“The advice was a turning point in his life” – looking back at a year of careers support across Wales

Careers Wales have released their annual report for 2021-22, highlighting achievements and successes for the year.

2021-22 was a significant year for Careers Wales, as the first of a five-year strategic vision, Brighter Futures.

Changes to Covid-19 policies meant the organisation were able to reintroduce in-person services in schools and careers centres. There was also a return to in-person events with employers, whilst support services also continued to be delivered online.

17 year old Gwydion Evans from Bangor was one of the 27,000 young people supported with their careers learning and decision-making. Gwydion is on the autism spectrum and had support from careers adviser, Kaeli Peters, to look at his next steps.

Kaeli encouraged Gwydion to open up about his own ideas and interests, helped him look at potential evening courses and inspired him to look positively at his future.

Gwydion was supported by Kaeli to apply for a temporary job at a local tourist attraction, for which he went on to work in the summer of 2022.

Gwydion’s father, Osian Evans, said: “The advice my son received from Kaeli proved to be a turning point in his life.

“She listened to his aspirations and quickly recognised his strengths to help him set long term goals as well as securing his first job!”

It is not only young people in Wales who are supported by Careers Wales; the Working Wales service reached over 23,000 people over the age of 16 during 2021-22.

Sarah Lee from Wrexham got in touch with Working Wales to help her get back into work after taking a career break to look after her young children. Sarah had a decade of experience in the airline industry but wasn’t sure how to apply this to other jobs.

Working Wales careers adviser, Jackie Pickup, supported Sarah with her CV and how she could transfer her skills across to work in education or childcare, areas that Sarah was keen to work in to fit in well with looking after her children.

Sarah said: “Jackie made me feel really comfortable and helped me focus on the important parts of my experience and how my skills related.

“Jackie’s support gave me focus and the inspiration to apply.

“She also helped me prepare for an interview and I was delighted to get the job!

“I now work as a teaching assistant, which fits in perfectly with my everyday life and my children.”

Gwydion and Sarah’s stories provide examples of the significant impact that impartial and meaningful careers support and guidance can make to an individual’s life.

The following highlights from across the organisation’s services for the year illustrate the wider impact of Careers Wales’ services across the country:

• A total of 27,304 young people accessed one-to-one support. 40,267 individual interviews were delivered and over 30,000 students took part in interactive group sessions.
• The company facilitated 896 employer-led interactions with 244 schools across Wales. 87% of over 3,400 young people who attended said they were more aware of their opportunities as a result.
• The Working Wales service reached 4,211 young people aged 16-18 and over 19,000 adults aged 18+. The service delivered 55,813 direct interactions with customers this year.
• The Careers Wales website had over 2.3 million page views. Over 47,000 customers used one of our career assessment tools to help them with decisions about next steps.
• Several awards and accreditations have been celebrated including a CDI award for CareersCraft and recognition for support to remote workers.

Nikki Lawrence, chief executive, said: “I have great pleasure in presenting our annual report for 2021-22. It has been another successful year of growth and development for Careers Wales, which reinforces the importance of our service.

“This report includes our key achievements. It shows how our services supported the people of Wales and the Welsh economy.

“Some of the highlights detail the number of people we supported through different services, and the ways our teams continued to work with employers and schools during the pandemic.

“I am extremely proud of what we have achieved this year. Through the company’s continuous improvement culture, we will continue to strive to become a world-class careers service helping to create brighter futures for the people of Wales.”

If you think you could benefit from careers support, or have any queries about our work, get in touch on 0800 028 4844, or search ‘Careers Wales’ and join our webchat.

To read the full report, visit the annual report webpage.