Enterprise Advisers
The London Careers Hubs connects schools and colleges with employers and entrepreneurs so that all young Londoners are aware of the career pathways and opportunities available to them.
Over 600 London schools and colleges are part of the network. They are supported by over 650 volunteer Enterprise Advisers from different industry sectors and professional backgrounds, be that employed, self-employed or recently retired. This is part of a national network of over 4,000 schools and colleges across the country.
The Enterprise Adviser role
Enterprise Advisers are business volunteers who work in senior roles. They volunteer their time to help bridge the gap between the world of work and education, working with the Careers Leader and wider senior leaders of the school or college to create opportunities for young people.
- Commit to supporting a local school or college for a minimum of one academic year, meeting with them on a regular basis,
- Support the school or college's senior leadership team strategically to develop and evaluate their careers plan.
- Act as a champion for business engagement with the school or college within your personal and professional network and across sectors.
- Provide a valuable employer's perspective on how a school or college can embed labour market information and opportunities into the careers programme.
There are a huge number of benefits to becoming an Enterprise Adviser, both personally and professionally.
- Support a local school or college to deliver world-class guidance to their students
- Undertake strategic planning in a new context, developing your skills in communication and strategy development
- Build strong working relationships with your local school or college, and provide insight into your organisation and industry
- Join a national and local network of like-minded professionals from a wide range of sectors
- Better understand the education sector and the challenges faced.
- Give back to your community
- Any business professional from any industry sector or professional background, be that employed, self-employed or recently employed.
- Have a minimum of 4 years of experience in the workplace.
- Have experience of working strategically, including developing strategic plans and engaging with senior stakeholders
- Be willing to volunteer your time to achieve positive change in local schools and colleges, using core skills including relationship building and analytical thinking
Our Enterprise Advisers do not need prior experience of working with schools and colleges and are not expected to become experts in careers education. We support new Enterprise Advisers every step of the way.
- Regular support from an Enterprise Coordinator, a full time member of our team with expertise in Careers Education who leads their local Network
- An in-depth induction session with ongoing access to training and networking opportunities.
- Access to comprehensive toolkits and resources from both the London and national Enterprise Adviser Network
- An extensive network of current Enterprise Advisers to share lessons learned and best practice remotely and at events.
Find out more about our network by hearing from our London Careers 2020 award winners in this video.
Enterprise Adviser training sessions
London Careers Blueprint resources
Welcome to the London Careers Blueprints. We created 6 blueprints to help schools and businesses create effective opportunities for students to learn about careers. We've included suggestions and ideas for everything we think you'll need to plan and run successful and impactful careers projects.
Network Impact Report 2018-2020
In less than two years, the network has tripled in size and now supports the majority of schools and colleges in London. Our impact report, released in November 2020, outlines the achievements of the network and the progress made against the Gatsby Benchmarks by schools and colleges in our network.
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