Written by: Sarah Grace, Managing Director - KC Group Recruitment

I’ve worked in recruitment for more than 20 years.

And when I think back to when I first started, the route into work felt very different.

You left school, college or university. You found an entry-level job. An employer took a chance on you. You learned from the people around you, worked your way up and built a career.

You weren’t necessarily expected to arrive on day one with experience.

The job was where you got the experience.

Somewhere along the way, that seems to have changed.

And I genuinely don’t know whether the system we have today is working for the young people trying to navigate it.

At KC Group, we’ve worked with local schools and colleges for years, talking to students about employability, careers and the world of work. We’ve supported young people who know university isn’t for them and helped them understand what other options might be available.

I’ve always believed there should be more than one route into a successful career.

But right now, I look at the choices facing 17 and 18-year-olds and genuinely wonder:

What are we actually asking our young people to do?

And this has become much more personal for me because I have a child considering university next year.

Suddenly, I’m not only looking at the situation as somebody who has spent more than two decades in recruitment.

I’m looking at it as a parent. And I despair a little.

University has changed

University was always an investment.

But the financial commitment young people are being asked to make today is on a completely different scale.

For students in England, the maximum undergraduate tuition fee for 2026/27 is £9,790 a year.

Then there is accommodation.

Food. Travel. Books. Equipment. Living costs. And actually being able to have some sort of life while you are there.

For some specialist courses and institutions, the costs can be higher still.

We’re currently looking at options for our daughter, including specialist performing arts training, and when you actually sit down and look at the potential total cost, it is frightening.

And what has changed most, in my opinion, is the certainty at the other end.

Years ago, there was perhaps a stronger assumption that if you went to university, worked hard and came out with a good degree, that qualification would give you a significant advantage when entering the workplace.

Today?

A degree doesn't automatically mean a graduate job.

The job market has changed too

This is the part I see every single day through recruitment.

Young people can do everything they've been told to do.

Work hard at school.

Get good qualifications.

Go to university.

Study for three years.

Graduate.

And then find themselves applying for so-called "entry-level" positions where employers are asking for one or two years of experience.

But where exactly were they supposed to get that experience?

We see incredibly capable young people struggling to get onto that first rung of the career ladder because businesses increasingly want people who can arrive ready-made.

And I understand why.

Businesses have changed too.

Costs have increased. Teams are leaner. Managers are stretched. Productivity expectations are higher. Training someone takes time and money.

But if nobody is prepared to train the next generation, where does the next generation of experienced people eventually come from?

Apprenticeships should be part of the answer

Twenty years ago, university was often presented as the route for academically capable young people.

Thankfully, attitudes towards apprenticeships have changed enormously.

Today you can build careers through apprenticeships in finance, HR, technology, marketing, professional services and many other areas that historically might have been associated with graduate entry.

And I think that's brilliant.

Earn while you learn.

Build genuine workplace experience.

Gain qualifications.

Learn how businesses actually operate.

And start building a career without necessarily following the traditional university route.

But there still aren't enough high-quality opportunities.

We need credible alternatives that parents, schools, employers and, most importantly, young people genuinely see as being of equal value.

And I think employers have to take some responsibility for creating them.

Which is why I'm really pleased that KC Group has taken a step ourselves

This year, KC Group has taken on our first apprentice.

And I am so pleased to say that she is getting on fabulously.

She's learning, developing and gaining genuine experience within a working business — not just learning the theory of what a workplace might look like.

And we are learning too.

It has made me think much more seriously about the role businesses like ours can play in developing young people.

Because it is very easy for employers to say:

"There aren't enough good candidates."

"Young people don't have the right skills."

"They don't have enough experience."

But perhaps we also need to ask ourselves:

What are we doing to give them those skills and that experience?

Recruitment has changed

When I started in recruitment, CVs looked different, jobs looked different and the expectations employers had of candidates were different.

There was more room in many organisations to learn your trade.

You could start as an administrator, receptionist, accounts assistant or junior member of a team and progress.

Today, many of those roles have changed dramatically through technology, automation, outsourcing and businesses simply operating with fewer people.

At the same time, the expectations placed on young people entering work seem to have increased.

We want...

Commercial awareness.

Digital skills.

Communication skills.

Experience.

Confidence.

Professionalism.

Qualifications.

The right attitude.

And sometimes we're asking all of that from somebody who is 18 years old and applying for their first proper job.

Something doesn't quite add up.

So what would I tell an 18-year-old today?

This is the bit I struggle with.

After more than 20 years in recruitment, you would think I would have a very clear answer.

I don't.

Go to university?

Absolutely — if the career you want requires it, you've found the right course, understand the financial commitment and genuinely want the experience.

Get an apprenticeship?

Absolutely — if you can find a good one in an area you actually want to pursue.

Go straight into work?

Absolutely — if you can find an employer prepared to invest in your potential rather than expecting you to arrive with two years' experience.

And that's the problem.

There are too many "ifs".

The world of work has changed.

University has changed.

The cost of education has changed.

Technology has changed.

The number and nature of entry-level jobs have changed.

Businesses have changed.

But I'm not convinced the pathway we give young people from education into employment has changed enough with them.

We are asking 17 and 18-year-olds to make enormous decisions about their careers, education and finances at a time when none of the available routes necessarily provides the certainty it once did.

As a recruiter, I find that concerning.

As an employer, I think we have a responsibility to do something about it.

And as a parent currently sitting on the other side of the table, helping my own child make these decisions, I find it frightening.

I don't know what the answer is.

But I do know that something needs to change.

We need better links between education and employers.

We need more meaningful work experience.

We need more high-quality apprenticeships.

We need businesses prepared to train people again.

We need to recruit for potential, not just experience.

And we need to stop treating university as the automatic next step for every academically capable 18-year-old.

Most importantly, we need to give young people genuine choices, not simply different versions of a difficult decision.

And perhaps employers need to ask themselves one simple question:

When did we stop giving people their first chance?

I'd genuinely love to hear from employers, recruiters, teachers, parents and particularly young people.



If you were 18 today, knowing what you know now, what would you do?