Businesses in the South West are set to benefit from over 800 funded graduate internship placements, as the Government pledges to help graduates find work.
Recent reports have revealed that competition for graduate level vacancies will remain extremely high in 2010 as, even though the graduate recruitment market is beginning to show signs of recovery, many of this year’s vacancies will be filled the graduating class of 2009.
In response, the Government, through HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England), has announced funding for 8,500 graduate level internships across the UK as part of its ‘New Industry, New Jobs’ initiative. Through the combined effort of Universities South West (the region’s higher education association) and12 of the South West’s universities, the region has secured a total of 820 of these placements; bringing £ 1.3m into the area.
By placing recent graduates on funded short-term work internships in businesses in the South West, the programme aims to help graduates build on the skills they gained at university whilst providing real work experience to support their future employment. Through participation in the scheme and taking on an intern, businesses are able to access a diverse pool of highly skilled, creative and innovative talent. The Government has announced its strategy to support key employer sectors in order to stimulate growth, assist economic recovery and improve manufacturing and services. The employer sectors/themes identified for support are:
· low-carbon products and services
· digital industry
· life sciences and pharmaceuticals
· advanced manufacturing
· professional and financial services
· engineering construction
· industrial opportunities presented by the ageing society.
Universities South West, which has over six years experience of delivering such placement projects in the region, recognises the real benefits that internships bring to both students and business.
‘Companies that have taken high-level graduate internships have been delighted with the results,’ explains Jeff Brown, Executive Director of Universities South West. ‘Not only can employers access the new knowledge and skills that these graduates have but they are able to gain additional resource at a time of financial restriction.’
Peter Ashton, Chairman of the South West Policy Unit for the Federation of Small Businesses, which is supporting this initiative nationwide, explains further. ‘This is particularly important for the small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) which constitute a large proportion of the business community in the region. Being able to take on talented staff at this stage of the recovery, could well be the factor that helps them survive and prosper. It also provides a boost for the long term future health of the business economy in the South West, as it encourages graduates to stay and work in the region.’
The internship programmes are being set up and administered by the individual universities and will vary in their terms and conditions. There is funding attached to all the placements and businesses and graduates from all sectors and disciplines are eligible to apply. Companies and organisations in the low carbon sector are particularly encouraged to get involved.
To ensure that the application and allocation process is as simple as possible, the university run graduate recruitment service Gradsouthwest will be acting as a portal for the initiative.
To find out more about the benefits of having an intern work in your business or to either join the scheme as a business or as a graduate go to – www.gradsouthwest.com.
Universities participating in this are:
Arts University College Bournemouth Bath Spa University
Bournemouth University Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester
University College Falmouth University College Plymouth, St Mark & St John
University of Bristol University of Exeter
University of Plymouth University of the West of England, Bristol