Building trades enter top 10 of jobs teens want, BBC survey

Building trades have entered the list of jobs teenagers want the most when they are older, according to the annual BBC Bitesize Careers survey.

The second year of the nationwide research surveyed 4,017 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 16. It reveales that one in 10 respondants ranked doctor was their top job choice, with 33% saying that medicine was the most important area of work.

The NHS emerged as the top choice for employment among teenagers, overshadowing tech giants like Apple, Google, and Tesla, as well as FIFA.

The jobs that followed doctor in ranking order were engineer, teacher, lawyer and nurse demonstrating that on the whole, traditional service-led industries have a stronger appeal amongst teenagers. 

Working in the building trade and being an artist are new entries for 2024, while architect and computer scientist, dropped out of the list. Unfortunately the survey doesn’t provide further details as to which trades teens are interested in. 

The survey, carried out by Survation between 9 and 22 December 2023 on behalf of BBC Bitesize Careers, as part of its offering for National Careers Week, is supported by new content for teenagers to help them figure out the best next steps for them.

More than eight out of 10 teenagers (84%) surveyed said they were confident they would achieve their career goals, although there was an increase (to 20% from 13% in 2023) in the number who thought their background played a part in them succeeding.

When asked what the most important thing about any future job would be ‘happiness’ ranked ahead of ‘feeling good about what you do’, with ‘money’ in third place.

Almost a third (32%) said they wanted to take their A-Level, while one in five (19%) said they were considering doing an apprenticeship.