In today’s society, it is a well known fact that it is difficult for young adults to gain employment, especially when they don’t have a lot of work experience. Statistics from the House of Commons states that in the UK, 587,000 young people aged 16-24 were unemployed in August-October 2016. This is an improvement from 2015, with a decrease of 38,000 but there are still a huge number of young adults going without employment. The frustraition of not having the oppertunity to aquire this experience is a huge problem many people face. This is where career help services can offer help and guide these young adults on the correct path to employment, whether that is improving their experience through volunteer work or simply connecting them to the right contacts. Although this is a step in the right direction in reducing youth unemployment, it is worthwhile to note that it can sometimes be a lengthy process. During this transition into the workplace, many young adults get knocked back interview after interview and this can affect one’s confidence while tearing down the motivation needed to keep pushing forward. It was announced in December 2016 that half of Glasgow’s job centres are set to close in 2017 due to cut backs, which reflects that there is need for a cost effective solution.
Reaching out to a young generation through the use of technology is key in such a scenario. Working closely with a career’s help service in Scotland, we have came up with a solution that helps these young adults transition into the workplace smoother and also supply a cost efficient solution for the employment help services. Using motivational techniques within the app such as gamification allows users to remain encouraged and feel rewarded by unlocking various achievements. Not only does the achievements offer an uplift to the user but are only unlocked when a user progresses such as identifying their skills and interests, thus building great CV content in the process. Moreover I truely believe that we can accomplish more if we are having fun and as a result lowering the probability of giving up in the search for employment. Watch the explainer video below for more information:
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‘Yep’ will be rolled out towards the end of 2017 and will be made available for career help services to use.