‘Employer Encounters’ Activity: Explore day-in-the-life Videos

Not sure what different jobs involve? Want to know more about the key duties involved and the skills required, the best bits and the worst? Hear from local Stockport employees sharing their career stories in our Day-in-the-life Videos. Find out how they got started, what qualifications they needed, and discover what they love most about the work they do.

This short activity – ideal to play in the classroom or at home – helps students to learn about different jobs and careers, with a keen insight on local LMI and trends for Stockport and Greater Manchester. During Post-16 Careers Week, we used our Lunchtime Live events to create a series of short employer videos that showcase Stockport businesses and their employment to highlight over 20 different job sectors. By providing encounters with employers and employees and learning from localised labour market insights, you’ll meet Gatsby benchmarks and build students’ awareness of different jobs and careers.

Use this activity as a prompt to learn more about the different sectors, what jobs exist within them and key trends contributing to their future growth with our Career Guides and key statistics about working in Stockport.

How to use

This is an ideal activity to be used in form time, SODA activities or as part of a longer careers session. It can last 10 minutes or up to an hour. Students can begin this activity in the classroom and continue at home as part of extended research into jobs and careers.

Instructions

Print a copy of the Employer Encounter worksheet and provide one per student.

Start by choosing a sector or company from the list below. Ask students to suggest what they know about this industry sector – including what it does, what jobs it might include, any trends that may have impacted on this sector in recent years or how it may change in the years to come. Find out whether any students are considering a career in this sector, know of any employers locally who operate in this industry or if they know any friends or family members who work in it.

Next, use our career guides to explore more about this sector – including it’s popularity, recent trends and key considerations, the entry requirements to work in this sector, skills you may need, future career prospects and who might be best suited to a career in this type of industry. Talk to students about other sources they may use to find out more about this sector (such as Prospects or National Careers Service) or by reading national or local news or industry publications. Explain why it is important to stay informed about your chosen industry to develop your expertise and know what might influence its growth or decline in the years to come.

Next, watch the corresponding Bitesize Video for this sector (lasting 2-5 minutes). During the video, ask students to make notes using their worksheet about what they have learnt. Each short clip features a local employee explaining a typically day-in-the-life of their profession, how they got started with this career, the skills and qualifications that are needed, what they enjoy most about their jobs, and recommendations for young people who may wish to follow in their footsteps.

After watching the video, ask students to discuss whether or not they would like to work in this role or sector in the future and what they have learned.

You can repeat this exercise with other industry sectors and videos or ask students to choose one or more sectors and work independently to read the career guides and watch the bitesize video. You can set this as an activity during the lesson and ask students to share to the class or in small groups what they have learnt, or you can set as a homework assignment and share their findings during the next session.