Recruitment
University careers services work directly with employers to provide a range of recruitment opportunities including:
In addition, Gradsouthwest offers a free Graduate Recruitment Toolkit.
The South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) is currently conducting research into the impact of student and graduate placements. If you have hosted a placement, your views will be invaluable, and we'd be grateful if you would complete the online survey.
Graduate recruitment
Careers services offer a range of services to help you attract, recruit and retain the right graduate.
These include:
- Advice on graduate recruitment and retention
- Advertising on campus, through departments and faculties and on-line
- Opportunities to raise your profile through careers fairs, on campus presentations and displays, delivering skills sessions and advertising and sponsorship
- Interview support - on campus rooms with reception support
To tap into recruitment expertise, contact your local careers service
Student and graduate placements
A number of projects match talented graduates with employers for a mutually beneficial partnership.
They allow you to ‘road test’ graduates before making a commitment to longer term employment – often with some funding or subsidised costs.
If you have great ideas - but no time to take them forward - projects with graduates offer:
- Short to medium term committment
- An extra pair of hands
- A new perspective
- A focussed injection of specialist knowledge
- A keen mind to make things happen
- The opportunity to try out a graduate
Opportunities include:
Graduate Internships - New for 2010!
The current economic environment has made companies of all sizes think strategically about employment and management of staff and consider fresh approaches to their recruitment needs.
There are currently over 800 Government funded graduate internships available in the South West from 2010. These have been created to support key employer sectors in order to stimulate growth, assist economic recovery and improve manufacturing and services in the region. The employer sectors/themes identified 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
All these internship programmes will be set up and administered by the individual universities in the region and will vary in their terms and conditions. However, there is funding attached to all the placements and businesses and graduates from all sectors and disciplines are eligible to apply.
More information about Graduate Internships
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP's)
KTP’s provide graduate resources and expertise to thriving organisations that wish to innovate, expand or improve performance. Graduates are employed for two to three years to work on a core business project.
As an example, in a recent KTP, a graduate worked with Paignton Zoo to embed an environmental management system.
The project saved over £10,000 per annum in electricity and water costs.
"We now regard the University of Plymouth as a local partner in our long term continuous improvement programme. The KTP project alone has generated cost savings in excess of £60K per annum."
Graduate Business Partnerships
GBP’s offer Devon businesses and organisations the opportunity to employ a graduate on a specific project for 20 weeks. Recent projects include marketing, sales and business planning, computer programming, product design and IT systems development.
To add further value graduates attend a ten day Business Training Course which is also open to an existing member of staff free of charge.
"GBP enabled us - as an employer - access to a pool of qualified individuals that wanted to gain work experience. At the same time, we were happy to take someone on that did not have a preconcieved idea of the role required and would therefore mould to our needs."
Unlocking Cornish Petential (UCP)
A graduate undertakes a development project for six to twelve months. Unlocking Cornish Potential works with the business to identify the area for development, to help scope a project and to support both the business and the graduate.
"The scheme is an excellent one that has bought many benefits to [the graduate] and the company. It has played a significant role in the recent growth both in the company size and turnover of TRAC Services."Jonathan Trethowan, Director, TRAC Services
Gloucestershire Graduate Challenge
The University of Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire First have joined forces to offer support to businesses in the county that are looking for assistance right now.
Graduate Challenge provides local businesses with the opportunity to hand-pick a recent Higher Education graduate to participate in a structured four-month work placement that fulfills a project brief designed by you.
Getting involved in Graduate Challenge not only helps to retain this valuable talent within the county but also makes good commercial sense. In the current economic downturn, this is a cost free* way to add new skills to your work force.
*The participating company will be expected to cover any additional non-pay expenses incurred by the Graduate in delivery of Graduate Challenge, e.g. business travel
More information about Graduate Challenge
STEP Classic Summer Placement Programme
The STEP Classic offers short term skilled resources over the summer to enable businesses to get initiatives off the ground.
This is the classic summer placement programme for undergraduates studying full time at UK Universities. Most placements last between 8 and 12 weeks over the summer vacation and students will receive a training allowance of £210 per week (Tax and NI Exempt).
To discuss funding schemes available, obtain a student with the skills your business needs and support from a local South West STEP agent please contact Jane Gill, Employer Liaison Officer (Business Projects) on J.Gill@exeter.ac.uk or 01392 723844.
More information about the National STEP Scheme
Student Placements
Universities encourage students to undertake a business placement as part of the overall degree coure.
Placements can range from short term (six weeks) to mid term (one year) and students can work on a wide range of projects.
For more information, please contact your careers service.
