The talent shortage has been a multifaceted issue that has dogged the industry for the past several years, brought on by various factors, exacerbated by the pandemic and now the challenging economic climate.
The industry has previously looked to attract recent university graduates and mid-career changers into the field, but The Careers Department is changing that.
The Careers Department is where high school students can explore the different industries in the workforce at the beginning of their career-exploring journey. Moreover, it is a platform the world of advertising and marketing could consider as an avenue to pay it forward for the industry and get new talent through the doors.
Samantha Devlin, co-founder and CEO of The Careers Department, spoke to Mediaweek about the platform, how it can be part of the solution to the talent shortage and the importance of reaching the high school cohort now.
Devlin on The Careers Department and its purpose
Devlin co-founded the student-focused SaaS platform with Sarah Warmoll in 2016. Their primary objective was to provide modern career guidance to high students, teachers, and parents and to work with industry partners to bridge the gap between the classroom, university, and the workforce.
“The business was built on the ethos that no student should be disadvantaged when it comes to acquiring career-relevant knowledge, skills, and information,” she said.
Devlin explained that The Careers Department helps by providing a broad range of industries and skills for students to explore, which enables them to discover career paths they may not have previously considered.
“We offer more than 800 pieces of exploratory content, including video interviews, virtual work experience modules, virtual skills modules, podcasts, job search tools, scholarship applications, and resume builders,” she said.
Since being established over seven years ago, the platform has expanded and works with 25% of Australian high schools (more than 680 schools) and 100,000 tertiary students.
How The Careers Department can be part of solving the talent shortage crisis
The talent shortage in advertising and marketing has pressured the agencies and their hard-working and dedicated people.
Last year research by the World Federation of Advertisers found that 48% of all advertisers, agencies, ad tech companies and media owners believe the industry is facing the “worst-ever crisis” regarding talent.
While recruitment is the apparent answer, part of the solution can be to expand its reach to high school students.
Devlin highlighted a report that found 39% of high school students leave year 12 “not knowing what they want to do.”
“While this stat is alarming, it also highlights the huge opportunity and needs for the industry to educate and inspire students at a grassroots level. Simply, students are not aware of the breadth of jobs that are available to them – and without that knowledge, students don’t know how to align their interests and skills,” she added.
Devlin noted that the same survey also revealed that 89% of school leavers list their ‘parents’ as their number one influencer when making career decisions. However, 72% of parents feel unqualified to help their children make informed career decisions.
Devlin said: “Our program solves this problem by educating students, teachers, and parents about the future of work. It’s not enough to inspire students. You have to educate the ‘educator’ – and this is a huge point of difference that we offer.”
The Careers Department produces content aimed at those target groups.
“Think, day-in-the-life of a graphic designer to a virtual work experience task with a data analyst. We could produce interactive modules that expose students to the role of an account manager, a social media manager, creative leads, or sales personnel,” she explained.
The benefits of reaching high school cohort and why this is an essential move for the industry
The media industry often aims at attracting university-level students and new graduates into the industry through internships, graduate programs, and traineeships. But Devlin called engaging with students in high school an essential move.
“If students don’t select a relevant course to study post-school, they won’t be in your recruitment funnel three years later. Engaging students at a grassroots level is essential,” she said.
“Building a Virtual Work Experience task with us allows a student to step inside your business, understand the brand, understand the kinds of work you do – and participate,” she added.
The Careers Department produces content for brands that want to drive awareness with a student, teacher and parent audience, an area the advertising and marketing industry certainly knows a thing or two about.
Devlin shared that among some of the content pieces is a podcast series with the Australian Defence Recruiting released in April. The series tells real stories and advice from those serving in the Air Force, Army and Navy.
The Careers Department also produced content with Qantas that shows a behind-the-scenes look at a day in the life of a mechanical engineer.
“We offer a range of content such as videos, podcasts, interviews, Virtual Work Experience, and skill modules to break down misconceptions and stereotypes about different industries and guide school leavers in making informed career decisions.
Devlin proudly noted that the results from student feedback data showed that 92% of students strongly agree that they have benefited from The Career Department program.
“Moreover, 77% of students attribute their change of mind about their chosen career pathway to their participation in our program,” she added.
How advertising and marketing agencies can pay it forward to the future of the industry
Advertising and marketing agencies intrigued at the opportunity The Careers Department can offer can follow in the steps of the Seven Network, which has a multi-year partnership agreement with the platform.
The partnership includes content on the platform that showcases the different roles inside the business.
See also: Seven helps prepare high school students with The Careers Department
Devlin shared that Seven has also sponsored the platform’s National Schools Tour, in which they conduct in-person workshops for over 40,000 students across metro, regional, and remote schools throughout the school year.
Devlin also highlighted how Seven has worked with her team to launch a Virtual Work Experience competition for students.
“The competition offers students the opportunity to complete a variety of tasks and experience different industries and upload them to receive feedback and a certificate. We had 29,000 students participate in the 2022 competition,” she said.
Devlin noted that while The Careers Department have been thrilled by the engagement and support from Seven, they are looking toward the broader media industry for further collaboration.
“There are amazing job opportunities for students inside the doors of publishers, streaming services, Out of Home companies and the agency world – and we’d love to showcase these to our audience,” she said.
–
Top image: Samantha Devlin
