Encounters with Employees and Employers
All students should have encounters with employers and employees every year that they are at school. These encounters should result in a better understanding of the workplace and the potential career paths open to them.
Some encounters with employees and employers will also help achieve other benchmarks, with common crossover between benchmarks 2, 4, 5 and 6. There are a number of good examples of employer engagement occurring across the county and country some of these are included as case studies, with links to resources to download below:
To be meaningful an encounter with an employer needs to be planned, students should be prepared and briefed for the encounter, employers should also be briefed and understand the students they are presenting to, the encounter should also be followed up with feedback gained from both students and the employer. CEC are developing resources to help support schools and colleges and build a common understanding of what makes an encounter meaningful.
Virtual encounters can be effective but there should be significant interaction between the employer and students.
A video recording with no interaction with the employer would not be considered a meaningful encounter, although could contribute to the career programme in other ways.