Advising Entrepreneurial Students
1.0 Why is advising entrepreneurial students important?
It is important because practical advice will help students to be more successful in their careers. If not there could be lost opportunity. Lost opportunity for the student, and lost opportunity for the region (and the nation). Growing businesses generate most of the new employment opportunities in the UK, so it is important for the economy to try and ensure that entrepreneurial graduates are well advised and supported as they embark on their careers.
1.1 Importance for the student
1.2 Importance for Careers Professionals
1.3 Importance for the economy
1.1 Importance for the student
Good practical advice is important for the student because, given the trends in working patterns, there is an increasing probability that students will be self-employed or running their own business sometime during their working life. Indeed, in some professions already the most common form of employment is self-employment.
If the student thinks that a ‘career’ is only about being an employee they may miss out on productive and exciting options.
For most students the choice of a career is complex and daunting, especially if they do not wish to embark on normal employment, or are unable to do so. They may have little or no experience of the other options open to them. They need your advice.
1.2 Importance for the Careers Adviser
If the Careers Service has too strong an ‘employment’ focus, or staff don’t fully understand the range of entrepreneurial options, they may not be able to help the student to explore the full breadth of career possibilities. It is important for you, the Careers Adviser, because there are several possible starting points for the students to explore, for instance to:
These are all the beginnings of an ‘entrepreneurial career’ which can potentially make best use of the graduate's entrepreneurial skills, and give them real control over their destiny. The most appropriate starting point depends on many factors – the sector they are in, personal and financial objectives, family background and support, current knowledge & skills, etc.
How you deal with them will affect their lives, so you need to be sure you are taking appropriate action.
What sort of career can they expect, and what initial steps can you advise?
1.3 Importance for the economy and the nation
The support and development of entrepreneurial graduates is very important to the economy, and also to the non-economic aspects of the regions and the nation.
Small businesses account for more than half of the employment in the UK and over half of sales turnover. They are therefore, on these measures, more important than large businesses.
Although very few young graduates start small businesses straight away after leaving University (about 4,000/yr) a great deal more do so later in their career (about 100,000/yr). This emphasises that it is important to not focus too much on immediate business start-ups as a measure of success. The real success may come from seeds sown many years previously.
Even fewer new graduates start social ventures. However, the anecdotal evidence is that graduates contribute to these areas too. The 'triple bottom line' of social businesses - profit, social and environmental - is also part of the wealth of the regions and the nation.