Placement and Graduate Fair connects students with 80 local employers

More than 500 students and 80 employers attended the Solent Placement and Graduate Fair yesterday, an event aimed at helping with everything employability.

Solent Futures advisor, Judith Hanley, says: “We’ve tried to cover the whole spectrum of different kinds of employer, as well as full time, part time, placement and voluntary opportunities.

“We’re also helping students with their social media, providing free LinkedIn photos, and we’ve got employers helping out with CV checks. The fair is everything to do with helping students be more employable.”

Also at the event was Solent Futures’ newest initiative, The Clothing Closet, which provides professional outfits to students attending an interview or starting a new job who don’t have the money to buy something themselves. Clothes are provided by charities Clic Sargent and Martha’s House in return for donations from the charity bins located around the University.

One attendee at the fair was Nicola Parr, who graduated from BEng (Hons) Audio and Acoustic Engineering earlier this year and now works for telecommunications company Arqiva as a graduate engineer.

She says: “This time last year, I was in my third year and didn’t know what to do, so was trying to find out about graduate schemes, internships – basically anything I could get my hands on to try and secure my future.

“At the fair, I found out more about Arqiva and signed up to the professional mentoring scheme that Solent Futures run here. Through that, I got a seven-week internship at Arqiva and, once that finished, I was offered a role on the graduate scheme.

“It’s all down to the Placement and Graduate Fair for giving me the opportunities I was looking for.”