Robin is at secondary school and considering a career in nursing. He is wondering if there will be opportunities for nurses in the area he lives when he finishes University.

Robin might want LMI to:

• make sure this is an occupation that he is really interested in and that he has the skills to do well.
• determine if the employment potential is good for nurses in his local area.
• identify employers who have hired nurses in the past.

He may want to set up an informational interview with an employers to learn more about the occupation and to find out about their future hiring needs.

 

What all this LMI means for him!

There are a number of web-based resources that may be relevant for Robin:

• Job Descriptions and Job and Skills Requirements:

For job descriptions he could try the, Occupations section of the Careers Scotland website. For example, the descriptor for 'adult/general nurse' includes case studies, salaries information, entry routes and some skills information. He might also like to look at the NHS Scotland careers website and search for information about nursing and midwifery there.

More detailed and complex job descriptions from the NHS Scotland careers website, or prospects website e.g. adult nurse.

• Employment Prospects:

This could be much harder for Robin without assistance - the picture is quite complex. If he is confident and pro-active, he might try contacting local course providers to find out what the destinations were for graduating students and use professional websites to find out what the future prospects for nurses. Information on the destinations of Scottish Graduates is available in What Do Graduates Do Scotland?

• Future trends:

Quality information on future trends in health careers (see the NGRF website on health sector information and the Health section of Careers Scotland website 

• Equal opportunities:

Consideration of the equal opportunities dimension of what remains quite a gender-segregated occupation. Have a look at the NGRF future trends website on equal opportunities and health, the two page summary of the Futureskills Scotland Health Industry Profile in the LMI part of the staff section of the CS website and the Labour Market Information Resource on the Skills for Health website. You may also help Robin make sense of resources such as those within the Prospect website on the health sector.