Help transform careers education in schools

The Enterprise Adviser Network is looking for management consultants who can bring their skills to bear for the benefit of schools, employers and young people.

Here is a scheme that many people are already finding greatly rewarding and which helps them deliver a positive benefit to society.

A national network of 1,400 Enterprise Advisers is being established. They will use their experience to support schools across England.

The organisers now want to recruit more interested people. Enterprise Advisers are senior business volunteers who work with school leadership teams to develop whole school careers and business engagement strategies. So this is a natural assignment for management consultants of all shapes and sizes.

This project ensures that staff in schools have the additional capacity, resource and knowledge to equip their young people with the skills they need for the changing employment landscape.

Advisers commit to offering their knowledge, skills and networks for at least one academic year, but for a strictly limited number of hours per month. Advisers also join a growing network of professionals supporting schools to develop sustainable links with businesses. What's more, because the programme is fully funded, this fully-supported volunteering Network is offered to employers and individuals at no charge.

Susan Bentley is Tax Manager for KPMG. Her role is in Employee Reward Services within KPMG’s People Consulting Practice. She has been supporting Alexandra Park School in Haringey as an Enterprise Adviser since December 2016.

“The experience so far has given me a real insight into the challenges schools have, from funding to time restrictions to getting students engaged. I realised I knew very little about the current education system and what I did was somewhat theoretical. Gaining an understanding of what the Careers & Enterprise Company is trying to achieve not just for London but the whole country and how the Enterprise Advisers are an integral part of that has really motivated me to try and make a difference, however small, at my partnered school.”

To find out more, please visit www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/enterprise-adviser-network or contact enterpriseadvisers@london.gov.uk