Life, the final frontier

DD and I just sat down and went through her 'options' booklet from school. She is 14, and suddenly her life is moving from fun and papier mache animals for homework,into the realms of serious study, exams...work.

It's exciting, a leap into the world; but it's scary too, what if she makes the wrong choice or hates what she chose?

And even if she gets all the results she needs...what next? Things have changed a lot since I left school, and the careers advice I received was terrible anyway.

Which is why I was excited to hear about vInspired.

Vinspired is a charity dedicated to helping young people from all walks of life reach their potential. In the past 5 years vInspired have created over 1 million opportunities for young people to volunteer, laying the foundation for future enterprise and employment. A way to get that vital experience that many employers look for.

Over one in five young people aged 16-24 is out of work. So it’s no longer good enough just to have good grades to get into further education or get a job – young people need to get experience in the workplace. vInspired can help; but that's not all, they have put together a Job Jumpstarter Pack.

The vInspired Job Jumpstarter Pack gives simple but effective tips from how to make an application, to practice interview questions, all based on insight from businesses across the UK and what they are looking for from prospective applicants.

The FREE pack contains:

• CV templates and tips to make a great first impression.
• An interview checklist, test questions and answers to come across as confident and competent.
• Application form advice to get noticed for the right reasons.
• Advice on building a LinkedIn profile to build networks
• How to get voluntary experience through vInspired, giving you the experience to get your dream job
• Plus inspiring real life stories from people who’ve been in your shoes, plus online awareness advice and more

Simply Visit http://jumpstarter.vinspired.org/  to get a copy. (and I'll be honest - lots of adults will find this really useful too! )

While DD doesn't quite need to worry about a job yet, I can see it's going to happen very very soon, so it's great to find stuff like this is out there,especially free!

Have you had to face this with your kids yet? Do you have a plan? If you have any other suggestions or links to useful information, do add them in a comment. Thanks

Never Volunteer

That's what they tell you in the army apparently. Never volunteer. Because, well you know, volunteers get the crappy jobs, the ones no one else wants. No one does something for nothing unless they are an idiot right? I mean who would waste time and effort to do something for free? What's in it for me? Nothing...or is there?...

When DD was in the Rainbow Guides I stayed for the first few weeks while he settled in. For those that don't know the Rainbows are like smaller Brownies, part of a Girl Guiding Family. And they do age appropriate stuff in the same was the Brownies do. So each week the girls would have 'circle time' talking about things they had done in the week, lost teeth, days out, gold stars on homework, that sort of thing.

Then we would maybe have a speaker, a local vet, or emergency services worker (yes ladies there were firemen) and sometimes a trip out, a walk to the beach, a treasure hunt, a trip to the fire station (there may be a theme here). We would talk about helping each other, what women and girls could do to be useful and then we would do a craft, colouring or making a simple gift like a bookmark etc.

Sometimes we would take part in the wider world of Guiding, setting up a stall at the local Guides Fayre for example.

Then one day when DD was happily settled and I was leaving one of the leaders told me that they may have to close the group. There are rules about minimum adult numbers and they were losing a unit leader to retirement....can you see where this is going?

How could I not help? The girls were all delightful and loved all they did, the leaders were friendly and happy to train me up (though I had to buy my own uniform) and most of all DD loved it. So I started helping, once a week, a few hours and the odd craft to organise (did I mention I grew up with Blue Peter and simply loved making things, it became my 'thing' to organise the craft each week) and so I volunteered. I was a volunteer unit helper until sadly the hours I worked changed and I was no longer able to attend the evening meetings, DD left and became a Brownie and my links to the Guides faded away.

But volunteering is great, and if you get a chance you should give it a bash! So many opportunities are out there from helping at a mum and baby group, reading with children at a local school, visiting people in hospital, helping out in a charity shop, the list is endless. Why not look at CSV The UK Volunteering and Learning Charity for ideas.

CSV are currently celebrating 50 years of volunteering! 

50 Years!! Why not be part of something big!

And if you are arty and over 14 but under 25 why not check out the Poster design Competition?