platform for Ireland and Italy to come together and share best practice.