Young people want to know more about the world of work. A survey of 2,000 13- to 18-year-olds for BBC Radio 5 Live found that they wanted to learn about applying for jobs (42%), managing stress (39%) and developing their communication skills (38%).

It’s sensible stuff – dispiritingly so. Shouldn’t they be drinking BuzzBallz at bus stops? If someone had asked 13-year-old me what I wanted to know about work, I would have stared blankly, or asked: “What job will let me touch Mark Shaw (of obscure 80s band Then Jerico)?” Look at what their French peers are up to!

I asked a French friend what she thought kids needed to know about work and she said (imagine her taking a drag on a Gauloise; she wasn’t, but still): “Nothing matters, nothing is real, hierarchy is a social construct. Burn it all down.” But in mustn’t-grumble Britain, with its nearly 1 million Neets, teens aren’t rioting – they’re worrying about work experience, CVs and LinkedIn. The least we can do is try to help, so I asked what people think kids should know about exchanging labour for money and these things........

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