You may know that Salix launched Uni’s Not For Me recently. A website focused on showcasing alternatives to university, Uni’s Not For Me is championing the right of children to an excellent education – regardless of whether or not they’re destined for university.

Because, historically, schools have always favoured kids who are naturally academic. These kids are pushed, stretched, and encouraged to apply for places at top universities – which is great. But what is not great is that vast swathes of young people are dismissed as failures from a young age, simply because they don’t reach the standards of those arbitrary markers of intelligence, examinations.

Currently our criteria for measuring intelligence are very narrow, and fail to take into account the many ways in which a person’s intelligence can manifest itself – through first-rate performance in tests, yes, but also through excellent hand eye coordination, exceptional social awareness, and brilliant cognitive ability.

Some may be surprised by a recent study, that reveals that footballers are in the top 2% of the population by brain power. Why should it be a surprise, though? It takes an extraordinary amount of ability to bend it like Beckham – it’s just not the same kind of intelligence as that required to complete coursework.

Living in the democratic society that we do, isn’t it about time that we celebrated and nurtured the varied talents of our young? We think it is.

ONLY ONE IN TEN BELIEVE THE MAIN PURPOSE OF A-LEVELS IS TO PREPARE YOUNG PEOPLE FOR THE WORLD OF WORK

Just weeks after Education Secretary Michael Gove revealed that he is planning to hand control of A-Levels to universities in response to fears that they are failing to prepare children for higher education, the so-called “gold standard” qualification has suffered a further blow.

Research by YouGov for new career development website Uni’s Not For Me shows that only 10 per cent of adults believe the main purpose of the exam is to prepare young people for the world of work, although according to research from 2011 nearly half of 18-year-olds plan to give both higher education and apprenticeships a miss[1].

Uni’s Not For Me ’s Sixth Sense campaign challenges the Department of Education to overhaul the A-Level system and to acknowledge that thousands of ambitious young people need an A-level syllabus that prepares them for their careers.

Sixth Sense Manifesto:

1. That A-Levels (or a new equivalent) should be shaped by the requirements of employers as well as universities.
2. That a sixth form education should be a holistic experience preparing young people for the world of work and adulthood, as well as for university.
3. That young people should be properly prepared to apply for work and apprenticeships as well as for university.
4. That teachers should be allowed to inspire young people to learn, and explore their particular strengths and interests, without always teaching to the test.
5. That school league tables should no longer be based purely on academic performance but on a school’s ability to prepare young people to benefit society.

See full story

Visit Uni's not for me

I hope you're reading this because you've noticed we're recruiting, and you're considering applying to work with us. If so, good for you because, as far as we can tell, not many of your fellow applicants have bothered. And do keep reading because, alongside the rant, we hope you'll find some useful information.

We've been pretty vocal about our new vacancies, advertising them via PR Week's jobs board,  a wide number of LinkedIn alumnae groups, Facebook, Twitter, recruitment agencies and good, old-fashioned word-of-mouth. After a slow start, in fact so slow that Victoria felt compelled to issue a press release about the apparent dearth of young people actively looking for work, we have now received more than 200 applications in just two days. Which ought to be good news, but sadly isn't. We don't apologise for being picky. We're a young, thriving communications company with some wonderful clients and it's vital that we employ the right people. And to help attract the right people we offer well-structured personal and professional development plans, which include master classes, spotlight sessions, access to PRCA courses, one-to-one coaching, image consultations and Outside Salix (a cultural engagement programme). We're a cohesive, happy team with a shared vision and strong commitment to delivering the very best for our clients. We find and keep good people because we look after them well and provide them with the opportunity to develop quickly and, once they reach account manager level, to own a share of the company.

Why then, if you are thinking of applying to work for us, would you (apparently) not bother to look at our website first? Of the very significant number of applications received to date, hardly any have outlined how they think their skills and experience might benefit Salix, nor have they given any evidence that they've visited our website. Imagine you were the recruiter. Would: "I think this would be a very useful job to me to start me on my career in PR and would give me some of what I am looking for" honestly persuade you to take things to the next stage?

We've skimmed long, and often self-congratulatory, essays on the applicants' myriad achievements: "sending out press releases during a one week internship!", "sorting through media cuts!", "I look forward to hearing from you so I can tell you even more about me!" - but virtually nothing to demonstrate that they've taken the time and trouble to find out some more about us.

So we thought it might be useful to give you a helping hand. Here are some of the things that will help you stand out.  I'm afraid a degree on its own won't, even if you have a first - at least 30% of your fellow applicants do too - so you're going to have to make the effort to be different.

1. Firstly, and most importantly, make your application about us not you. We're going to be investing a lot of time, energy and money in you, so we want to know what return we're likely to get on our investment. Are you looking for a stepping stone move or a long-term role where your loyalty will be appropriately rewarded? Please take the time and trouble to research our site before you submit your application - and I mean  properly research. Salix is an unusual name. What does it mean? You'll find the answer if you spend enough time on our site. What do we do? How do we do it? What kind of people do you think work for and with us? Bring those findings to life. Telling us that you are interested in media isn't enough - so you should be, you're applying for a job in PR - instead, how about telling us that you think it would be really exciting to have access to someone like our chairman, Trevor Morris, who is one of the UK's most respected figures in the PR sector.

2. We specialise in the health, education and social sectors. Our website tells you that, and our job specs tell you that, so please don't start your application by saying you've always dreamt of working in financial PR or how well you organised a catwalk show during an internship. Instead, tell us why you're interested in what we specialise in and what you've done that would add value to us.

3.  If you have a degree in life sciences and a masters in international public relations, it's probably not adviseable to  start your application: "i am applying for this job because i am very qualified and i have a ma in pr. i think it would be very useful for my career to work for your company." We provide content for the media and expect you to be able to write, and to know that the first person singular uses a capital letter. And by the way, we will always take 'John Smith' more seriously than 'john smith'.

4. If you are applying from India, Australia or America you may like to let us know why you are applying for a role with a London-based company, and how you plan to make yourself available for interviews.

5.  If you are going to cut and paste the essay on your life to date, please take the trouble to tailor it and make it relevant to us.  A fresh approach will always stand you in better stead but we understand that you are probably sending out a high number of applications to different companies, most of which will  never bother to contact you back,  so do try and at least make your first sentence relevant.

6. If you follow point 1, you won't need to address your application 'Dear Sir / Madam' because you will have found out that Kate and Victoria are looking for assistants and are therefore the people to address. They have also taken the trouble to let you know personally exactly what they are looking for so you may like to return the courtesy. For instance, Victoria is looking for someone who is quick to pick up complicated concepts in the ever changing health world so consider starting your sentence, " I note you're looking for someone who can grasp new information quickly. Let me give you an example of something I did when I was...". We like specific examples and will take you much more seriously as a result.

7. Your CV should be clearly laid out. Providing your cover note is relevant, we're very happy to look through as many CVs as come our way but if yours doesn't tell us what we need to know quickly and in an easy-to-read format, we're probably not going to bother navigating to the end.

8. We're looking for a real person, one who is excited at the prospect of working for us. A covering note that clearly shows you've taken the trouble to find out about us and our clients, and how you can apply your life and work experience to date, will definitely have us more engaged than a first class degree or a string of A stars. In fact, one of our favourite applications so far is from someone who doesn't have a degree at all - just great experience and the common sense to have done enough research to know we have an apprenticeship scheme.

9. We're a boutique consultancy in south London, not a West End agency. Saying you've always wanted to work in Soho will make you look rather stupid. Especially if you've got a first.

10. If you don't demonstrate you've read this post in the first line of your covering note, we will disregard your application immediately.

However, if you have bothered reading this far, then hurrah, you're definitely the kind of person we'd be interested in. Please apply and good luck!

We consider ourselves to be a thriving, young PR consultancy, and are actively looking for 18 – 24 year olds to fill our multiple assistant account executive roles.. but although youth unemployment rose to 22.5% in the three months up to January[1], despite many applications, hardly any have been tailored or relevant.

We are advertising and posting these new roles all over job sites, as well as on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and are using recruitment agents but don’t seem to be able to connect with the thousands of graduates the media tell us are looking for work. Salix is a young, energetic PR consultancy based in London and we offer a great starting package as well as the chance to grow and progress up the ladder rapidly. Our client base includes some best of breed clients in multiple sectors and is expanding rapidly so we are recruiting at junior and senior levels. We are even expanding our office to fit all these new people in – but where are they?!

Here’s what Kate has to say: “Our account management team is recruiting at assistant account executive level, but we are genuinely surprised at how few relevant CVs we have had. One or two have been outstanding but it’s clear that many of the applicants haven’t even bothered looking at our website. Is that really a hungry graduate?”

What do you think? Are you a young person looking to start a PR career? View our current vacancies here.

—

And on that note, I’m off…

Schools have been criticised for providing ‘easy’ vocational courses as a means of bumping them up the league tables. As a result, they were recently prevented from doing so as a large number of vocational courses were ‘devalued’ by the government.

Courses like nail technology services and horse care are given by BBC News as examples of courses deemed to offer little benefit to students but that serve as false indicators of a school’s academic prowess.

Now, there are two sides to this debate. Providing courses that offer little educational value to students just to bump up league tables is, of course, irresponsible and to be condemned. But there is also clearly some snobbery surrounding attitudes to some vocational courses – because who, ultimately, decides the worth of a course to an individual?

Would nail technology services, for instance, not be immensely useful to a young person hoping to one day set up their own beauty salon? And would horse care not provide a useful foundation for someone who wants to run stables when they leave school?

The focus should not be on the courses themselves, but on educating young people about the pathways to their preferred careers – because no, nail technology will be of little value to an aspiring lawyer. Helping young people to make informed decisions about the courses they choose – and their benefits and disadvantages – is crucial, and something that, clearly, many schools are ill-equipped to do.

This criticism of vocational courses is detracting from the real concern – and that is improving careers guidance in schools.  That needs to be the priority.

From uni’s not for me.

New research from our client Moodscope indicates that today is likely to be the gloomiest day of the year. This is consistent with the campaign launched today to 'mend not end marriages' - statistically more divorce petitions are filed immediately after Christmas than at any other time.

However, we agree with Jon Cousins, founder of Moodscope.com who says that the aim in releasing the results is to enlighten rather than depress: “On the face of it, discovering that today is one of the year’s gloomiest could be seen as yet more bad news, but we like to think that forewarned is forearmed. See it like a weather forecast. If you knew it was going to be cold and wet, you’d take a coat and umbrella when you went out. Knowing that people’s moods are likely to be low on January 3rd suggests you should do what you can to look after your own wellbeing, and also – certainly – expect others to be a bit glum that day too. Cut them some slack.”

So, here at Willow House, we're finding reasons to be cheerful. Christmas has been carefully wrapped up, ready for next year. The sweet scent of hyancinth and narcissus drifts through the office, the fruit bowl is full, smoothies have been blitzed and we find we're excited to be looking forward, not back. And to reinforce our optimism, as we sharpen our pencils and dust down our note books in the gloomy aftermath of a savage storm, the sun pierces through the bruised sky and shoots out a dazzling beam. Happy 2012.

So the news says: “UK economy shrinks by 0.2%”; “Are we going back into recession?”; “Double-dip recession fears as economy shrinks”; “IMF warns of global slump”. Not only is January statistically the gloomiest month, but now we’ve got yet more ominous news shouting at us from every newspaper and television screen.

*I’m aware that including this link might seem hypocritical, but the article has positive intentions – really!

We were inspired by the amazing work of Marc DuBois, executive director of Medecins San Frontieres when he spoke at the NHS Alliance Conference this year and decided this should be our Christmas charity. Click on our Christmas angel to find the green bauble and help us help MSF. A peaceful Christmas from us all.

You may have been following the Leveson enquiry into phone hacking with as much interest as I have. In reading the coverage, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the last scandal involving the press that was discussed in these very pages – that of the superinjunctions.

The superinjunctions were about paying to limit the freedom of the press in revealing information. On the other side of the coin, the phone hacking scandal is a lesson in what happens when press ‘freedom’ is taken to the extreme, and lives are intruded upon in the most intimate and damaging ways.

As we watch public figure after public figure reveal their nightmares at the hands of prying reporters, one thing is clear – the ethics around the sharing of information are all blurred at the moment. No, we cannot allow journalists to pry into people’s privacy, but on the other hand, if all journalists have to be regulated, how many government scandals and issues with real public significance could be muffled and kept out of the news?

It is clear that some kind of balance needs to be established regarding information-sharing. But in a world with a genuine appetite for gossip –evidenced by the fact that, as the Salix crew discovered at a briefing a couple of weeks ago, the Daily Mail website is the second most viewed in the United States –how is this balanced achieved without causing irrevocable damage to journalism as an industry?