Following the success of its first Virtual Jobs Fair in May, with over 1000 job, apprenticeship and volunteering opportunities advertised, the National Careers Service is holding a second fair from Monday 8 to Friday 12 June.
To ensure people are receiving crucial careers support during the Covid-19 outbreak, the National Careers Service is working to bring job seekers and employers closer together by advertising vacancies across social media.
The Virtual Jobs Fair will virtually visit nine different regions of England throughout the week and give employers in those regions a chance to advertise current opportunities. The National Careers Service will promote these opportunities through its national and regional social media channels.
People can search for #JobsHour to find these vacancies or follow National Careers Service social media channels to find out more and see vacancies during the week. The National Careers Service will also provide free personalised careers information, advice and guidance for anyone wanting advice on vacancies, next steps or finding a role that is right for them.
Noteworthy additions to the second fair are the inclusion of more localised hashtags to help people to identify opportunities relevant to them and Wednesday’s live Facebook ‘Employment Workshop’ which will give people tips on writing CVs and preparing for interviews. ’Jobs Hour’ will run at 11am-12pm and 1pm-2pm following the timetable below.
| Region | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| North East and Cumbria | Monday 8 June | 11am to 12pm |
| North West | Monday 8 June | 1pm to 2pm |
| Yorkshire and Humber | Tuesday 9 June | 11am to 12pm |
| East Midlands and Northants | Tuesday 9 June | 1pm to 2pm |
| East of England and Bucks | Wednesday 10 June | 11am to 12pm |
| FB Live Employment Workshop | Wednesday 10 June | 2pm to 2:30pm |
| West Midlands and Staffs | Thursday 11 June | 11am to 12pm |
| South West and Oxon | Thursday 11 June | 1pm to 2pm |
| South East | Friday 12 June | 11am to 12pm |
| London | Friday 12 June | 1pm to 2pm |
Gillian Keegan, Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills said:
Following on from the success of the first Virtual Jobs Fair I am delighted that the event will be virtually touring England again next week.
It is so important that employers are able to get access to the skilled, local workforce they need at this time, and that young people and adults looking for work are able to find the right role and careers support to progress.
I’d encourage all employers and anyone looking for a new role, or for additional support, to get involved and explore the opportunities on offer throughout the week.
Sophie Graham, a National Careers Service adviser said:
Back in May our Virtual Jobs Fair saw over 1,000 job opportunities posted across England in just four days. Due to its success, the National Careers Service will be hosting a second Virtual Jobs Fair to continuously support citizens across England with getting back into work.
Our advisers will also be on hand to support with CVs, covering letters, applications and interview skills, to ensure that jobseekers are in the strongest possible position to succeed.
MKAI Expert Forum | AI, Automation & Future of Work | UiPath, Dime, Women Leading in AI Network, Henley Business School, Zicar Consulting
About this Free Event
AI, Automation and The Future of Work
Agenda:
5:00pm: 🎙️Welcome and Announcements
5:10pm: 💻 Speaker from Industry 1 – Ivana Bartoletti, Technical Director & Co-Founder, Women Leading in AI Network
Presentation: This is a watershed moment for jobs
Ivana is a Technical Director helping businesses with their privacy by design programmes and with their privacy and ethical challenges related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology.
Ivana was awarded ‘Woman of the Year’ (2019) in the Cyber Security Awards in recognition of her growing reputation as an advocate of equality, privacy and ethics at the heart of tech and AI. She is the author of An Artificial Revolution: On Power, Politics and AI now available on Amazon here
5:30pm:💻 Speaker from Industry 2 – Arif Khan, AI Ninja at UiPath
Presentation: The Role of AI in Automation Strategy
Abstract: A look at how combining Artificial Intelligence with more traditional automation technologies can unlock greater business values
Arif has a passion for combing the Agile delivery model with RPA and AI to solve real business problems effectively and quickly. Arif is a member of the Institute for Robotic Process Automation & AI. Arif has an MSci in Computer Science from University College London, specialising in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
5:50pm:💻 Speaker from Industry 3 – Dr. Khaleelah Jones, Founder of Careful Feet Digital Agency
Presentation: Using AI for Social Media Content Creation (Text and Visual Assets)
Khaleelah Jones is the owner and founder of Careful Feet Digital Agency, the digital marketing agency that created Dime Digital, a SaaS tool that automates social media posting and brand creation for small businesses and solopreneurs. The winner of the 2018 Next Women Pitch Competition, Khaleelah has a PhD in emerging media, an MBA and has worked in the marketing industry for over a decade.
Before starting CFD and building Dime, she was the head of marketing at WellTok Inc, where she was part of a team that doubled the user base in six months and closed $18m in Series B funding. She now lives in London with her husband and loves yoga, reading and Russian history.
6:10pm:💻 Speaker from Industry 4 – Dr. Naeema Pasha, Director of Careers, Henley Business School
Presentation: Humans, AI and the Bigger Productivity Pie
Naeema leads teams to deliver great personal & professional development and research on future of work. At Henley Business School she runs a fantastically innovative team where they’ve gone from start-up to scale-up. They are about providing a creative & challenging place for people (all from diverse backgrounds) to enable them to design a career path that not only defines who they are, but is in the context of an uncertain world of work.
6:30pm: Panel discussion with all speakers
6:55pm 🔮 Roundup + What’s next with MKAI
7:00pm Close
Bonus Track Technial Speaker:
5:30-6:10pm: Azim Zicar, RPA Consultant – Zicar Consultancy Ltd
Presentation: Building a bot Live
In this activity you will have the chance to experience first hand what Robotic Process Automation is and how a software robot is actually built. This is a non scripted group interactive session where a robot is built from scratch based on the audience’s ideas!
Azim is an RPA expert with experience in creating, building and maintaining the robotic workforce. Since finding RPA in 2016, he has been passionate about using software robots to add value to businesses. He is a certified Blue Prism Professional Developer and has worked as a Lead Developer in many RPA projects spanning multiple industries. You can find out more about Azim via his LinkedIn page and his business: Zicar Consultancy
MKAI May is supported by:
Zicar Consultancy – RPA consultancy at a comptetitive rates.
Ether Solutions – Specialists for Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Document Management and Document Scanning.
EvolveAI – Proven leaders in the provision of innovative human capital management solutions to businesses looking to attract and retain in-demand digital technology talent.
An Activity Pack is available for National Apprenticeship Week 2020, which is full of fun and engaging activities for students.
The pack consists of 10 easy to use activities and answer sheets, so you’ve got everything you need to get your students engaged and informed about apprenticeships!
Interactive Apprenticeship Quizzes
Challenge your students with online interactive Apprenticeship Quizzes!
The quizzes can be set as homework or delivered as part of a lesson. Fun multiple choice questions will help students to think about the benefits and opportunities of apprenticeships.
AW2020 Daily Broadcasts
Daily broadcasts will run throughout NAW2020 from 9.30am – 3pm, Monday – Friday. Interviews will feature a range of apprentices from different employers, sectors, backgrounds and apprenticeship levels. Join Friday for a live broadcast with members of the Young Apprentice Ambassador Network! Find out more here.
The Department for Education (DfE) is funding 3 free to attend events for schools and colleges to learn more about externally validating their careers programme through the national Quality in Careers Standard.
These events involve testimonies from schools and colleges already holding the Standard and are hosted by the Quality in Careers National Director. They are intended for staff in schools and colleges that have not yet engaged with the Standard.
The event details, including the speakers from schools and colleges, have now been confirmed:
- Wednesday 4 March 2020, Newcastle upon Tyne
- Thursday 12 March 2020, Birmingham
- Tuesday 17 March 2020, Bristol
For more information and to book your free ticket, please visit the Quality in Careers website.
Unionlearn will be holding a national dissemination event this November to showcase exciting resources and share lessons from the Mid-life Skills Review Project.
The UK population is ageing, and people are living longer than ever before. Today, the average life expectancy is 81. Government research predicts that half of all adults in the UK will be over 50 by the mid-2030s.
Workers today can expect to change careers several times during their working lives. Effective career support to retrain and upskill will be essential for older workers to continue to be active in the labour market.
Ian Borkett, Unionlearn Service Team Manager Ian Borkett explained:
“A substantial body of evidence exists that shows people over the age of 50 in Europe exiting the labour market find it more difficult to re-enter. The Mid-life Skills Review Project was set up to develop a digitally-enabled mid-life skills review that can help prepare workers to be more resilient to labour market challenges they face in the future.”
“The project developed a good practice model for the delivery of a mid-life ‘skills’ review – with the emphasis on reviewing skills and competences and targeted at workers in the labour market with low levels of basic skills in literacy, numeracy and digital literacy.”
Unionlearn will be holding a National Mid-life Skills Review dissemination event on Thursday 7th November at Friends House, London to showcase the new resources and share the lessons learnt.
Participants will hear about the project results and the new online Value My Skills tool which helps workers to think and plan for their skills development. The event will also highlight how to conduct an effective mid-life skills review and how this intervention helps support older workers to thrive and progress at work.
The day will be a chance to hear about the mid-life skills review project achievements and see a showcase of the new Value My Skills online tool.
By the end of the event delegates will:
- Gain an insight into the Mid-life Skills Review project and the good practice model developed
- Understand how to conduct an effective Mid-life Skills Review
- Explore the benefits to employers and ways of getting employer buy-in
- Hear the experience of Union Learning Reps involvement in the project and their support for mid-life colleagues
- Look at how Mid-life Skills Reviews and the National Retraining Scheme are intrinsically linked
- Consider the sustainability of mid-life skills reviews.
The dissemination event takes place at Friends Meeting House in central London on Thursday 7th November, starting at 10 am and finishing at 3:30pm with lunch provided.
October 3rd – Birmingham – BVSC Enterprises, Digbeth and October 16th – London – Church House, Westminster
Overview
The CDI is working with the DfE to present two, free, half-day sessions focusing on T Levels and the new occupational maps in Manchester and London. Please sign-up now as places are limited to 50 at each event.
Programme
09:30 – Registration and refreshments
10:00 – Welcome, opening remarks and introductions from Chair (Jan Ellis, CDI)
10:10 – Introduction to T Levels and the technical education reforms (Sue Clarke, DfE)
10:40 – Question and answer session – An opportunity for attendees to ask any immediate questions following Sue’s presentation
11:10 – Occupational maps for Technical Education Routes (Natasha Watkinson, Gatsby)
Natasha will introduce the background and development of the occupational maps, highlighting how they present a clear line of sight to employment by describing our technical labour market. Attendees will then have the chance to look at the maps on their tables and ask any questions.
11:30 – Refreshment break
11.50 – How Gatsby are working with local areas to prepare for T Levels (Gatsby)
Natasha will describe Gatsby’s ‘routes ready’ work in local areas which aims to make the most of the opportunities the reforms offer to shape the technical pathways that learners and employers need, and to ensure that staff and institutions are well prepared for the move to T Levels. Includes videos from some of the 2020 providers outlining their progress.
12:10 – Question and answer session, and discussion around opportunities, concerns and what careers advisers will need to help them provide advice to young people on T Levels
A further opportunity for attendees to ask questions and a post-it note exercise to jot down any concerns and opportunities.
12:30 – Feedback
12:50 – Closing remarks
13:00 – Lunch and networking
Plans are well underway to host dmh associates first International Conference in central Birmingham, England on 10 October 2019.
The aim of this one-day conference is to bring together practitioners, academics, policymakers an d technology innovators from the UK and further afield to focus on career development policies, research and practice that makes a difference to individuals, communities and our economy.
Confirmed speakers include:
- Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE, international expert in careers policy, research and practice
- Dr Reineke Lengelle, Assistant Professor interdisciplinary studies at Athabasca University, Alberta, Canada and researcher at The Hague University of Applied Sciences
- Emeritus Professor Hubert Hermans, Dutch psychologist and Creator of Dialogical Self-Theory
- Liane Hambly, co-author of ‘Creative Career Coaching’ and inspirational educator of career development professionals
- Professor Graham Attwell, international adviser on the use of ICT, labour market intelligence (LMI) and learning analytics
- Nick Chambers, CEO, and Dr Elnaz Kashefpakdel, Head of Research, Education and Employers, London leading on international research and developments in primary and post-primary schooling.
Highly interactive workshop sessions include the following themes:
- Digital advancements in national and European careers services
- Career coaching, philosophy and narrative counselling
- Career guidance, vocational and technical education
- Schools and employer engagement work in primary and post-primary education
- Changing identities in a modern world, including higher education developments
- The evidence-base underpinning careers support services
- The future of work and lifelong guidance in the workplace.
Delegates attending will receive a resource pack including materials and activities that can be applied in practice with copies of all presentations. To enable us to plan well for this forthcoming conference please click on this link below to register for a place at the event:
The full programme will be published shortly.
ERSA – the representative body for the employment support sector – are planning the fourth annual UK Employability Day taking place on Friday 28 June. 
Employability Day is an opportunity to demonstrate the importance of employment support at the frontline. Thousands of charities, businesses and public bodies across the country will host events and promote their achievements on social media and to local press.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to highlight your work and ERSA would be delighted if you would join the celebrations. Here are a few examples of how to take part (although any ideas are very welcome):
- Host a visit from local stakeholders, such as MPs, councillors or employers, to show them what you do.
- Celebrate your achievements over the last year with a party for jobseekers and staff which you can promote online and share with local press.
- Help support the day on social media using the hashtag #EmpDay19.
Tuesday, 12 March 2019 – Hilton Leeds City, Leeds
Thursday, 21 March 2019 – etc.venues Victoria, London
Overview
The current T level proposals are part of a wider approach to the reform of technical education that it is vital all in our sector understand. Providers have recently been invited to express an interest to deliver the programme in 2021 to 2022 academic year, including the transition offer. Supported by DfE and in association with the Gatsby Foundation, AELP is running this half-day workshop that will enable those still unfamiliar with T levels to understand more about what they are and how they will work, and give those with more knowledge the chance to encourage planning ahead for how their introduction may impact on current provision and provide opportunities for new provision going forward.
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