Practical guidance for employers

Working with young people in a school or college can be an incredibly rewarding experience. However, there are some simple pointers to help both employers and employees make the most of the experience.

  • Career insight talks

Short careers talks or insights normally take between 20 minutes and an hour including a Q&A sessions for students to ask the speaker questions. Schools and FE colleges may also host careers fairs which normally involve 20 - 30 professionals from different sectors, with students moving round in a market place set up. These normally last about one hour.

  • Wider menu of options

During 2012 a wider menu of supported activities will be available to choose from on Inspiring the Future.Some of these offer the possibility of longer term involvement. 

Two types of volunteer

There are two types of volunteer - employee volunteers who come via their organisation, and individual volunteers who register independently. However, the registration process is the same for both types once they are on the Inspiring the Future website.

The registration process

Register

Follow the link to register from either the Employers page if you are signing up on behalf of a large group of staff, or the Volunteers page to volunteer in your own right. You will be asked to provide a few basic details, and your email address.

You get a password

Once your registration is approved, you will receive an email containing a temporary password. When you log in using this password, you will be asked to change it to something more memorable.

Making your selections

On registering, we'll ask you to provide a few more details about yourself, and what you can offer as a volunteer. You'll be asked to select activities that you need help with or can volunteer for - currently this is Career Insights. In early 2012, we will switch on the 'matching' functionality (in some areas where there is a high volume of volunteers, this will happen earlier). When this is available, schools and colleges can generate a list of volunteers in their area who can offer the activity specified. They can view brief details that volunteers have entered about themselves, their jobs, and what they can offer. Private email addresses and phone numbers are not visible to either party. Teaching staff will then message appropriate volunteers and ask them to get involved in an activity they have coming up.

'Activity' created

After discussion through the Inspiring the Future email messaging system, schools create an 'activity' giving a few more details of the event - the date, number of students, ages of students and other useful information. Volunteers can choose to accept the event, and once it has taken place schools close it, triggering feedback.

Feedback

We ask four or five questions of both volunteers and schools about how the event went. We strongly recommend that this is completed, as it allows us to keep an eye of the quality of volunteers and whether the service is working for both parties. We also use your feedback to report to funders, which will help to keep this service free to schools and volunteers.

Planning and preparation

Volunteers can expect an email from the school or college once they are matched in the system. When you are contacted you might want to talk about:

  • Length: how long you can be with the students
  • What topics you can cover and how can you best use your expertise
  • The equipment available (if relevant)

Before the session

  • Arrange to arrive in good time before your session to give you the opportunity to speak to the teacher and set up the room
  • If you are going to be late or cancel your appointment, let your contact teacher know as soon as possible.
  • Ensure you know which member of staff will be with you during your visit.
  • Tell them if you need a car parking space.

Support for employee volunteers

Employers can access a range of support packages from our partner EdComs, including telephone and email support, through to full training workshops.

Visit our FAQs section for more details about the volunteering and registration process.

 Other practical guidance for employers

For more detailed guidance visit the Employers Guide for advice on how to get started and plan your work with schools and colleges.