Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Summary

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Episode Summary – Jimmy’s Jobs of the Future: Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Tackling Youth Unemployment and Building Career Paths

Podcast: Jimmy's Jobs of the Future
Date: July 30, 2026
Host: Jimmy McLoughlin (Boxlight Creative Studio)
Guest: Prime Minister Andy Burnham
Theme: Addressing youth unemployment in Britain; re-envisioning education, social capital, and opportunities for young people

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Overview

In this special episode, Jimmy McLoughlin sits down with newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham at 10 Downing Street, delving into Burnham’s urgent agenda to counter the youth unemployment crisis in the UK. The conversation explores Burnham’s personal journey, the underappreciated skills needed in the modern workforce, challenges in accessing work experience, and his visions for educational and labour market reform. Burnham offers honest reflections on social mobility, the evolving nature of careers, and practical advice for young people seeking to find their voice and place in the future economy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Reforming Education and Jobs for Young People Matters

• A Broken Pathway: Burnham highlights that the current system is heavily oriented towards university, leaving many young people without viable alternatives.

“I just don’t feel we’ve got an education system that offers a path for everybody… there’s a lot of young people looking for something different.” (02:31)

• Personal Experience Shapes Policy: Drawing on his roots in the Northwest and early struggles, Burnham’s passion for social mobility is personal as well as political.

“It kind of really stuck with me all my life, that to get on in life, I had to leave where I’d grown up and the injustice of that kind of rankled.” (03:57)

2. Early Career Struggles, Imposter Syndrome, and Social Capital

• Disconnected Pathways: Despite a Cambridge degree, Burnham recounts his difficulties breaking in without family connections, reflecting a common story for many young people.

“My dad had always said… Cambridge University, it will throw all the doors open to you… What I realized [was] it’s actually connected parents that often make the difference.” (05:34)

• Importance of Social Capital: He urges leaders across Britain to offer work-shadowing opportunities, particularly to those from less-connected backgrounds.

“Anybody in a senior position… should offer work shadowing. Just let a young person… come in and just be in the room. They do feel that imposter syndrome. The truth is they can be there.” (06:57)

3. What Skills and Qualities Matter Most?

• Purpose-Driven Talent: Burnham prefers hiring those motivated by purpose over ambition, looking for “change makers.”

“I like people who’ve got a sense of why they’re in that route… something they want to change or feel is not right.” (07:33)

• Underappreciated Skill: Empathy:

“True leadership is about being able to walk in the shoes of everybody within your organization. Seeing the perspective of everyone in the world that you’re in…” (08:07)

• Challenge to Conventional Political Wisdom:

“The clever clogs people down here always used to say under-promise and over-deliver. And I say, well, why? Who gets excited by an under-promise?” (08:47)

4. Ambition for a Divided Country

• Devolution and Local Pride: Burnham laments the lack of national ambition for cities outside London, declaring he is determined to change that.

“There is potential in every postcode in Britain, and yet down here, I don’t think people have thought like that. That’s what I’m trying to change as Prime Minister.” (09:43)

5. Rethinking Education – Human Skills, Arts, and Sport

• English Literature as a Meta-Skill: Burnham defends his own academic choices, championing language and communication.

“An ability to use words, the power of words… is beneficial in any walk of life. It’s as beneficial in business life as in politics.” (10:41)

• Critique of the Gove Era:

“The English Baccalaureate…That’s wrong as far as I’m concerned, because the creative subjects, sport brings employability skills… To deny young people that, I think, is quite criminal, actually.” (11:41)

6. The Reality of the Modern Job Market

• Challenges for Young Jobseekers: Burnham voices concern that virtual interviews limit opportunities for young people to shine.

“One thing I really don’t like is this culture now of interviewing via Zoom or Teams. That just doesn’t seem right to me… How does a young person shine in that situation?” (13:22)

• Recruitment Increased Inequality: Automated CV sifting and reliance on credentials may worsen social mobility.

“If you… are from a more connected world, perhaps you’re much better off, rather than someone just coming in with a bit of raw talent and showing that in a in-person interview.” (16:59)

7. Work Experience Barriers & Employer Responsibility

• Pushing Past Imagined Barriers: Burnham challenges the idea that regulation is the main blocker to providing work placements.

“I think sometimes the barriers are imagined rather than real… I am, as Prime Minister, going to be asking the business world just to lean in that bit more to the youth unemployment challenge.” (14:57)

• Policy Commitment:

“I will be changing public procurement, more social valuating in public contracts, and it will particularly be focusing on more provision of those 45 day work placements…” (15:55)

8. AI, Automation, and the Future of Work

• From Coding to New Skills: Burnham notes how quickly sought-after tech skills can become outdated, necessitating rapid adaptation in education.

“All I was hearing was coding, coding…Now…that’s almost been made redundant by AI, or not completely, but in large part.” (18:17)

• Minister for the Future of Work: The government has created a dedicated role to anticipate and respond to these shifts.

“Some of these changes could come at us more quickly than we realize.” (18:56)

• Valuing Technical and Academic Paths Equally:

“We’ve got to learn as a society to value the hard hat as much as the graduation cap…young people have just got a clear choice, academic and technical together, and the ability to weave between the two.” (20:42)

9. Advice to Young People: Building Confidence and Capital

• Finding Your Voice: Burnham shares his personal growth journey—how he gained confidence and encourages others not to be intimidated by more privileged or outspoken peers.

“It can take a longer time to feel you belong and to feel you’ve got the confidence to speak out in a room…But…don’t be so hard on yourself.” (24:18, 25:37)

• The Power of Work Shadowing:

“Just get, if you…maybe things aren't quite where you want them to be right now. Just find a way of getting yourself into another room, seeing, speaking to somebody…build your network, build your capital…” (25:17)

• Final Message to the Next Generation:

“Believe in yourself, you’re good enough. Probably much better than you think.” (26:52)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Social Capital & Opportunity

• “Anybody in a senior position in any walk of life in Britain should offer work shadowing… they can be there once they are in the room.” – Andy Burnham [06:57]

Leadership & Ambition

• “True leadership is about being able to walk in the shoes of everybody within your organization.” – Andy Burnham [08:07]
• “Who gets excited by an under-promise? It's such a self-serving thing, isn't it?... You’ve got to have a big vision.” – Andy Burnham [08:47]

Young People & Modern Hiring

• “How does a young person shine in [a virtual interview] situation? How do you get over some of your personality, your passion?... It just feels harder…to make that breakthrough.” – Andy Burnham [13:22]

Educational Reform

• “We’ve got to learn as a society to value the hard hat as much as the graduation cap.” – Andy Burnham [20:42]

Finding Your Voice

• “It can take a longer time to feel you belong…But… don’t be so hard on yourself.” – Andy Burnham [25:37]
• “Believe in yourself, you’re good enough. Probably much better than you think.” – Andy Burnham [26:52]

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Important Timestamps by Segment

• 01:00-02:21 – Framing the youth unemployment crisis; why this is Burnham’s immediate priority.
• 03:21-06:05 – Burnham’s early career, Cambridge experience, and struggles with privilege gaps.
• 06:09-07:23 – Building social capital and the importance of work shadowing initiatives.
• 08:07-09:21 – Leadership lessons: empathy, ambition, and big visions.
• 10:28-11:24 – Valuing communication and language as “meta-skills.”
• 13:15-14:19 – Virtual recruitment’s shortcomings for young people.
• 14:36-16:18 – Work placement barriers, employer obligations, and policy changes.
• 18:06-19:00 – Impact of AI on jobs and the need for adaptive policy.
• 20:27-21:55 – Technical apprenticeships, hard hats vs. graduation caps.
• 23:32-25:11 – Advice for young people struggling with confidence and belonging.
• 26:37-26:52 – Burnham’s written message to the next generation.
• 27:16-27:55 – Host discussion on the value of building social capital online (LinkedIn).

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Conclusion

Andy Burnham’s conversation with Jimmy McLoughlin is essential listening for anyone concerned with the future of work, social mobility, and meaningful opportunities for youth. Through personal anecdotes and policy proposals, Burnham underscores the importance of tearing down barriers to opportunity—whether through accessible work experience, valuing technical skills, or promoting social capital. His central message to young people? Don’t be intimidated, don’t be hard on yourself, and step bravely into new rooms—both literal and figurative—to build the confidence and networks vital for tomorrow’s careers.

Transcript

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[Jimmy McLoughlin]

Welcome to Jimmy's Jobs of the Future. We are here for a special episode with new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to talk to him about the youth unemployment crisis in Britain.

[Interviewer]

There are over a million under 24s

[Jimmy McLoughlin]

not in education, employment or training. We're sitting down with him in only

[Interviewer]

his second interview as prior Prime Minister to talk about how he plans to

[Jimmy McLoughlin]

tackle this scourge on our economy.

[Interviewer]

What is he going to do for these 18 to 24 year olds to

[Jimmy McLoughlin]

get them an experience of the workplace?

[Interviewer]

We'll be here talking to him about what the most underappreciated skills in the workforce are, what he's looking for when he's hiring. How do you get a job with the Prime Minister?

[Jimmy McLoughlin]

I'm Jimmy McLoughlin and this is Jimmy's Jobs of the Future. Come inside with me to 10 Downing street to talk to the Prime Minister. This episode of Jimmy's Jobs of the Future is supported by LinkedIn. Now LinkedIn has 1.3 billion people on its platform, including most recently our guest today, Andy Burnham, who joined last month. Demonstrating its growing importance, they have a unique insight into what is going on in the jobs and employment market. It's become the go to place for everyone from job seekers right through to government to understand how the world of work is changing. More on them later in the episode.

[Interviewer]

Prime Minister, welcome to Jimmy's Jobs of the Future.

[Andy Burnham]

Thank you.

[Interviewer]

You have made several major announcements today about education and employment. Why does this issue matter so much to you? We're only on week two here.

[Andy Burnham]

We are only on week two. But I wanted to get stuck into this straight away, I just don't feel we've got an education system that offers a path for everybody. It's focus on the university route and that's great for those who want to go on that route, but there's a lot of young people who are looking for something different and school often isn't giving them that something. Something different. So it is a huge priority for me. When you've been the mayor of a big city region like Greater Manchester, you just see how our economy can't function. If you have an education system that doesn't work to support all parts of the economy, get all young people engaged. So it's a passion of mine and it's great to be in a position now to really pull the levers to fix it.

[Interviewer]

Talk to us about your early career, because sometimes you're typecast is this kind of professional politician who went from Cambridge to researcher for an mp, special advisor, Member of Parliament. But that's not actually true, is it? There's a bit of a gap there that people don't talk about Sea Container World.

[Andy Burnham]

There is, yeah. And even before that. So I went to Cambridge from the Northwest and, you know, described the imposter syndrome and finally got over that and managed to get through my degree, but then went back with the full intention of living and working in Manchester. You know, I was a product of the Manchester scene of the 80s, loved everything about the city, but it was at such a low ebb at that time. Looked everywhere for a job. The only thing I could find was as an unpaid reporter on the Middleton Guardian. And that was my very first job. And there's only so long you can be an unpaid reporter on a regional newspaper. So it. It kind of really stuck with me all my life, that to get on in life, I had to leave where I'd grown up and the injustice of that kind of rankled. So, yeah, I've never forgotten that experience. It was then a job on a transport magazine that you mentioned that took me to London, which wasn't the job I wanted. So I was in my early 20s. It's very much, I think, in tune with your podcast, thinking, well, how do I get into the job I want? The 1992 general election happened and I was just certain the country was going to vote labor and it didn't. And I was at that point thinking, well, I just want to get into working in politics. And it wasn't a straight route at all. But then fortune took me there.

[Interviewer]

Did you feel like you were sort of drifting in those early years, yeah,

[Andy Burnham]

definitely my early twenties in London. I mean, it was a great place to be and I was, don't get me wrong, I was having a good. A good time playing a lot of football and doing a lot of other things. But, yeah, I didn't feel like I was, you know, hitting the mark from a career point of view, because bear in mind, I had been at Cambridge and I was with lots of people that had very connected parents. So the people I'd been at university with were just walking straight into internships at the Times and placements at the BBC and into Goldman Sachs and other things. Whereas, you know, I didn't have that. And my dad had always said to me, oh, Cambridge University, it will just throw all the doors open to you, because he had to persuade me to go. What I realized was, when you kind of live through it, it's actually connected parents that often make the difference. And I've always been a politician that's fought to change that.

[Interviewer]

So how do we change that?

[Andy Burnham]

You've got to build social capital around young people as they grow up. You've got to give them doors that are open for them to walk through. So as the mayor of Greater Manchester, I haven't done it yet in this job, but I used to offer work shadowing every week. So a young person, they could just apply via the website and they could just. I said to them, look, I don't want you opening the post in the corner. Come and stand right on my shoulder all day and watch what I'm doing and talk to me about it. And then you can put that on your cv. It's just that foot in the door, isn't it? A lot of kids from a background where they don't have those connections in their family life, how do they get to do something like that? So I would put the call out via this podcast. Anybody in a senior position in any walk of life in Britain should offer work shadowing. Just let a young person from, particularly from a background that might not be connected to yours, just come in and just be in the room. Because they do, I think, feel that imposter syndrome. And they think, well, I can't be here. But the truth is they can be there once they are in the room and they can see how it works and then that can. Confidence can build, I think, such an important thing.

[Interviewer]

What do you look for when you hire? Like, you bring people in work shadowing, but you're known as building teams around you. As the mayor of Greater Manchester, what. What skills are you Looking for.

[Andy Burnham]

I like people who've got a sense of why they're in that route, what they want to do and they've got something about them, you know, something they want to change or something they feel is not right and therefore they're coming in to make a difference. That's what I look for. And often you see quite a differentiation for people who are playing the sort of ambition game and those are playing the change game. And I notice the change makers, very true.

[Interviewer]

In politics, what's a skill we perhaps underappreciate in the workforce, do you think? What's something that we don't recognize as

[Andy Burnham]

well as we might walking in somebody else's shoes? You know, I kind of feel the culture often is people just go up and up and then, you know, they almost think that they have to look down on everybody once they've got up to a senior position. But I would say true leadership is about being able to walk in the shoes of everybody within your organization. Seeing the perspective of everyone in the world that you're in and then making decisions that sort of reflect your understanding of that. You know it's about when people ask me about this, I would always say leadership is about having a big ambition that people can sort of buy into. There was a saying down in Westminster, like the clever clogs people down here always used to say under promise and over deliver. And I say well why? Who gets excited by an under promise? It's such a self serving thing, isn't it? I'll yeah, I'll make a sort of a sort of small commitment and I might exceed a small commitment. Well how's that going to change the world? You've got to have a big vision, a big sort of idea about what, what should change and then when people will buy into that and then you build a team underneath it by being prepared to walk in other shoes. And that's always been my approach.

[Interviewer]

Do you think we need to be a bit more ambitious as a country and that's to business owners and entrepreneurs as well.

[Andy Burnham]

I think we need to be more ambitious for all parts of the country. And this is a criticism that I'm making and is why I've set up number 10 north. I don't think the country has had an ambition for Derby. I think where you know you are from, for Manchester. Even until devolution, the country didn't say oh we want Manchester to be this and that in the future. Liverpool, it had it in managed decline in the 80s. You know that I think is something that we've got to change. There is potential in every postcode in Britain and yet down here, I don't think people have thought like that. That's what I'm trying to change as Prime Minister and, you know, that will define my time in office.

[Interviewer]

Do you think you'd still study English Literature today?

[Andy Burnham]

What are you trying to say?

[Jimmy McLoughlin]

But just.

[Interviewer]

If you were in your early 20s, in 2026, what do you think you'd be looking to start your career doing?

[Andy Burnham]

I would, actually. I've thought a lot about this because again, back to my dad, he tried to talk me out of it, you know, he said, what are you going to do with an English degree? But I always pointed him to a poem by Tony Harrison, the Yorkshire poet, because he begins it with a quote from Arthur Scargill, of all people. The quote says this. My father reads the dictionary every day. He says, your life depends upon your power to master words. And I leant on that as a young man to justify my degree choice. But I always come back to it because I think an ability to kind of use words, use the power of words, I think it's something that is beneficial in any walk of life. It's as beneficial in business life as it is in politics. If you're selling something, I think you need to kind of know how best to put that thing forward.

[Interviewer]

I often talk about it being the meta skill, language, the ability to communicate, particularly with AI, and being able to tell the AI what you need and so on will be crucial.

[Andy Burnham]

And this is what I'm saying about education today. I make a very big critique of the Gove era because sport was dismantled in schools and the creative subjects were sort of pushed right out of the curriculum. The English Baccalaureate. Now, that's wrong as far as I'm concerned, because the creative subjects, sport brings employability, skills, you know, the things that you learn by doing those things are huge. But also for the young people who are talented in those areas, the day they know they're going to be on the pitch, or the day they know they're going to be up on a stage is the day they feel, right, I will have my moment to shine today and that will give me the confidence in school. To deny young people that, I think, is quite criminal, actually. You know, that is huge as far as I'm concerned. You know, creativity in young people and enabling them to feel confident and the confidence that comes with excelling in sport and the arts is massive. And, yeah, expect that to be a feature of my time. I'm massive on school sport, they'll have to stop me from making it compulsory in this building because I would always go down there.

[Interviewer]

Nervous faces.

[Andy Burnham]

Exactly, exactly.

[Interviewer]

Speaking of walking in others shoes, your children are all in their kind of early 20s. Like how are you seeing the kind of job market through them and their friends eyes? Because we do have this 1 million under 24 is not in education, employment or training. Yeah. How are you viewing it through them? What are they, they telling you?

[Andy Burnham]

Yeah, so I, I've got quite a bit of experience in this regard so you know I do have a sort of a. My head in the world of some of our 20 somethings and I think it's, it's quite harsh I, I would say and quite unfair at times. One thing I really don't like is this culture now of interviewing via zoom or teams. That just doesn't seem right to me. I know it's convenient for the organizations that do it, but how does a young person shine in that situation? How do you get over some of your personality, your passion? It seems to me to then work against people who have that side to their character and work for those who are just giving them more formulaic answer. So I do worry about that and I've seen that in relation to my, my kids and their, and their situation. It just, just does feel harder, doesn't it these days to make that breakthrough, to get that first connection. And how do young people get that first bit of experience? Seems to be quite random.

[Interviewer]

How do we make it easier for employers? Because the pushback you would get, and I can feel it coming on LinkedIn when I talk about this bit is them saying oh well, it's harder now. There's more kind of health and safety regulations, it's more challenging. It used to be much easier 20 years ago to sort of get somebody to work shadow. What would you say to that?

[Andy Burnham]

I don't know if that's true. I would always be open to looking again at any regulations that made that harder. But I have had a big drive in my previous role as mayor of Greater Mana, around 45 day work placements. Now they were an innovation of the last Conservative government but they were one I was very happy to support, indeed proud to support because I think they found a solution to the work experience issue that this country's never found before. And I got my team to get on the phone and ring all the big players in Greater Manchester to say right, we need more of these placements for young people. And last year we got a thousand extra placements just by persuasion. And I think sometimes the barriers are imagined rather than real. In some professions, law, financial services, there maybe is a challenge in having a 16 to 18 year old within the environment, but I think there are always, always solutions. I understand the nervousness, but I am, as Prime Minister, going to be asking the business world just to lean in that bit more to the youth unemployment challenge. I will be changing public procurement, more social valuating in public contracts and it will particularly be focusing on more provision of those 45 day work placements, more work experience for young people, more apprenticeships. I think we need to really focus on the thing that we most need. But in the end, there's a sweet spot there between government and business, because in the end skills is a massive challenge for them. And finding the right young people that are suited to their organisations is crucial to them too.

[Interviewer]

Your children are aged between 21 and 26, I think. I'm curious as to whether you're seeing a difference in the challenges that they're facing in the workplace, because it strikes me that the culture of the workforce is actually evolving incredibly quickly.

[Andy Burnham]

Yeah, I think so. I certainly think it's changed post pandemic. Not necessarily for the better. As I was saying before, in terms of online recruitment, AI as well, in terms of CVs and sifting of employment applications. I don't know, it doesn't feel to me that recruitment in the sort of post pandemic era is becoming fairer and I. I just think it's worth me saying that and people just pausing on that. Recruitment's got to be about individuality, you know, people bringing out the kind of unique things that they've got to offer. And my worry is that some of the recruitment practices now don't allow that as much. And I'm not just talking about my own kids, obviously, I hear, hear from a wider circle of friends. It just feels it's a little more difficult. And if you've got those proof points on your CV that are more easy to land, if you, let's say you're from a more connected world, perhaps you're then much better off, rather than someone just coming in with a bit of raw talent and showing that in a in person interview, I do feel something

[Interviewer]

is being missed here, I think as well. With AI, those social capital and social networks become more important. How else do you think AI will sort of change our economy more broadly? Do you think we'll have AGI by 2029, the time of the next election, potentially?

[Andy Burnham]

Well, we have to take that issue really Seriously. I came in as mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017, and at the time, all I was hearing was coding, coding, we need more coding courses. And we put a lot of effort into that. And now, I'm told, almost a decade on that, that's almost been made redundant by AI, or not completely, but in large, large part. So that is something of a sort of salutary lesson, I think, there. It's going to change the workplace, for sure. And it's why, at the request of the trade unions and business voices, I've created a ministerial post focused on the future of work. Because that level of change can happen in a decade. It's probably going to accelerate, and some of these changes could come at us more quickly than we realize.

[Jimmy McLoughlin]

That point that the Prime Minister makes about the rapidly changing labour market is exactly why LinkedIn data is so important. Back when I worked at 10 Downing street, over a decade ago, I used to love getting the information right from the employers about what was happening in the jobs market. Getting their take on where they thought our economy was going in real time was crucial. LinkedIn is working with the government in lots of different ways. They help building workforces that really matter. They're helping government understand the data about where jobs are changing, and they're working with the Jobs and Careers Service to explain this. Frankly, we're all struggling a little bit with understanding AI's impact on the economy and how it's going to change, change jobs. It's literally the whole point of the podcast. LinkedIn can see where jobs are growing, where skills are changing and how people

[Interviewer]

are transitioning their role.

[Jimmy McLoughlin]

They're using that data to help people find their next opportunity and also help employers hire based on skills and capability rather than just pedigree. And helping governments build workforces that actually work. That's where LinkedIn data is supporting the new government's jobs and careers schemes. And they're also doing a lot of work around AI and seeing how that is changing the economy and changing jobs of the future, which is, frankly, something we're all slightly grappling with.

[Interviewer]

If you did do a technical apprenticeship, what do you think you would do it in today?

[Andy Burnham]

Well, it's a good question, because there is an argument that technical skills are more future proof. For the reason I was just giving, what would I do it in? I, from my own sort of background, I probably would be linked to communication in terms of what I did coming through university. But, you know, I absolutely would would say to young people, all the technical skills are, I think, a really Good, safe bet. We've said today, you know, we've got to learn as a society to value the hard hat as much as the graduation cap. And, you know, it's more than a sound bite, it's a really important point. We don't do that and we haven't done that as a country. And maybe we're really hitting a point now where the messages we're giving to young people are really not where they should be. So, yeah, I would recommend a system where young people have just got a clear choice, academic and technical together, and the ability to weave between the two. I think we need to become more flexible, more fluid, much more focused on the workplace of now. In fact, we need to show young people the jobs in the modern workplace and let them build back from that in making their choices at 14, 16, 18. That's the big education reform that I've announced today.

[Interviewer]

And that's why we should tune into Jimmy's Jobs of the future as well, where we do it. Now. I know you're a fan of nostalgia. I have a recent bit of nostalgia here. Do you remember this? This is a Sky News Top Trump cars.

[Andy Burnham]

Your listeners. Viewers are too young to know what Top Trumps are.

[Interviewer]

Surely Trump is associated with a different thing. Now, I'm going to test you on what Sky News rated you at the time. So there's three things here. What was your majority in 2010? What was your potential and what was your fancibility rating?

[Andy Burnham]

Now you're asking. Majority in 2010 would have been 17,000,

[Interviewer]

15,000, but not bad.

[Andy Burnham]

Near enough.

[Interviewer]

The second one, potential out of 10 out of 10? I don't know. 7, 6, 5.

[Andy Burnham]

Sky News, I mean, you know, they're gonna have to. Their pundits that hopefully are better these days than they were then.

[Interviewer]

And the fancibility one?

[Andy Burnham]

Oh, I don't know.

[Interviewer]

You can't answer that too well. They gave you 88 out of 100 out of 100.

[Sponsor Voice]

Wow.

[Interviewer]

It's pretty impressive. But there is a serious point with that. The potential was at five. Right. You're now sitting here as Prime Minister. Go back to that question again of young people trying to find their way in the world. What is your advice to somebody like that who thinks that they're maybe not quite getting it right?

[Andy Burnham]

You know, if I kind of look back to myself in that era, clearly people hadn't seen what I was fully about because I only really found my voice, I would say, through some of what I lived through at the end of the Labour government, particularly the work I did on Hillsborough. And then as I came through that, I really knew what I was about and I'd started to kind of find my confidence. So I understand why they maybe put that. But I think it's true of, of young people from working class backgrounds. It can take a longer time to feel you belong and to feel you've got the confidence to speak out in a room where other people appear, that they're perhaps more confident, communicator than you are. And, you know, that I think, is a very common experience of young people from parts of the country where, you know, perhaps they don't see as much privilege as they do, as they do in others. But the thing I would say to them is, you know, you mustn't let that kind of really sort of do you down. I mean, it can do people down. I was at Cambridge, as I said, and you know, it. I was in this room with people who just would, you know, they've been taught to hold forth and come out with big opinions. And I was there, but two years before I thought, oh my goodness, right, they are talking absolute rubbish. But they sound so good when they're saying it. But finally when I realized that, I kind of thought, right, well, I think I can, you know, come back in this.

[Interviewer]

What's the one thing people, young people could do to accelerate finding their voice? Because I think it's a really good point, but it's, it's hard.

[Andy Burnham]

I come back to the work shadowing thing. I honestly think it's crucial and it's why I do it. And I again would say, please offer it. If you're in a position to offer it, it can make all the difference. Just getting people into the position where they don't have that, you know, often quite lack, you know, crippling lack of self belief. That is what I would say to anybody starting out. Just get, if you, you know, people who follow Jimmy's jobs, you know, maybe things aren't quite where you want them to be right now. Just find a way of getting yourself into another room, seeing, speaking to somebody who may be from your background but is doing well. Just, just get those perspectives, build your network, build your capital, just understand things and, and don't be so hard on yourself. I, I think, you know, if I look back, I was way too hard on myself. You know, just know what you're good at, feel proud of what you're good at and then build from there.

[Interviewer]

Now I would like. What we've asked people to do before is write a message to the kind of next generation in their book. The challenge with your book is it's sold out. You should have spoken to your publishers

[Jimmy McLoughlin]

about getting another run at the new job.

[Interviewer]

Do you think you could write a quick note in here for people that we can use?

[Andy Burnham]

Yeah. Yeah, perfect. What would I say? Well, War and Peace here.

[Interviewer]

Politician, English Lit, Grass.

[Andy Burnham]

Exactly. You've asked the wrong person.

[Jimmy McLoughlin]

It's gonna be going on to a second.

[Andy Burnham]

You've asked the wrong person, though.

[Interviewer]

Brilliant. So we asked Andy Burnham to write a message to the younger generation about their careers. And he said, believe in yourself, you're good enough. Probably much better than you think. I also think what he said at the end about getting into new rooms, going to events, building that social capital is a really, really good point as well. Maybe we'll talk to him again about it in the future.

[Jimmy McLoughlin]

The Prime Minister's advice on building your network and getting into new rooms was so important, I thought, when it comes to social capital, actually, one of the things about the modern economy is that you can build social capital online. It's where I think LinkedIn is actually a really valuable tool for anyone in their careers, but perhaps even more so for people early on. There is nowhere better to build your career capital than online. At LinkedIn, you can follow all the people that inspire you from business and enterprise. You can engage with them right on their channel in terms of commenting on it, and you can also see the people that work for them as well,

[Interviewer]

who might actually be more impactful and

[Jimmy McLoughlin]

influential on your starting career. Anyway, when I was chatting to the team at LinkedIn about this episode, they gave me this amazing statistic, which is if you're connected to somebody at a company, you are four times more likely to end up working there. I thought that was staggering and just shows that example of how you can build career capital. So I think it's a really valuable tool for people to use also. It's just one of the places where the conversation happens. We're going to be posting lots of these clips from the Andy Burnham episode on LinkedIn. You will have thoughts on what he said about Zoom style recruitment and what he was also talking about in terms of work shadowing and so on. We're going to be having a debate on there with my 20,000 followers about what he thinks. If you're keen to get involved, then make sure you get on LinkedIn. Follow me at Jimmy McLaughlin, OBE, or our company page at Jimmy's Jobs of the Future and we look forward to carrying on the conversation there.