“Wouldn’t it be nice to see ‘’ among the ten most popular careers?”

This was a question recently posed by Mick Jackson, CEO of Skills for Logistics in the February, 2013, edition of ‘Logistics Manager’.

He observes, “Games can be a valuable educational tool, especially for sparking interest in younger minds”.

“Researchers at London University’s Institute of Education recently asked more than 11,000 seven-year-olds what they wanted to be when they grew up. The 12 most popular occupations with seven year-olds were: teacher, scientist, hairdresser, sports player, firefighter, police officer, artist, entertainer, animal carer, vet, doctor and builder. Three-quarters of the children chose one of these jobs”.

“It will come as little surprise”, remarks Mick Jackson, “ that few seven year olds wanted to be a logistics director but as children grow and their career aspirations turn more serious, they tend to look to careers that they can more easily connect with. The recent Capital One Aspire Survey found that the most popular career choice among children aged 12 to 18 years is to become a doctor. The next most popular choices are: lawyer, entrepreneur, journalist, accountant, engineer, vet, advertising/marketing/PR executive and, finally, a nurse.

People grow up with a clear basic idea about what these careers involve and most of these are now “classic” job aspirations. Even entrepreneur has become a easily recognised career ambition, perhaps thanks to TV shows such as Dragons Den and The Apprentice.”

“So anything that interfaces young people with logistics”, continues Mick Jackson, “and helps them to understand it and to see it as a rewarding career with opportunities in their local area will help young people connect more easily with our industry. Wouldn’t it be nice to see “logistician” alongside “journalist” and “accountant” in the top ten most popular careers?

At the same time that games can help young people to further understand the comprehensive potential that the logistics industry has to offer in terms of an exciting, diverse and rewarding career, these games also help young people improve increasingly important “soft skills” for when they leave education”.

He notes, “Business on the Move can be played in teams, building some important employability skills. This is more important today than ever because a first job now is more likely to be in a job where skills such as communication, team working and customer service are important.”

Mick flags up our desire to “attract support from partners in the logistics and haulage sectors to help to provide schools across the UK with free copies of the board game so it becomes a platform for young people to learn how business works, to broaden their understanding of global supply chains and to raise their aspirations”.

To read the full article by Mick Jackson, CEO of Skills for Logistics, go to www.logisticsmanager.com and search “Game for Logistics”.