Youth Service and CIPD launch careers website

A new website which aims to give young people a vital insight into local careers was launched on Tuesday morning in the Garrison Library.

Within the historic setting of the Garrison Library, a modern way of learning about careers was launched by the Gibraltar Youth Service and the local branch of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

The careers.gi website includes videos and information by local professionals in their fields.

The Minister for Youth and Employment, Steven Linares, opened the event and described the significance of the partnership between the Youth Service and CIPD.

He also stressed the importance of providing young people with the necessary skills and guidance to navigate the competitive job market.

“We have got quite a number of companies already involved in the website, but I can see faces here from companies that are not there yet and I encourage you, please to get in touch with the CIPD and get your company to be involved in this,” he said.

“It's a very good website where young people can learn skills, like a writing a CV, interviewing skills, how to present yourself, how to look in the job market, what you need to do to get to where your goals are. You want to be a lawyer, an accountant, or a carpenter, or a welder. ‘How do I go about it?’”

The website has four main sections to allow young people access to a range of careers related information.

These are ‘career options’ where the site visitor can access a range of information on various job sectors in Gibraltar, ‘career pathways’ describing higher education, apprenticeships (both local and UK-based) or locally based training, and the ‘career toolkit’ which includes information on applications, CVs and interviews, including personal development and transferable skills.

The website also includes ‘career insights’ with interesting and inspiring career stories and ‘a day in the life of’ stories.

Jo Abergel from CIPD Gibraltar branch, explained the motivation behind this initiative.

She said that thanks to funding from the UK CIPD's ‘1 Million Chances’ campaign, they were able to get careers.gi to fruition.

“We want to start engaging with young people much earlier on in their careers choices, let them know what's available, support them in applying for jobs and gaining valuable skills,” she said.
“And that's why we wanted to do the project.”

“We came together with the Youth Service, had a fantastic idea to create an online course and, to cut a long story short, that's where we are.”

Kat Banbury from CIPD added that the website doesn't have to be just for young people who are embarking on their careers, it was also useful for anyone who is perhaps considering a career change or move.

“It's a massive change from education to employment,” she said.

“We have local specialists who have covered topics like resilience and networking, so that it's not just about finding that career, but also about excelling.”

“If you work in any kind of industry, any kind of role that involves nurturing talent, recruiting talent, or you just think you've got some great advice for people that might need some tips for starting out, please contact us and we'd love to add your content to our toolkit.”

Youth and Community Worker Jamie Napoli explained the significance of the platform.

“We are super aware that we are not reinventing the wheel here. This sort of platform exists in the UK and around the world. But there definitely was a gap in the market for this in Gibraltar,” he said.

“I know we've got some people around the room, not only from the private sector, but civil servants, we have got the regiment here as well today, and people who offer graduate programs, internships and so on. All of this is going to help provide young people in Gibraltar with opportunities.”

Senior Youth Worker Charlene Figueras stated that about 60 industries have provided them with information and they have broken that down into different sections.

“We've got from health and social care, hair and beauty, environmental law, politics, emergency services, trades, retail logistics, information technology, property, and that's just a few that I've mentioned,” she said.

However valuable this is, she also stressed another important factor is for these industries to express to young people whether there is a demand for the job.

“That's the all-important question. So that young people can make that informed choice for themselves for the future,” she said.

The Gibraltar Youth Service and CIPD Gibraltar Branch both thanked the civil service departments and private sector businesses who contributed to the website so far.

The website will continue to be populated with more content each quarter with its next scheduled video recording dates and content update on Wednesday, September 27 and Thursday, September 28.
For more information contact: careers.gibraltar@gmail.com