It’s over a decade since I was the National STEM Careers Coordinator, so when I was recently asked to talk to young people at a STEM careers event, I felt I should update myself on what’s available online these days and I’ve realised it can be tricky to work out where to go to find answers that help the individual student.

I’ve got three ‘top choice’ and four ‘still great but with slight reservations.’

• BBC Bitesize Careers is a great place to start where you can begin with your favourite subjects and find out where they can lead or, alternatively, explore different job areas and meet people who are working there. Inevitably, it can’t cover absolutely everything, but it does a good job of showing the range of subjects, qualifications, roles and sectors. Of all the sites I’ve visited, this feels like it has the least ‘agenda’ other than to genuinely help and inform young people.
• National Careers Service – again, not specifically STEM but you can quickly focus down on your area of interest.  Not as colourful as some others I mention, but it helpfully includes average starting and experienced salaries with plenty of links to explore further. Does it have an ‘agenda’?  Possibly, but if there is, the focus would be an emphasis on government, rather than corporate, priorities. 
• Talking Futures is firmly aimed at helping parents support young people on their career journey, encouraging constructive conversations and “providing a suite of resources built on best practice parental engagement in careers decision-making”. I think this is a great new resource and will definitely be reliable as it is from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation which has been working for decades on promoting good quality careers guidance.

Now for the ‘with slight reservations’

• Informed Choices is an interactive website from the Russell Group – a self-selected group of research-intensive universities – aimed at students making post-16 A level subject choices. If you have a degree course in mind it tells you which A level subjects are usually essential, and which may also be useful. Alternatively, you can put in three A level subjects, and it will show what degrees may be open to you.  What i particularly like is that it clearly emphasises it is just a guide and that you should check individual university websites. However, it does, inevitably, focus on the A level route to Russell Group Universities, which should be kept in mind.
• Neon (funded by Engineering UK) has resources to ‘help bring STEM to life’ in school, however the focus here seems to be on engineering and technology.  As an engineer and former programmer myself, these are great areas to work, but it could give the impression that the only reason for school STEM subjects or activities is to lead into these fields. That said, the ‘meet the future you’ quiz gives a personalised feel to seeing where your skills and passions could lead .. in engineering.
• Destination STEM is aimed at young people and has some great and trustworthy advice, but unlike BBC Bitesize where you could keep coming back and finding something new, Destination STEM is less populated and feels a bit like WIP. 
• This is Engineering ‘does what it says on the tin’. Yes, I admit I am biassed, but I still feel that many young people and those influencing them are not aware of the range of opportunities in the engineering sector and the role engineers can play in creating a better future.  (These sound like well-worn clichés, but I find the videos motivating and inspiring.) 

When I was the National STEM Careers Coordinator, I talked about ‘influencers’ simply meaning ‘those who were in a position to influence a young person’s subject and career choice’ ie family, friends, teachers, club leaders etc.  Now it means something very different.  While influencers, and others expressing views on social media, can give insight into personal experiences (on ‘student room’ for example) their views may lack context, may not be reliable or up-to-date on the facts, may be biassed (whether consciously or not) or may simply have a hidden agenda.  Of course, they are interesting to watch or read and can spark ideas, but I would always recommend checking things out from primary sources rather than depending on social media.