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July 2025 at Amberjack saw the presence of three students from a local school join us for 3-days of work experience.
From Resourcing and Finance to Assessment and Marketing, every area of the business got a chance to show what they’re made of and help this young talent explore different business functions.
Two of these students, Harry and Noah, sat down with Marketing to learn about the purpose of Amberjack’s Marketing activities, our Gen Z Advisory Board, and our recent Careers Report research.
The 2025 Careers Report
Amberjack’s Careers Report, in partnership with Springpod, explores the careers researching habits of young people and the most significant factors influencing their decision making. The report collates data from 1,000+ young people from all backgrounds and details the challenges and motivations around researching their future career options.
A sneak peek at the report findings:
- 60% of young people say that financial pressure is the biggest factor shaping their career decisions
- 69% of young people say that career planning causes stress
- 53%of young people don’t have a career role model
- Only 41% of Free-School Meal students understand apprenticeships
The Opinions of Young Talent
When Harry and Noah sat down for their session with Marketing, we decided to explore their thoughts around the research and the biggest factors impacting their current feelings on the matter.
Harry, an A-level student interested in the world of Accounting and Finance, revealed that he began researching back when he was in Year 10.
I think that it all really started when I was applying for work experience in year 10, it forced me to really think about my future, on top of many upon many conversations with parents and other family members about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life (very big question to ask a 15 year old) which prompted me to start the search.
Harry went on to share the biggest sources of pressure when making decisions about his future, a topic of focus from our Careers Report.
A really big source of pressure when making decisions about my future would definitely be whether or not the job will still be available to work in 10 or 15 years, obviously due to the uprise of AI, which can do work incredibly quickly, and of higher quality, putting thousands upon thousands out of jobs. In addition to this, the state of the economy also plays a role for me, since it currently isn’t doing as well, businesses simply can’t afford to hire people, due to fear of bankruptcy, meaning that picking a future career is very tricky.
The theme of finances and the pressures it brings is present throughout our discussions with all the young talent we have spoken to so far. Noah, GCSE student, is currently exploring the world of work and potential career options for the first time, he explained that salary was a priority, and hints at the importance of work-life balance.
My biggest priorities would be pay, because even if you really enjoy the job, if you aren’t getting paid enough money then it can impact your life. However, if you are getting paid enough money then you can enjoy life outside of work.
Harry echoed this sentiment and explained his point of view on how much financial factors came into play when thinking about his next career steps.
I would say that potential salary plays a key role in deciding for a future career, as we know, costs of living are drastically increasing year on year, and financial security plays a big part in everyone’s lives. However, I would say that the student debt isn’t as significant, since it works more like a tax, that you only need to pay of a certain threshold, much safer than a loan.
We had two final questions for the upcoming Early Careers talent on Work Experience with Amberjack.
We asked Noah what an employer could do to make him want to apply for a job with them.
This could be what they do on their social media and website, or what they care about. I think that they could make the job look fun and show that they care about what the employees think and that they also take into consideration the employee’s opinions.
For Harry, we wanted to know what kind of careers support he has received and how helpful it has been.
From within my school, on top of various websites, I have received a significant volume of help which has highlighted how to format a CV, where to find work experience, the difference between degree apprenticeships and university degrees, which has overall been incredibly helpful to not only me, but also thousands of other students.
