Working with youth: the challenge of being relevant

As the Government recently announced, the much discussed Youth Guarantee scheme will be brought forward by a year to commence in 2010. The scheme provides 2,000 free full-time equivalent student places at tertiary institutions. It will be available to 16 to 17-year-olds who are not engaged in school. Eventually the aim is to make the scheme available to all 16 and 17-year-olds.

Recently I have been working alongside young people in this age group who are not currently engaged in school or training, and have begun reflecting on my practice in terms of engaging with teenagers.

Here are some of my thoughts:

The space that a teenager's family is in will have a strong bearing on their career development and attitude towards work. Often there are wider issues at play, such as long-term unemployment and historical attitudes towards education, employment and careers. One recent client of mine had such a number of issues affecting her in her home life that she wasn’t able to connect and learn at school, even though she was perfectly capable academically of doing so. Instead, school became an outlet for her to express her isolation and anger through her behaviour.

Moving forward, her main priority is to gain independence so she is in a space to learn. Addressing these issues can be a complex and involved process, particularly when the standard careers model often involves working with the individual only.

• Often teenagers lack core literacy and numeracy skills

Often the lives of the young people I work with are volatile and transitory – they always appear to be on the move. This is very challenging in how it impacts on their learning and ability to complete qualifications. Often they aspire to jobs that require an apprenticeship that may be at Level 4 or 5, but they have not completed Level 1. So they have not developed the foundational skills to aspire to formal education, and to do this later in life can be challenging and costly for them, especially when their peers are out there enjoying the fruits and benefits of work and youth.

The flip side of this is that often they have acquired skills and savvy beyond the bounds of formal learning, especially in terms of using technology, thinking creatively or being prepared to take risks. They can be very resourceful and innovative and see opportunities where the trained eye might not. The question becomes how to identify training and career opportunities that tap into these.

• Understanding teenagers' peer groups and the circles they move in is important

People will gather where they find commonality, connection and belonging. Youth are no different – they feel relevant and valid where their world view is acknowledged and understood. Clearly these groups have a vibrant, colourful and fast-moving culture, which is influenced by popular media and technology. In some ways it’s like a very cool club where they can spot adult impostors. Therefore the youth culture sees some careers and jobs as cool and relevant, while others belong to other people, or are "loser" jobs.

• Beauty, hairdressing or construction?

Among teenagers, the dominating interest in particular industries – building and construction, engineering, beauty, hairdressing – is a recurring theme. How can you expand their thoughts, and encourage further exploration?

One important point is to acknowledge their ideas and also appreciate that those ideas often represent other layers of detail. I am also interested in what exists behind those ideas: Where have they come from? Who has influenced them? How informed are they on those ideas? What needs are being indirectly stated? Often they provide the key for a greater and more meaningful conversation.

For example, when a young person says they are interested in construction, I will often ask "What does this say about you?" The conversation will often move to things such as, "I like the outdoors", "I want physical contact", "I have whānau in that trade", "I like practical problem solving", and "I like using my hands". This opens up conversation about how they enjoyed learning, or didn’t enjoy learning, and why school sucked. But you can also explore where else this could take them, and that there are lots of options beyond their immediate thoughts to be explored.

• How do you stay relevant in practice and the world that teenagers inhabit?

This goes beyond knowing what Facebook and Twitter are, how to blog, and wearing a Jay-Z t-shirt. I am regularly amazed at how different teenagers' world view is from my own – how do you connect with that? It is really important (and difficult) to suspend judgement and personal view and just be interested.

Often these kids have been labelled by authority figures, and so they behave and respond accordingly. Initially they can be quite taken aback by a person who is working with them from a clean slate approach, and is interested in their side of the story and their lives. In some ways a career intervention is the first positive relationship they have had with an adult for a long time, and it can be quite amazing to see how their behaviour changes and how they start to voice their needs and aspirations. However, communication at their level is important – if they start to feel the authority teacher or dean or head of department in your language, then they will often resort to past behaviour and survival techniques that they know work.

At the end of the day, the one thing that you can guarantee about career guidance with young people in this space is that it will be challenging, fun, stimulating and professionally rewarding. It can also take you out of your comfort zone as a practitioner and "old person". As much as you are trying to help them move forward and make decisions, they are providing you with an opportunity to learn about their world and culture and to look at how your practice reflects their needs.

Career interventions have the potential to provide excellent leverage for government-funded opportunities and youth schemes. For me the vital ingredients for these interactions to be successful are relating to, engaging with, and believing in youth aspirations.

Pat Cody is a career consultant for Career Services, based in the Whangarei office.