FOR EMPLOYERS

Where early careers meets social value.

We prepare talented young people from every background before they apply, so you get stronger applicants who arrive ready and stay.

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The void between school and work

Most young people aren't ready for work when they start, and it isn't for lack of talent. School doesn't teach the realities of work. Young people without family in professional jobs have nobody else to show them.

It shows up first in applications, then in the first year in post.

If you lead Early Careers or Emerging Talent

You receive thousands of applications for apprenticeships and graduate roles. Many come from capable young people who don't yet know what you really need from them. It's hard to spot the ones with the most potential. And when a new starter leaves early, you lose their salary, the training, your time and a place in the pipeline.

If you lead Social Value

You want your outreach to change real outcomes for young people. But a one-day school visit won't change a single career. You need a route into work that lasts, and results you can report.

It doesn't have to be a battle

Too often, these two teams pull in different directions. Social value wants more young people from every background to get in. Early careers worries they won't be ready, and that they'll be the ones left to manage it.

Both are right. The answer isn't fewer young people from less advantaged backgrounds. It's better preparation, before they apply.

When young people know what your roles involve and what you expect, social value gets real outcomes and early careers gets applicants who are ready. One programme. Two sets of targets met.

Employer-specific pre-application programmes

An online programme, built around your roles and your people. Young people from every background learn what the job involves and what you look for, before they apply.

It's always free for young people, funded by you.

Reasonable adjustments are available for anyone who needs them.

We shape it together. We learn about your roles, your culture and what makes a strong hire. The content is built around you, not jobs in general.
Young people sign up. We invite young people who have signed up for updates about your apprenticeships and early careers programmes. We also offer it to schools near your sites, so young people from every background can take part.
They learn and do the work. Live online sessions, with tasks to complete between each one. Your own staff join in, so young people hear first-hand what the role is really like and learn how to show what they can do.
They earn a certificate. You can make completion a requirement for applying. Then every applicant you see has been through the programme and knows what the job involves.
Parents and carers join in. A workshop helps parents and carers support their young person through applications.
You see the results. You get a clear summary of who took part and how they got on, ready for your early careers and social value reporting.

What changes for you

For Early Career Leads

Applicants who know what they're applying for
Fewer, stronger applications to sift
New starters who arrive ready
Fewer reneges and early leavers

For Social Value Leads

A real route into work, not a one-off visit
Young people from every background, prepared to compete
Outcomes you can report
Impact that lasts beyond the programme

You don't need more applicants. You need better applicants. From more diverse backgrounds..

Support after they start

The first year is when most early leavers go. We also offer training to help new hires settle in and stay.

The hidden rules of work, for new starters. What nobody tells you in your first job: how to ask for help, handle feedback and fit into a team.
Managing school leavers and apprentices, for line managers. How to get the best from young people in their first role, and spot problems before they lead to a resignation.

Why OneBigNext

Our founder, Sandra Davis, left her graduate job at Deloitte after a year. She'd worked hard to get there, but she had no corporate background and nobody to explain how that world worked.

Since then, she's worked as a software engineer, a teacher and a school senior leader. She knows what employers need, and how to get young people ready to meet it.

Began chartered accountancy training at Deloitte
Former software engineer
Former Deputy Head (Innovation) at Godolphin, where she championed a future skills curriculum, degree apprenticeships, and careers education
Taught in state schools in one of Bristol's most deprived areas, in independent boarding schools and in a special school
Coached neurodivergent young people into degree apprenticeships
Chartered Manager Fellow
Featured in The Telegraph and The i Paper

Testimonials

Students Sandra has supported now work at companies including Dyson, Turner & Townsend, Roke, Southern Water and GTR.

FAQs

We already have a social mobility partner. Why add this?

Most outreach raises awareness. This programme prepares young people for your specific roles, right before they apply. It works alongside what you already do, and can make it count for more.

How will I show the return on investment?

You'll get a summary of who took part and how they got on. Compare their applications, offers and first-year retention with your usual intake. One early leaver avoided can cover the cost.

Won't this reduce the number of applicants?

It may reduce weak applications. That's the point. You spend less time sifting and more time choosing between people who know what the job is.

Is this school outreach?

No. Local schools help us reach young people, but the programme itself is training for future applicants, designed around your roles and run on your behalf.

How much does it cost?

Each programme is shaped around your roles and numbers. Book a call to discuss.

Let's prepare your early careers pipeline together

Many of your potential best future candidates have no one to show them the way in.

They may never think of applying, or know how, or know who to ask.

Unless someone reaches them early, you'll never see their application.

Let's talk about how to find them and prepare them, starting now.