Tottenham Hotspur and England defender Ledley King has joined forces with www.notgoingtouni.co.uk the online portal for apprenticeships and vocational opportunities, to help promote vocational opportunities for young people at the start of Apprenticeship Week 2011.
“Apprenticeships are a great way of entering the world of work for those who, like me, know what they want to do for a living,” King said to to notgoingtouni’s free online guide to apprenticeships. “Apprenticeship Week is the perfect time to start looking into the options. I came up through the Tottenham youth academy, so I know the value of on-the-job training. And I know it can lead to the best job in the world!”
The upcoming rise in tuition fees, in addition to one in five graduates currently being unemployed, is encouraging more and more young people to consider vocational qualifications.
“Young people looking to enter the professions are now beginning to discover, for example, that it is actually quicker to become a chartered accountant through an apprenticeship programme than via a degree, with a higher proportion finding employment at the end of it,” explains Spencer Mehlman, managing director of notgoingtouni.co.uk.
A digital magazine for Apprenticeship Week, which can be downloaded free of charge at www.notgoingtouni.co.uk, also charts the success of Rohan Duncan, 25, who joined Tottenham Hotspur Foundation’s Future Job Fund programme in February 2010. He was offered an apprenticeship on completion of the programme and now leads coaching sessions and studies for an NVQ Level 2 in Sports and Allied Recreational Studies at Croydon College.
“I was a Spurs fan before I got the job. I went to the job centre because I’d been unemployed for a while and I saw there were jobs coaching at Spurs. I’m a sporty guy but I’d never done any coaching before, I didn’t think I’d get it – it seemed too good to be true!,” Rohan enthused.
Now, Rohan coaches young people from the local community and estates, leading PE lessons, table tennis sessions and the Kickz programme aimed at keeping young people off the streets.
“I’m on contract until June,” Rohan adds. “I’d like to stay on at Spurs, but even if I don’t I’m much more employable than I was before. I’d like to stay in coaching or mentoring.”
Companies that work with notgoingtouni.co.uk to access candidates on its 40,000 strong database include IBM, British Gas, Rolls Royce, Unilever and Tesco.
Notgoingtouni.co.uk is an online portal dedicated to helping young people make informed decisions about their future by showing the opportunities that exist outside of university. For further information visit www.notgoingtouni.co.uk
