Tui UK & Ireland, Hays Travel and InterContinental Hotels Group represent the travel sector as finalists in awards which recognise the UK’s top employers for school and college leavers.
The fourth annual awards are run by careers information website AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk, with the winners due to be announced tomorrow (Thursday) at a ceremony in London.
Tui UK & Ireland and Hays Travel are both finalists in the best training, best level of support categories and with InterContinental Hotels Group as top employer in hospitality and tourism.
Hays Travel is also on the short list as best for job satisfaction, best company culture and best intermediate apprenticeship while Tui is among finalists for the best for skills development, best school leaver programme and best use of school and college engagement in a recruitment campaign.
The shortlist, based on the experiences of apprentices and school leaver trainees from 100 UK organisations, also features high profile names from the professional services industry, construction and engineering, retail giants like Marks & Spencer, broadcasting companies and city councils.
They have all been nominated for their work in developing opportunities for school leavers.
Young people were asked to complete employee satisfaction surveys, covering every aspect of their working lives, from job satisfaction and career progression, to company culture and work-life balance.
Four of the 29 categories were shortlisted by an industry panel made up of prominent figures in relevant organisations ¬ The Chartered Institute of Building, the Association of Graduate Recruiters, the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills – recognising organisations’ forward thinking recruitment methods using modern techniques such as Whatsapp campaigns and online media.
Jack Denton, director and co-founder of AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk, said: “Its tough trying to figure out what you want to do with your life and many people never work it out. We think it’s one of the most important decisions in your life and would like to help as many young people as possible figure it out for themselves, in an impartial way. We don’t think there is a ‘best route’ to a career, rather a wide range of routes that each suit different individuals.
“Our awards, solely based on the opinions of the people currently participating in these training programmes, help other young people see which areas employers are excelling in, and who offers them the best opportunities.
“As our awards have grown over the last few years, we’ve realised how important it is to make them easy to understand ¬ by adding new industry specific categories we’re helping young people identify the best employers in the sectors they are most interested in.”