Getting started - choosing your mindset and career goals

Spencer Owen

Welcome to work ready live it's great to have you with us. 2020 has turned out to be a year of the unexpected life has been totally different from what we all anticipated. We understand that it's even more difficult for those of you looking for a job so we want to help you feel more in control of your situation we're going to give you loads of hints and tips from some pretty inspirational people so that you know how to improve your chances of bagging your dream job and where you can get even more support so joining me now is Marc Allera, CEO of BT's consumer division. Marc thank you for joining us how are you

Marc Allera

Yeah great thanks great to be here thanks for having me.

Spencer Owen

Great to have you I’d love if you could tell me a bit more about, particularly, why now is such an important time to help people on their journey to finding work.

Marc Allera

Well obviously, the last few months have been an incredibly difficult time for many people we can see that the economy is certainly going to be a challenging situation and lots of businesses are going through all sorts of pressure and I think that means particularly for young people it's going to be more important than ever before to get the skills that they need to be successful in getting that first job or progressing in the job that they're in so at BT we're all about helping people connect and connect for good is the purpose that drives us so whether it's a job at BT or any other company we want to do everything we can to get as many young people with the skills that they need and the information and knowledge at their fingertips to be as successful as they can in what's going to be a very turbulent world over the next few years but I think when you when you get this level of change it also creates opportunity for businesses and opportunity for people as well so with the right attitude and mindset and the right skills we can help many young people be successful.

Spencer Owen

Definitely. Tell us about the goal you guys have set by 2025. You've got a big aim, right?

Marc Allera

Yeah, we want to get 10 million people the digital skills that they need for the future as well and help thousands of young people also through our Work Ready Programme and that's what we're here for today.

Spencer Owen

Yeah Work Ready Programme sounds very interesting of course. Looking forward to finding out more about that later. What else can people do as part of that that that journey to getting themselves more employable if you like there's so many different things we're going to touch on isn't there?

Marc Allera

Yeah  I mean I  always think one of the most valuable things I heard from someone I think it was Warren Buffett I maybe misquoting but it was the most important investment you can make is in yourself and just taking can be a few minutes can be a few hours on your personal development your knowledge your skills anything you can spend on yourself and time and investment in yourself will give you an advantage and that's  important now more than ever before.

Spencer Owen

Brilliant stuff Marc thank you very much. We’ll be joining Marc later to find out more about what employers are looking for from you guys and what you can do on your applications to let them know how you can help their business let's take a look at what's coming up

Voiceover

BT Work Ready Live is all about helping you make the most of this challenging time and setting you up for success we'll be looking at how to get started with expert advice on choosing your mindset and planning your goals to kickstart your next steps to that dream job. We'll be discovering the skills that employers look for so you can get a heads up and hear from those in the know. We'll be asking you to think differently about what you're really looking for and passing on our top tips to make job searching less hassle and more productive. We know how difficult it can be to write and talk about yourself so we'll be giving you advice on how to tell your story and promote your personal brand to make your job application stand out finally we've got some great tips on helping you prepare to be your best and shine in an interview.

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Spencer Owen

But before we get into the detail of job hunts and applications it's important to shake off any negativity get yourself in the right frame of mind here to help us do that are BT Sports very own Andrew Mensah and Jack Parsons.

Andrew Mensah

Thanks Spencer, I really appreciate that I’m excited because I have a very special guest, I have Mr Jack Parsons. Jack you are the CEO Of The Youth Group.  Please just tell me more about yourself.

Jack Parsons

I’m so good to be here with you Andrew so I grew up with I grew up with an alcoholic parent I grew up in a council or state I don't have a degree and I’ve always had barriers in my life that I’ve had to overcome but I now run a multi-million pound organization that improves the odds for young people to get into jobs manage their mental health and manage their money and if I can do it anyone can do it and that's why I’m here so excited today to say anyone and everyone has talent.

Andrew Mensah

You briefly just mentioned mental health I want to now talk about your mental health and your mental state and the times you were unemployed and growing up in the environments that you did

Jack Parsons

So growing up between the ages of 18 and 21 I was unemployed twice for a period about two years and for me that made me feel low it made me lose my confidence and it really made me feel like I didn't want to be here anymore but the truth is we all have mental health and we all have everyday challenges that we have to overcome and I’ve set myself a goal that I would try and overcome those challenges by surrounding myself with good people someone and people that I call everyday role models.

Andrew Mensah

So, you talk about that journey, I want to know, how did you overcome what steps did you take to overcome and to get you to the point where you are today?

Jack Parsons

In life, no matter where you are in your stage, we don't have all the answers. So i went from having all the answers to all the questions and I started to say to myself Jack what's making you feel like you're overstressed or you've got anxiety and who could I reach out to get that advice. So what I did I literally typed into google I started on google typed in who can help me at the stage I am in my life and you'd be surprised the amount of  people that have been through the same walks of life as you that want to help you grow and give you the advice.

Andrew Mensah

So, what advice would you say to any youngster out there that's watching you that's down in the dumps that's going through a tough time, that's unemployed. What kind of steps key steps can they take and also finding a job and becoming a better mental state?

Jack Parsons

We have a community of 1.7 million young people and last year we put 9000 young people into work and my advice to all those young people is three things. Have the passion which I call the duvet flip to get out of bed in the morning to flip that duvet to go and do something that you're passionate about now your duvet flip on a Wednesday can be different to your duvet flip on the weekend my duvet flip on a weekday is running the business and knocking down doors for young people my duvet flip on the weekend is practicing judo and walking dogs. So, find out what your duvet flip is and flip that duvet. Secondly, surround yourself with people that will lift you up people that have been in your in your dirt in your path and find out who they are anyone who's three days ahead or six years ahead and reach out and ask them questions and number three is build your network surround yourself with a network that can support you to get from and to.

Andrew Mensah

Talk about your own experience of building that network because you speak passionately about trying to build a community amongst people how important is that building a community is so important?

Jack Parsons

We like I said we don't know all the answers and I certainly don't I know this much in the business in the business world and the business is that the business world is this big. So surrounding yourself with people someone it could be a friend it could be a family member it could be the next door neighbour who works in a bank just ask them the questions and ask them to sit down with you and have a conversation but make it authentic make it real.

Andrew Mensah

Do you think, as to your earlier point, do you think having a hobby as well as your work life is a good balance in order for you to be successful?

Jack Parsons

It's so important that you don't burn out and you have to have things in your life that you can go and do to get away from the everyday stresses. Running the business is stressful so I use going to walk dogs or practising judo as a way to relief and find your passion and have both.

Andrew Mensah

Now it's obviously difficult in life finding out what you want to do finding out that duvet flip as you said people get into their 30s and 40s and still don't know exactly what they want to do with life. What would your advice be to people making the decision now of a career that they want to go into?

Jack Parsons

Andrew you ask a really good question. We don't know what we want a lot of people don't know what they want and that's okay that is okay not to have all the answers it's not okay not to know what's your next path but what I can say is surround yourself with people that inspire you people that you for instance if you want to go into tv or you want to go and work on a construction site reach out to someone who has done that who's a professional in that career and ask them how they found it and to be really basic about things don't worry about asking a silly question because there's no such thing as a silly question the only silly question is the one you don't ask.

Andrew Mensah

Jack, we really appreciate that so just in summary we're just going to take a look at some of your top tips

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Voiceover

Here are our top tips for getting started. Accept how you feel right now recognize those feelings and find help and support everyone struggles with mental wellbeing and there are plenty of places to support you online your mental well-being is something that you need to take care of every day so start now and learn about strategies and support networks that can help you get out there and show the world the best you. Realise that where you are now isn't where you'll always be, we don't have a fast forward button for life so use this time to get some clear thoughts on where you want to go. Next focus on the positives write down all the things you can do and think about what's important to you sit back and think about all of your skills and interests what are you passionate about and what makes you excited and proud. Be open to new challenges and opportunities learn new things anything that takes you fancy just get back into learning stuff and see where it takes you.