Work and Study Opportunities

Living in Badenoch and Strathspey and looking for local work or study opportunities? This blog is for you! We’ve rounded up lots of information on how to search for what you are looking for, including:

  • Part-time jobs

  • Full-time employment

  • Work experience or internship

  • Short courses

  • College courses

  • Funding for a project or business idea

  • Apprenticeships

Let’s dive in!

Finding a job

Whether you are keen to find a part-time role to fit around your studies or other commitments, or you are searching for your first full-time job, here are some great places to start your search:

  • Community noticeboards - the local villages and towns all have community notice boards, which employers often pin up adverts for jobs ranging from occasional babysitting and gardening to full-time opportunities. Keep an eye out for something that interests you. You might find the noticeboard at the local community centre or at or near the local shop - just ask someone if you can’t find it!

  • Newspapers and community magazines - the local newspaper, the Strathspey Herald, often advertises local jobs. Another place to look is in other local magazines or papers - for example, the quarterly magazine The Nethy  - there may not be job adverts but there will be news and adverts from local businesses that might spark an idea for you.

  • Online

    • Cairngorm Jobs - this Facebook page is one of the best resources for finding local job opportunities.

    • It’s worth keeping an eye on other social media sites including the Kingussie High School and Grantown Grammar Facebook pages, and other local community social media sites such as Buy, Sell, Swap Badenoch & Strathspey and Grantown Grapevine.

    • HiJobs has a dedicated section for jobs in Badenoch & Strathspey. 

    • Scottish job search websites such as s1jobs and Scotland Jobs have a search facility by location.

    • The big UK job search websites such as Reed, Monster Jobs, Indeed, and jobsite also have a search facility by location.

    • NHS Scotland Jobs - NHS jobs in Scotland, including clinical and administrative roles.

    • My Job Scotland - local government, public and third sector jobs in Scotland.

    • Goodmoves - charity and voluntary sector jobs in Scotland

  • Make direct contact with local employers

There are many local organisations that have a larger workforce and therefore may recruit more often. These cover a large range of industries, from tourism to tech to farming. If you’re curious about a particular sector, try and speak to someone who works in it and ‘interview’ them about their journey into that role, and what their business does. People love to share their life and work stories! And you might learn something useful, as well as making good contacts.

  • Top tip! Look out for local business open days: for example, local timber specialist Russwood in Newtonmore is hosting an Open Day on Friday 7 February 2025 between 12.30-3.00pm. Pop along to learn about what Russwood does, and find out about career opportunities at Russwood.

Further study beyond school

Here in Badenoch & Strathspey we are fortunate to be very close to one of Scotland’s major universities, the University of Highlands & Islands (known as ‘UHI’). UHI provides a wide range of college and university courses, as well as short courses.

Senior Phase Courses at UHI run for S4-S6 pupils, providing an opportunity to incorporate college courses into the school timetable. For example, students can access Foundational Apprenticeships, vocational courses, and highers.

The Open University provides free online courses to give you a taster of different subjects before you decide on your college or university applications.

UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, is an independent charity that handles college and university applications across the UK. This website is a great place to search for study options that may be further away from home.

MyGov.Scot - Going to College and MyGov.Scot - Going to University also provide useful information about accessing further and higher education in Scotland.

The Student Awards Agency Scotland helps students in Scotland to find the right information, support and funding for their further studies.

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships in Scotland is the website to go to to find out all about foundational, modern and graduate apprenticeships in Scotland. Find out what’s involved and have a look for vacancies. Apprenticeships can provide an incredible opportunity to learn and train on the job, while also getting paid. They are available in all kinds of sectors including business management, retail, social care, engineering and construction.

Within the NHS, there are a lot of different apprenticeship options: NHS Scotland - Apprenticeships

Local government also runs modern apprenticeships in a variety of different departments: Modern Apprenticeships with the Highland Council

Start your own business

Are you curious about what’s involved in running your own business? If you have an idea and want to discuss how to make that a reality, here are our top tips:

  • Speak to someone who runs their own business and ask them to tell you all about it! Perhaps you know, or can find in your community, someone who runs a business similar to the one you have in mind. Make a list of questions and treat it like an interview to ensure you gain as much knowledge and information as possible.

  • GrowBiz - provides free support and mentoring services for anyone who is considering becoming self-employed, starting or growing an existing small business or social enterprise in rural Scotland.

  • Business Gateway - provides free guidance and advice to support you to start up your own business

  • Young Enterprise Scotland offers a variety of enterprise and financial education programmes and development opportunities for young people across Scotland.


Ideas of sectors you could work in within the Cairngorms National Park

Fancy brainstorming about your future? Here’s an (incomplete!) list of many different industries that you could build a career in here in the beautiful Cairngorms National Park, which a few examples of local employers, and useful links, where possible:

Look out for local job fairs like this one that took place in September 2024 - a great opportunity to meet local employers and find out more about building a career here in the Cairngorms: https://cairngorms.co.uk/your-future-here/

Prepare yourself for a dynamic future!

Society is changing so fast, and it’s becoming much more common for people to pivot and change career direction at different stages of their working lives. The job market is continuing to change rapidly with newly emerging roles and technological innovation. Think of all the jobs that didn’t exist even 20 years ago: social media manager, app developer, drone expert and Uber driver, to name just a few. This means it can be important to keep an eye on developing future trends, and be aware of the skills required for future jobs.

  • Free online courses on AI:

CVs and Interview tips

When applying for jobs, make a good impression by ensuring that your CV is clear, professional and up-to-date. The My World of Work CV builder is a good place to start. You can create a profile first, and then build your CV by following the steps on the website.

Once you’ve been successful in getting an interview, check out these top tips to prepare yourself: Young Scot: 5 Top Tips to Prepare for an Interview

Asking for help

If you are finding it difficult to find a part-time job, choose a direction, or to find a role in the sector you’d like to pursue, do consider talking this over with a trusted adult. A parent, guardian, older sibling, friend, relative or teacher may be able to listen and provide valuable support - after all, they’ve all been in a similar situation before. Try and choose someone who is a good listener and has some relevant experience.

Some things you might like to discuss:

  • what you are looking for, and identify the obstacles you’ve encountered to finding it

  • are there any people in your life who have successfully found a job/course/placement/direction - how did they choose/do it?

  • whether there are any particular aspects of finding a job/choosing a direction that you find challenging - for example, writing an application form, interviews, meeting new people. These are all skills that can be learned over time and with support if necessary.

  • whether there’s anything useful from the adult’s story of their journey from school to work that you can learn from and apply to your life.

If you are struggling to identify someone in your personal life to have this discussion with, give us a shout!

Our challenge to you

This week, take some time to read through this blog and check out some of the links and advice provided that are relevant to your specific situation. Notice how you feel about taking these small steps towards your future. Often we can get stuck in indecisiveness, and often we just don’t know enough yet about the different options available to us. See if you can note down 5 new things you have learned about the process of finding work/applying for a course. Congratulations for taking action! Now hopefully the next steps won’t feel quite so daunting.

‘The man who moves away a mountain begins by carrying away small stones’ - Confucius