How to Engage with Schools
General
Make promoting a career in housing part of the bigger picture.
Working with schools needs a light touch – it’s about building a relationship and getting the trust of teachers and pupils as early as possible in their education.
Integrate your career in housing activity within what you’re doing at a local, community level – for example, working with primary pupils on litter pick-ups, organising nature activities, setting up Youth Advisory Panels etc. This makes it easier to talk about housing as a career, once they get to know your organisation.
If your organisation isn’t community based, consider working with young people and schools in areas where you have more housing stock.
Ask teachers what would help them in delivering the curriculum and relate to housing and community.
Tie into Modern Studies curriculum – budgeting skills etc.
Content
Make it engaging.
If you’re going to feature people, make them relatable.
Are there any young people from the area who could become role models?
Be clear about what social housing is.
Tailor material to age group:
13/15 – more about raising awareness
school leavers – more interested in actual opportunities.
Be flexible in your approach and tailor what you’re doing to what works with young people in your area – listen, adapt and be as interactive as possible if you’re in a classroom or other group setting.
Highlight the variety of jobs available in housing (not just Housing Officer). There are over 200 different roles to choose from in social housing alone.
Explain that housing is a career where personal qualities and experience often count for more than academic qualifications, which can be attained once at work.
Young people may already have some of these qualities:
like helping people
good with people
good listener
empathetic
want to make a difference
flexible/adaptable
like a challenge
team player – housing often requires working in partnership with others, such as health and social care, to achieve results.
Evie Copland, one of housing’s young stars, often quotes Jim Strang who has worked in the social housing sector for more than 40 years. Jim says a housing professional can do more in a day for a family than many in other careers can do in a lifetime.
Highlight some of the many benefits of working in housing:
it can be a secure, long-term career
pay and prospects for career advancement are good
there’ll be opportunities to train and learn throughout your career
social housing landlords are located throughout Scotland and the UK, meaning there’s the potential to work locally, in your own community, or move to other areas.
Make your content interactive, so you’re involving pupils:
include quizzes and Q&A
consider using Mentimeter (www.mentimeter.com) for interactive quizzes – lets pupils use their phones in class and comment anonymously. NB needs reliable Wi-Fi network.
Be honest/don’t sugar-coat it. Working in housing:
can be challenging, especially when working with customers who are in difficult circumstances, though there’s great satisfaction when you can help
can involve unsocial hours – Tenant Participation Officer, for example, might be required to have evening meetings with tenants
might not be the best paid job but can more than make up for it in terms of job satisfaction.
Make the most of the channels available.
You’re not starting from scratch or going it alone. Tap into existing resources and programmes, including:
Local careers fairs
Developing the Young Workforce (DYW)
Next steps
For those interested in finding out more about a career in housing, be sure to provide a local contact/signpost them or their career advisors in the right direction.
