Scottish Careers Week partners are working to shape the future

There will be activity for parents and carers to understand learning and career options available to their young people. 

Parent and carer support organisation Connect is teaming up with Skills Development Scotland to run a national online information session for the week.

Connect helps parents, carers and parent groups to be involved and engaged in children’s learning and school lives in ways that work for them. 

The free webinar, being held at 7pm on Tuesday, 12 November, will share the different opportunities for young people as they make option choices in school, think about their careers and plan their next steps. 

During the session a careers adviser will explain SDS career service support, including the My World of Work website and its resources for young people, parents and carers. There will also be information about apprenticeships and where to find out about the latest vacancies. Another aim for the campaign is to help people from diverse backgrounds and abilities to understand the opportunities and support available to pursue careers.

The Tuesday of the Week will also see SDS careers advisers providing information, advice and guidance to deaf young people at a careers event run by the British Deaf Association. 

The all-day event will focus on apprenticeships and interview and skills workshops.
National charity, Smart Works Scotland is also hosting a joint employability event with SDS in Glasgow on 13 November during Scottish Careers Week, providing coaching for women that features an interview and skills workshop and information about Smart Work’s free interview preparation service, which provides free clothes for the workplace. 

A careers fair event at Grangemouth High School

Giving young people the chance to get a better understanding of the skills needed for work and opportunities in their local communities and beyond will be an important part of Scottish Careers Week. There is expected to be events run in schools and local community spaces up and down the country to support the campaign.

Pupils will also have the chance to hear from young people working in some of Scotland’s most important sectors in a new series of DYW Live inspirational online talks. 
The programme of short, online sessions is organised in partnership by SDS, e-Sgoil and Education Scotland.

The sessions will be made available to watch on the DYW Live Scottish Careers Week page, with individuals in areas like engineering, digital, tourism and science sharing their career journey and experience of work.

As the national organisation that connects employers with education, Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) will also be involved in a range of activities to support local schools. 
DYW representatives and co-ordinators in schools will link up with other partners including SDS and employers to hold events like careers fairs and information sessions.

There will be lots more opportunities to find out about working in Scotland’s sectors during the campaign.

Events such as Perth and Kinross Council’s Youth Climate Conference takes place during the Week, supporting the aim to showcase careers in green jobs during the campaign.
Midlothian Council, with support from SDS and other partners, is hosting a Life and Chemical Sciences Careers Fair on Thursday, 14 November.

The event for teachers, educators and young people aims to raise awareness of the wide range of careers and industries in the Life and Chemical Sciences Sector in Central and South East of Scotland.

Information on Scottish Careers Week events including the Connect webinar on 12 November and how to register to attend can be found on the campaign events calendar on the News and Events section of the SDS website, where supporters can also register their own activity to attract attendance.

Find out more about Scottish Careers Week and get involved by visiting myworldofwork.co.uk/scottish-careers-week

——————————————–

Aberdeen-based firm adds depth to employee skillsets  

AN Aberdeen-based company has developed a new online training academy for staff thanks to funding from the Inward Investment Skills Fund.

Kraken Robotics, whose headquarters are in Canada but have their operations base in Aberdeen, are a marine technology company, carrying out underwater surveys offshore mainly for the wind sector.

They also sell systems to the military which are mainly used for mine hunting operations. The company has 32 employees in Aberdeen – a mix of office workers and offshore staff.

(Image: Ross Johnston)

Lynne Adu, Chief Commercial Officer said: “The technology we use was originally for the oil and gas sector, but we’ve successfully pivoted into the wind sector. 

“Our sonars survey the sea floor and sub seabed, imaging what’s on the seabed and below using high resolution, 3D sensors.

“If someone was planning an offshore wind farm, we can tell them what’s buried in the seabed. For example, unexploded ordnance can be quite a hazard near the shore.”

Prior to the development in Scotland of the bespoke online training academy, anytime the company recruited a new geoscientist, they had to visit the company HQ in Canada to undertake their training.

Lynne said: “We were told about the Inward Investment Skills Fund (IISF) from Scottish Enterprise. We were then introduced to Heather Milne from Skills Development Scotland (SDS) who has been our main contact and supported us through the application process.”

The IISF offers funding and support for reskilling and upskilling employees to deliver the Scottish Government’s Inward Investment Plan, Shaping Scotland’s Economy, where mainstream provision doesn’t exist elsewhere.

The fund is aimed at companies who have a non-Scottish headquarters seeking to invest in Scotland and create and/or safeguard jobs. The fund aims to support businesses to develop and implement innovative skills training.

Lynne said: “The funding was a big factor in helping us develop the training programme – it’s something we’d wanted to do for a while.  When we heard about the fund, we thought that it could help make the programme a reality by supporting the training development.

“We’ve called it the Kraken Academy, and it’s an online series of modules that staff can undertake depending on their role within the company. 

“It also includes assessments that are undertaken after completion of the modules.

“The savings in costs and time with the development of the academy have been huge. We continue to build and develop the programme. It’s been a game changer for our business – it’s a more professional approach to tracking training and competency of our staff and helps to demonstrate our competency to clients.

“Since being introduced to Heather at SDS, we’ve also taken on two Modern Apprentices which is going well. Hopefully both are young superstars in the making.”

Heather Milne, Growth and Inward Investment Manager with SDS, said: “It’s great that the IISF has been able to support the development of the Kraken Academy and that it’s made a huge difference to new and existing employees in accessing training. We’re looking forward to continuing our work with Kraken Robotics to support their skills needs.”

Lynne added: “We’re looking to apply to the fund again this year, as we want to expand our modules to include training for more of our service lines. We may even look to further expand the academy to offer training to clients to  familiarise them with our systems.”

Find out more about skills support for your business at employers.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk or call 0800 783 600

skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk