This March the North’s largest careers conference will return to the city for its fifth bi-annual event, focusing on knowledge sharing and best practice for schools and colleges.
Careers Live held its inaugural event seven years ago and now attracts more than 500 careers specialists and teachers from across the North. With keynote speakers including Chief Executive of the Careers & Enterprise Company Claudia Harris, the event will be held for the first time at Leeds Town Hall after outgrowing its previous venue, at the Carriage Works.
Careers Live was created by Bradford-based training, employability and career specialists Aspire-igen in 2012. After the Government pulled its career guidance funding earlier that year, Aspire-igen identified a gap in the careers knowledge of schools and colleges.
The free to attend event is fully funded by Aspire-igen, who reinvest to support the development of skills and education in the region. Contributions have also been raised by its commercial outlets, including their training café, The Canteen, in Bradford. The social enterprise has provided careers support to more than 3 million young people and adults over a period of 27 years. It has drawn on its industry knowledge and networks to attract a high calibre of speakers to Careers Live and create workshops that help to focus on current issues facing the industry’s professionals.
This year’s event will feature a morning of keynote speeches from the likes of; leading academic, Tristram Hooley, renown researcher and policy maker Deidre Hughes and head of unit, skills and qualifications DG Employment at European Commission, Alison Crabb.
Of the event, Alison said: “In today’s fast-changing labour market, guidance is more essential than ever. Careers Live is all about sharing experience on guidance policy and practices within the industry. One of our tools, the new Europass, which I will be talking about at the event, helps individuals manage their careers, by showing and sharing their skills.”
The conference will also provide workshops that focus on sharing best practice, practical solutions to common problems and guidance around how to meet the Government’s eight Gatsby Career Benchmarks¹. Delegates are able to choose from a menu of workshops, ensuring that the discussions are tailored to their needs.
Speaking about the event, Joanne Hainsworth, Head of Aspire Enterprises, said: “Careers Live is an amazing opportunity for schools and colleges to learn from the thought leaders of the industry.
“Since 2012, we have more than quadrupled the number of delegates at Careers Live and all feedback tells us that it is a very valuable experience for those who attend. We’re thrilled to be at Leeds Town Hall this year, with an array of fantastic speakers that warrant the grandeur of the location.”
Katharine Needham, vice principal at the Co-operative Academy in Leeds, will be running a workshop on the day. She said: “Meeting Gatsby Benchmarks is really important for schools and colleges in the UK. Although it’s not always easy to know where to start, in my opinion, there is no point in trying to reinvent the wheel. There are plenty of educators able to share their experiences and best practise with one another to make it easier. This will be the third time we have attended Aspire-igen’s Careers Live – it’s a fantastic opportunity to learn, network and share knowledge.”
