Career Readiness

Helping schools to better prepare young people for working life

The OECD Career Readiness project is designed to provide new advice to governments, schools, employers and other stakeholders on how to best prepare young people to compete in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) labour market. Drawing on international datasets, the project identifies the career-related factors that make a difference to young people’s success in adult employment.

PISA data shows that schools in most countries can do much more to help young people navigate their school-to-work transitions, better competing for available employment.  

The project reviews existing studies of national longitudinal datasets, undertakes new analysis and demonstrates how young people’s employment outcomes are linked to the ways in which they as teenagers:

• think about their futures in work 
• explore their potential futures and
• experience workplace within and outside of schools 

Effective education systems will equip young people with the resources they need to critically connect their classroom experience to future imagined selves, allowing them to show agency through their transitions. Over 2021, the project team will publish new analysis and guidance for practice and policy. By the autumn of 2021, the team will publish a comprehensive set of data-driven indicators, tools and guidance for public use.

 Read our Policy Brief :  

How schools can help protect young people in a recession

Read our Working Papers : 

Career ready? How schools can better prepare young people for working life in the era of COVID-19

Dream Jobs? Teenagers’ Career Aspirations and the Future of Work

Blogs/Articles:

Young people and jobs: What can we do to help in 2021 and beyond?

Career Ready? Helping young people navigate the pandemic job market

Career ready teenagers ? Data-driven guidance

School-to-work transitions during coronavirus: Lessons from the 2008 Great Financial Crisis 

La implicación de las empresas en la orientación de los jóvenes, más clave en tiempos de pandemia

Nunca antes en la historia de la humanidad la orientación académica y profesional ha sido tan importante

Young people today have never left education more ambitious and highly qualified, but even before the pandemic many struggled to find good work. The COVID-19 crisis has made it more urgent than ever for us to help students prosper as they move through education and into the labour market.

PISA shows that the career ambitions of young people are commonly narrow, confused and distorted by social background. 

The OECD Career Readiness project highlights practical examples how schools are helping young people prepare for their futures.     

Career readiness is a shared responsibility. Families, schools, employers and governments all have roles to play.  Get in touch to keep updated, share examples of effective practice and help shape future work:

Contact: Anthony.Mann@oecd.org
Twitter: @AnthonyMannOECD

Coming Soon: 
Conference on teenage Career Readiness in the Pandemic 
The October 2021 conference will focus on practice and research from around the world.   

Details coming soon.

International datasets can help to identify indicators among teenagers that are linked with employment outcomes. Take a look at some of our findings:‌‌‌

How can schools best prepare all young people to compete for available jobs during a period of high unemployment?

Watch now:

Career readiness during COVID: How schools can help students enter the labour market in an economic crisis 

Dream Jobs - Teenagers' Career Aspirations and the Future of Work

The case for data-driven and inclusive careers support? 

Other Webinars

Ask an expert: Career guidance in the pandemic.
24th February 2021
Click to register

Stay in touch with us  
If you want to find out more about our webinars please contact :
Anthony.Mann@oecd.org