Forget about Results Day & Live the Future Every Day.

The workplace is changing quicker than the education system, but the opportunities to gain the skills and experience needed to be successful can be found in different places, if only you choose to look.

A-Level results day in the UK is a momentous occasion for more than a quarter of a million young people each year. A day including the highs of success and the lows of disappointment. Everyone’s experience is different. 

Mine, in 2016, was filled with sadness and anger; it was one of the worst days of my life. I was prepared to succeed and move to my first-choice university. Inevitably, I missed my grades slightly and was accepted with the grades I achieved (lower than the offer) into my second choice. I was devastated but happy to have been accepted somewhere. 

Now, 5 years later – an award-winning graduate and digital entrepreneur – by all measures I have ‘succeeded’. At the time, of course, I didn’t have the perspective to lend myself that my life wasn’t over – but it felt like it.

I am a living example of how the formal education system is a major component in an individual's life, but not the be-all-end-all. Sharp intakes of breath from all the parents out there!

In a world that evolves at a million miles per hour, how can our young people possibly expect formal education to keep up with this change?

The answer, of course, is that it absolutely does not and cannot.

So what does this mean for the workplace of the future?

Think Milestones, not Timelines.

The education system gives us a set  timeline to acquire knowledge and skills - that's exactly what A-Levels and GCSEs are all about. We then must get the degree to convey trust to someone to give us  the experience to get the job to get the promotion to get the leadership position. And then, many many years into our careers  can we pursue what it is that we truly desire. 

We apply  a “milestones, not timelines” approach. We measure ourselves and those young people we recruit into our organisations based on the milestones both they, and we achieve personally and professionally. For example, have they been able to manage some form of project (youth club; fundraise; small business; sports club; physics team) themselves; have they been able to apply critical thinking and communication skills (in a Call of Duty squad or by organising  TikTok content)  . Formal education is still the foundation - everyone needs to be able to read and write - but the milestones at which people acquire confidence, competence and the ability to communicate are perhaps more meaningful.

Show me what you’ve built, not where you’ve been

Over the last 10 years especially, the early careers recruitment landscape has shifted to focus more on skills and strengths rather than on competencies. In other words, the most important question for organisations has shifted from being: “Have you got the right experience to help us move forward?” to “Does your current skillset and ability to learn reflect what we need to help us more forward?”. Notice the subtle but important difference.  

As we look at the next generation of talent, we see an accelerated shift towards skills-driven portfolios. Meaning that individuals will be showcasing what they’ve done / built / experienced / failed at to their prospective employers – as opposed to where they’ve been (such as their alma mater uni brand name or their ex-employer brand-name).

We look for people with attitude, motivation, willingness to collaborate and willingness to challenge the status quo.

Young People and Renew

So, as this second cohort of COVID A-Levellers move onto the next stage of their journeys, from university to apprenticeships to full-time work, they want something different from their future:

• They want to make an impact on societies big issues of sustainability, fairness, social mobility, and to gain personal wealth and better themselves
• They want to be respected for their individuality, & choices and their physical and mental wellbeing
• They want to have the right to flexibility - to hold portfolio careers and to work virtually 
• They want to collaborate in an inclusive way with a diverse group of people on interesting  projects 

Renew & House Hack are collaborating to deliver exactly these elements to young people, regardless of educational level, background, location. We have been collaborating on pod-based projects; pairing small teams of undergraduates with real-life consulting projects for Renew clients. Combining senior leadership experience with undergraduate cognitive diversity and creativity. Creating high-quality deliverables that challenge the clients to think differently and give the young people direct experience with C-level individuals - heaven forbid traditional consulting firms!

Placing real trust in the skills of young people and providing a safe environment for them to perform and grow whilst on a project. They then ‘graduate’ from the school of life and go on to set up their own businesses, get the jobs of their dreams within a year of graduating, or simply build a level of confidence that sets them up for future success.

It is a model that amplifies and builds upon young perspectives, provides new insights for clients and a project-based learning experience for young talent. 

It’s an approach where milestones are contributed towards, not gate-kept behind ‘doing the time’ and it is an approach where projects become a part of what young people build and ‘have done’ as opposed to the outcome of results day.

About the authors:

Ryan McGeeis a Co-Founder of House Hack - a Talent Accelerator and Consultancy for Generation Z. A virtual-first organisation building the next generation of knowledge workers and building the organisations of the future. You can find him on ryan@house-hack.com ; or connect with him on www.rymcgee.com

Toby Goldblatt is the Co-Founder of Renew, an organisation focused on building sustainable scale-up businesses for the next generation, that is working with rare talent, next generation tech and capital to drive fast paced growth that creates meaningful and lasting value for all. FInd him at www.linkedin.com/in/tobygoldblatt of at toby@letsrenew.co