Career ambassadors

• Barnsley: If you work for the NHS including primary care, or in social care in Barnsley contact Trudy Warner who is running the Barnsley Career Ambassador scheme. 
• Doncaster: If you work for Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals you can sign up to be an ambassador here. 
• Rotherham: If you work for the NHS including primary care, or in social care in Rotherham contact Michael Draffan who is coordinating the Rotherham Career Ambassador scheme.
• Sheffield: Sheffield Teaching Hospital staff can sign up to the Trust's own career ambassador scheme here. 

South Yorkshire scheme: You can independently sign up to your local 'Give and Hour' school ambassador scheme here. You will receive a monthly bulletin, via e-mail, detailing events you can get involved with in you local area. Check the Sheffield See It Be It live opportunities portal to see examples of the volunteering opportunities on offer.

National scheme: You can also sign up independently through either of the following schemes. However, please be aware that you will usually need manager/organisational approval if you plan to attend events in work time.

• Inspiring The Future
• Become a STEM ambassador

How to be a Job Holder Ambassador: Top Tips

Have you volunteered to be a Job Holder Ambassador? Here are some hints and tips on how to prepare and do a great job on the day.

• At a careers fair

Top Tips

1. Stand up and in front of the desk so there are no barriers to engagement
2. Make eye contact and smile, say hi and ask if you can help
3. Use props to create a buzz or a diversion. Anything that looks interesting or visually attractive works. If its interactive even better. We have used:

• the Health Careers quiz 
• guess the radiology image activity
• a model of the heart
• Operation game
• a timed balance test (you just need a stop watch)
• Top Trumps

Or you could ask for a break-out space and run a short interactive workshop on repeat…

Careers fairs are where you have a ‘stand’ and are competing with other employers for the attention of the students. It can be hard to know what to expect from these events and engagement varies enormously based on the age and preparedness of the students. Be mindful that students can feel self-conscious and are influenced by peers so may find it difficult to talk to an adult they haven’t met before.

• Giving an ambassador talk

This is you presenting about your job and your career journey. Limit to around seven minutes and allow time for questions after. Successful ambassador talks are about understanding your audience and leaving out the details. The question and answer session will allow further exchange of information.

Set objectives for the session. My three (showcasing an ultrasound role) are usually:

• What do I do? to cover this I talk through one scan with lots of bright images and a video loop. I give the patient a name and a social story to make it relatable.
• Why is my job important/why do I love it? I talk about the impact for the patient, how I help them, decision making/problem solving and how this makes me feel.
• Link to STEM: e.g., how I use science to get the images and to understand what is going on in the patient’s body. And why I enjoy using science in my everyday work.

Please feel free to adapt these suggestions for your own role and story .

Top Tips

• Look at your talk from the perspective of the learner. How old are they? Try to recall what you could take in and what you wanted to know that that age.
• Use your first name only and limit your title to the recognised occupation “I am John and I’m an Optometrist,” “I am Helen and I’m a Clinical Coder.” Leave out complicated additions like senior, paediatric or educator. Or, provide an explanation.
• Describe your job using lay terms, perhaps using a case example or two.
• Deliver in the first person. “I” rather than “we.”
• Tell a story - your story.
• Pick highlights from your career journey but keep it truncated. Just three things is a good rule of thumb.
• It's ok to talk about wrong turns. Very reassuring for students to hear how you got back on track.
• Money matters: older students are interested in earnings, how you have been invested in and the future earning potential for people in your line of work.
• Mix media: PowerPoint is fine but aim for images, videos and use activities or props too.
• Use audience participation and Q&A whenever possible.
• If your presentation feels busy or rushed it’s time for an edit. If in doubt, leave it out. Students are great at asking about what matters to them.
• Do pre-warn students if you are talking about sensitive issues like cancer or suicide.  

The Don’ts:

• Avoid lots of text on slides and reading from slides.
• Try not list all the jobs you ever had or all the places you ever worked in the past. 
• Avoid all jargon and abbreviations. If it’s unavoidable then offer an easy-to-understand explanation, but you will be surprised what you can leave out and keep the story alive.
• No need to mention all the other people you work with. Stick to your story about you.
• Don’t try to cover all the routes in - but do be prepared for questions about this.
• Younger audiences are focused on their immediate next steps so no need to showcase all the places your career can lead to.

• Fielding questions

• Look for answers on-line, sharing how you do this with the learner.
• Use Health Careers  to show where information about jobs can be found and encourage students to Take our careers quiz | Health Careers to help navigate and find the most suitable career choices for them.
• Use UCAS Search - UCAS to find university courses and to look at entry criteria.
• If you can’t find the answer, take their career lead's or parent's e-mail, and use that to pass on information once you have had chance to consult your peers.
• Be prepared to field questions that might be outside your own sphere of expertise.

Supporting school or college career events

This guide provides an overview of the different types of school and college careers events you may volunteer to support. Each school will deliver them slightly differently and will provide more detailed information about their individual event.

• Mock Interviews

It is important that young people develop employability skills to enable them to be successful in the world of work and so gaining practice and valuable feedback from business volunteers is key to them understanding how to prepare for their future.

Delivery method

In most schools, mock interviews are 1-1 but delivered in a larger space such as a main hall and can accommodate around 15-30 volunteers. The interviews are usually structured to allow 15 minutes per student for conducting the interview, giving verbal feedback and written feedback.  Remember, students may be nervous and have limited experience of speaking about themselves to adults.

Resources needed

Schools will provide you with an interview pack on the day of the event, this will include any student feedback forms and example questions. Some schools will allocate students to individual volunteers, others it will be a random allocation as they arrive. You may also receive a copy of the student’s CVs and/or application form to support the interview process and for you to feedback on.

Example mock interview questions:

• Tell me a little about yourself.
• What job/college course would you like to do when you leave school?
• Why does this interest you?
• What skills could you bring to this job/course?
• Tell me about any work or volunteering experience you have, for example, babysitting, newspaper round, mentoring, helping out at school events.
• How do you think work experience will help you to prepare for your working life?
• What are the things you do well?
• What qualities/skills would you like to improve?
• Tell me about an achievement that you are proud of? Could be in school/at home/club/hobby/pledges.
• Tell me about a time you have worked as part of a team to complete a task or project.
• Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
• Tell me about your hobbies and interests. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

• Careers Fairs

Careers Fairs are an opportunity for young people to explore the different employment sectors, the range of employers, the local labour market and discover jobs and careers they possibly weren’t aware of. Students  talk directly with representatives from employers or course providers to gather information, practice talking to employers and can provide them with vital contacts. Careers Fair are about the young people finding out about your organisation, you will be a specialist in your own field but remember to mention the wider roles available. 

Delivery method

Careers fairs can be delivered over a half-day, full-day or an evening and can be open to specific year groups such as Year 10 and Year 11, whole school so Year 7 – Year 11 or students and their parents. 

Resources needed

Careers Fairs allow young people to visit exhibitors of their choice. The more interactive and eye catching your stall is, the more visitors you will receive and the greater chance of inspiring the next generation. Typically, your stall will have a pull up banner, tablecloth, leaflets and information to take away. You can have ‘freebies’ such as pens, but students do tend to grab, so you could limit your give aways to those students who have engaged with you. If you do have any resources that are interactive, students really engage with these and add extra interest to your stall.

• Careers Speed Network

Careers Speed Networks are similar to Careers Fairs but instead of young people being free to visit stalls, they are more focussed with students allocated the organisations they will meet, visiting approximately 9 employers.

The aim of ‘Careers Speed Networking’ is to give students the confidence, experience, and opportunity to meet local employers, ask them questions and find out about a range of different careers within the time available. Research has shown that many young people only aspire to the jobs they see. This event broadens student’s horizons and increases the careers that are visible to them.

Delivery method

Small groups of students (6-10 per group) will have 5 minutes to ask each employer about their industry, career experiences and pathways available. Once the 5 minutes are up, each group of students will move to the next employer (this will be co-ordinated and, school staff and other volunteers will be present to facilitate this). The school will fully brief students prior to the event and prompt cards with questions will be available to avoid any awkward silences.

Resources needed

Although this is not a Careers Fair, you are encouraged to bring any display/pull up banners that you may have to make your area look interesting and to help promote your company. You are also welcome to bring any information or leaflets to hand out to students. Do not hand out any ‘freebies’ as the event is about promoting positive conversations. If you do have any that you wish students to have, staff will distribute these at the end of the day. If you don’t have any stands or information, that is fine.

• Careers Cafes / Lunch Time Drop Ins

Many schools now offer lunch time or break time drop ins for careers. These may be called Careers Cafes, Careers Corner, or Future Fridays. Careers drop ins are about the young people finding out about your organisation, you will be a specialist in your own field but remember to mention the wider roles available.  You may be the only exhibitor or there may be others.

Delivery method

This is an opportunity for students s to ‘drop in’ and speak to a range of business volunteers. Drop ins usually last from 30 minutes to 1 ½ hours. As these are drop ins, attendance and interest can vary, speak to the school, they may allow you to walk around the dining area/canteen to hand out information and speak to students.

Resources needed

Usually, stalls are located in the dining hall/canteen area to allow easy access for students. Typically, your stall will have a pull up banner, tablecloth, leaflets and information to take away. You can have ‘freebies’ such as pens, but students do tend to grab, so you could limit your give aways to those students who have engaged with you. If you do have any resources that are interactive, students really engage with these and add extra interest to your stall.

• Careers Talks

Careers talks are an opportunity for students to hear from an experienced professional about the different roles available in a sector, the skills needed to get there and to share their own personal education and careers journey. Try to avoid too much jargon or technical information, remember, this might be the first-time students have heard about your organisation and what you company does. The session usually ends with a Q&A where students  have the opportunity to ask questions to help them focus their own studies and what skills they need to develop. Many students will not have had the opportunity to meet professionals from industries outside their own families, so this is an opportunity to expose them to some new influences.

Delivery method

Requests for careers talks can be for any year group and delivered either to small groups, class of 30 students or whole year group assemblies and can last from 15 minutes to an hour. Recommend for hour sessions that there is an interactive element or activity for students to complete – see Careers Workshops / Activities.

Resources needed

You can usually deliver a PowerPoint presentation and include videos if you wish. Always speak to the school, you are unlikely to be able to use USB’s or removal devices, they may prefer the presentation to be shared before your visit.

• Healthcare Science: A session for 7-10 year-olds presentation and guidance notes
• Healthcare Science: A session for 14-18 year-olds task sheet, presentation and session plan
• Mental Health Nursing: A session for Year 9, resources include: Introduction to Mental Health Nursing Session Plan; MH vs General Nurse; student worksheet; case studies; terminology matching cards and hearing voices role cards,

Reaping the benefits of being a career ambassador

It can be part of your own growth, development and even support revalidation.

You might apply Gibbs reflective cycle to you career ambassador practice

One of the most famous cyclical models of reflection leading you through six stages exploring an experience: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan.

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle was developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988 to give structure to learning from experiences.  It offers a framework for examining experiences, and given its cyclic nature lends itself particularly well to repeated experiences, allowing you to learn and plan from things that either went well or didn’t go well. It covers 6 stages:

• Description of the experience
• Feelings and thoughts about the experience
• Evaluation of the experience, both good and bad
• Analysis to make sense of the situation
• Conclusion about what you learned and what you could have done differently
• Action plan for how you would deal with similar situations in the future, or general changes you might find appropriate.

Like everything in our professional lives, it gets easier and more comfortable with practice.