National Careers Week 2022: New partnership gives students access to virtual reality work experience

#NCW2022 #VRinEDU The Inspirational Learning Group (@TILG_UK) has partnered with National Careers Week to give more young people across the UK the chance to connect with some of the nation’s biggest employers, including NatWest bank, Tesco and Butlins.

For the first time, schools participating in National Careers Week (7^th to 12^th March 2022) will be able to inspire and motivate students making decisions about their future careers by enabling them to interact with business and industry leaders in real time using the latest virtual reality (VR) technology.

As part of the partnership, The Inspirational Learning Group will send thousands of free cardboard VR headsets to schools so students can take virtual reality tours of actual offices, factory floors and product development labs and actively engage in digital work experience opportunities.

All students will also be given access to the innovative Launch Your Career platform, where they can take a personality typing quiz to help them understand their individual strengths, boosting their self-awareness, confidence and motivation to make better decisions about further study and career pathways.

Nick Newman, CEO of National Careers Week, said: “It is our mission to provide opportunities that young people deserve to find meaningful and rewarding careers. The Inspirational Learning Group is a natural fit to help us achieve this.

“Virtual reality offers us a way to reach more young people and introduce them to future employers they might otherwise never engage with. Online, students can explore different job opportunities, ask questions and find out which careers pathways best suit them – it’s a pioneering approach to careers guidance for our times.”

During National Careers Week, students will be able to attend workshops and virtual conferences with real employers and access video interviews of industry leaders talking about the routes they took to land their dream roles. They can also discover job opportunities and apprenticeships offered by actual companies. A host of live careers events will be available for young people to attend online and schools can access a range of guidance, lesson plans and resources to help them broaden students’ career horizons.  

Ben Dyer, managing director of The Inspirational Learning Group, said: “So often young people find themselves having to make decisions about further study or careers pathways without the knowledge and experience to make good choices. The rapid pace of change in the economy is adding to this pressure as many of the jobs young people are preparing for haven’t even been created yet.

“We are totally committed to working closely with our friends at National Careers Week to open up more opportunities for students to understand their strengths and find careers they can truly thrive in.”

Schools can register here to sign up to National Careers Week.

The Inspirational Learning Group also runs the National Careers Challenge, an annual Dragon’s Den style competition that challenges teenagers to solve real business problems designed by the event’s sponsors and helps them develop key workplace skills such as teamwork, leadership and creativity.

The Inspirational Learning Group and Launch Your Career are both part of Dev Clever PLC.