Internship promotion
Tuesday May 11 2010
Today (Tuesday May 11) Graduate Jobs South (GJS) got into gear and pedalled across three university campuses to promote the new government funded Hampshire-wide internship scheme.
GJS – working with Low Ryder advertising – got on their promotional push bikes and pedalled their way around Southampton Solent, Southampton and Winchester campuses promoting the scheme to final-year students preparing to graduate.
Earlier this year, the Universities of Southampton Solent, Southampton and Winchester were jointly awarded a £128,000 slice of Central Government funding to create 80 internships in the Hampshire area by the end of the year.
The Government funded internship programme – supported by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) – helps businesses to recruit and get maximum benefit from a graduate intern.
The internship scheme has already placed 20 graduates in paid internships since it was launched a couple of months ago.
Marcus Green from Southampton-based company, Toolkit Websites, is already benefitting from the scheme having recruited two interns. He said: “It’s giving us the opportunity to get to know the graduates and to see how they fit in with the company and its values.”
Graduate Jobs South – the regional graduate retention initiative – will co-ordinate the scheme in Hampshire. Each internship will run for a minimum of 12 weeks. 2008/9 graduates will be targeted, and the scheme is open to any unemployed graduate who wishes to find employment in Southampton, Winchester and the South. Businesses will receive £1,350 towards the intern’s salary and GJS will advertise and short-list the prospective candidates for prospective employers.
Solent University Media Culture and Production graduate, Samantha Hearn, has been hired as an intern with Artswork Ltd.She said: “The scheme is opening doors for me. It’s a great opportunity for graduates and soon-to-be graduates to get paid work experience and improve their employment prospects.”
More than 60 businesses have already expressed an interest in the scheme which is now live on the GJS website www.graduatejobsouth.co.uk|| . For further information about the scheme contact Graduate Jobs South Employment Manager Meredith Smith on 023 8031 9734 or email Meredith.smith@solent.ac.uk||