Wirral fashion graduate lands dream job with Abercrombie & Fitch

As sexy American imports go, they don’t come much bigger or more attractive than fashion giant Abercrombie & Fitch.

Known for its provocative billboard campaigns and its dimly lit, club-style shops, the A&F brand is now a phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic.

So to land a job with the retailer, which has more than 1,000 stores around the world, would be a career coup for any designer.

Laura Mees-Harris, though, had claimed a coveted role with the company before she’d even graduated.

Now, just two months after leaving university, the 23-year-old from Meols in Wirral is preparing to jet off to A&F’s Ohio base to take up a job as an assistant designer.

Although, she admits, it’s all happened so fast she’s still feeling shell-shocked by the offer.

The opportunity of a lifetime came about while Laura was in her third year at Northumbria University in Newcastle studying fashion design.

Having decided to focus on menswear, the former West Kirby Grammar girl was one of a around 100 students invited to take part in a Back to School project set by Abercrombie.

“They came to the university in the summer to scout and we were asked to design an autumn collection, four full outfits, by the following February,” she explains.

“The idea was to take their brand and their identity, which is really strong and important to them, and make it a bit different. They briefed us about what they were after and they came in two or three times before the end of the project to point us in the right direction and make suggestions.

“Then in February they came back to look at everyone’s work and they chose about 40 of us to interview. I tried not to put all my hopes on it because it’s so easy to get heartbroken, and with fashion you have to learn to stay strong because obviously some people will like your work and some won’t.”

The A&F recruiters were clearly impressed, though, and two weeks later Laura was told she was one of those selected to fly out to American to be interviewed.

“When they put up the list of who they wanted, I couldn’t believe it,” she says, “because there were so many talented people on the course.”

Source: Dawn Collinson, Liverpoolecho.co.uk, Wednesday 31st August 2011

University of Aberdeen agrees £9,000 fees for non-Scots

The University of Aberdeen has become the first in Scotland to adopt greatly increased fees for students from England and the rest of the UK.

Its governing body has opted for a five-fold rise in the charges.

Students will face charges of £9,000 for all subjects for each year of study from next year.

However, there will be special discounts to cap the total bill for the four-year courses at £27,000 - one year free for paying for three.

University leaders opted for annual fees of £9,000, the maximum announced by the Scottish government in June.

It is well above the present level of £1,800 for most degrees, and £2,800 for medicine.

The university said it expected a healthy demand.

Principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, Prof Ian Diamond, said: "As Scotland's third oldest university, and the fifth most ancient in the UK, the University of Aberdeen has a long track record as a destination of choice for students from other parts of the UK.

"Maintaining a fee at the current level for students from the rest of the UK is no longer an option."

He added: "It is important that able students from every part of the UK, including Scotland, can study at Scotland's great universities, whatever their background, and we will continue to offer an extensive range of bursaries and scholarships for all students.

"We believe that today's decision will enable the University of Aberdeen to continue to deliver first rate education and internationally recognised research and to further develop its ability to attract world-class scholars."

The National Union of Students said it recognised the case for raising fees to prevent Scottish campuses becoming a cheap option.

However, it believes education should always be free.

Robin Parker, president of NUS Scotland, said: "We fully reject any increase in fees but this is a disastrous decision.

"It's urgent that students get clarity about what bursaries will be available to protect fair access.

"Unless the university comes forward with a strong bursary package, students from the rest of the UK will be paying more for a degree than at Oxford or Cambridge University.

"This is nothing more than cashing in on students from the rest of the UK."

There has been widespread criticism of debt levels for students and because of a potential drop in demand.

Earlier this year it emerged there had already been a slump of 8.3% in the number of English students applying for places in Scotland.

The University and College Union (UCU) said it was disappointed with the move by Aberdeen University.

Mary Senior from the UCU said: "Our worst fears that some Scottish universities will ignore the minister and charge the highest possible fee are already coming to fruition."

Source: BBC.co.uk, Friday 26th August 2011 

Job-seeker Jade has high hopes of a career with Cathay Pacific

Graduate Jade Telford-Simms has gone to the other side of the world to follow her dream of a high-flying career.

Would-be pilot Jade, 22, had her hopes of becoming an RAF pilot dashed by Armed Forces’ spending cuts so she’s headed to New Zealand to try her luck there.

A qualified glider instructor, Jade plans to teach in Christchurch with the ultimate aim of seeking residency and joining the New Zealand Air Force.

She’s also got her fingers crossed that an interview with Cathay Pacific might lead to a job.

Jade, who lived in Bennetthorpe and is a former pupil of The McAuley Catholic High School, decided to try her luck abroad after failing to get a job at home, despite having a good degree from a top university and work experience.

Hard-working Jade had juggled her studies in philosophy and theology at the University of London with a job as an assistant manager of a pub and keeping up her flying.

Before she flew off this month Jade said: “I kept flying all the way through university, juggling it with my studies and my job. I wonder how I fitted it all in now.

“But it has been hard to find work. I’ve got a lot of experience, but I can’t even get a bar job.

“Then I thought if the RAF aren’t recruiting pilots at the moment I would try something completely different.

“I know people in New Zealand from my time working in London and it will be a fantastic change of scenery.

“It is cheaper to fly a glider out there and there is a working holiday scheme which means I will be able to work.”

Jade has been flying gliders solo since she was a 17-year-old air cadet and qualified as an instructor the following year, teaching fellow cadets at Syerston Airfield, near Newark.

She said: “I’ve always been fascinated with anything that can fly. My grandfather used to keep birds of prey and they fascinated me.

Jade worked for months in a Doncaster call centre to fund her new life in New Zealand.

Source: Thornegazette.co.uk, Sunday 28th August 2011

Regional graduate schemes offer viable alternative to big city life

Graduates who view London as the only place to work may be missing out on the benefits of many regional schemes.

Location, location, location may be all-important when it comes to buying a house, but what about when starting your career? The chances are many graduates will again turn to London: this year's High Fliers UK Graduate Careers Survey showed the capital is the preferred employment destination for 48% of graduate job hunters and first choice career destination for students at 25 of the 30 universities surveyed.

But despite the depressed state of the jobs market, it may come as a surprise that some of the UK's biggest employers struggle to fill places on their graduate schemes based in regional offices due to a lack of interest from applicants.

Stephen Isherwood, head of graduate recruitment at accountants Ernst & Young, says while the company has around 700 graduate trainee places each year, it often has trouble filling its regionally based ones. "It's more in the satellite offices to London – Reading, Southampton or Luton, for example – where we see less demand," he says. Offices such as Aberdeen and Inverness also tend to be hard to fill because of their geographical remoteness."

Andrew Whitmore, assistant director of the University of Manchester careers service, says graduates often prefer to stay in the large metropolitan areas to retain links with their circle of university friends, but in a squeezed jobs market they may be missing a trick by narrowing their options in this way.

"In London and the bigger cities, you get a lot of head offices and specialist functions," he says. "You'll find that graduate schemes there are pretty much full, but that may not necessarily be the case for Croydon or Milton Keynes, for example.

"In Manchester a lot of students want to work in the city centre, but they're not so keen to go to Oldham or Wilmslow, or other places to the north and south," Whitmore says. "We run some one-year paid placements and I recall someone very cannily saying, 'I'm not applying for the city centre, I'm going for Middlewich in east Cheshire, because I don't think other students will want to go there.' He's right; we won't get many applicants for that placement, probably half a dozen. But anything in the city centre, we'll get 200-300 applications."

Outside London, the financial services scene tends to be dominated by small groups of local firms, such as in Bristol, where Hargreaves Lansdown employs around 650 people. Even so, Hargreaves Lansdown last year reportedly struggled to fill its graduate scheme.

Peter Hargreaves, the firm's chief executive, admits that while Bristol cannot compete with the variety of careers the capital can offer, regionally based firms can still be great places to start out. "It's easier to be noticed in a provincial firm," he says. "And once people get a job in London it can be very difficult for them to leave again unless it's for lifestyle reasons, so it's a very good place to start."

Ernst & Young's Isherwood says it is often a combination of location and the kind of work on offer that puts graduates off. "Vacancies for tax work in a regional office can be hard to fill, for example," he says. "But the career path is exactly the same, other than that you might find yourself working in slightly smaller teams."

Added to which, says Hargreaves, there are simpler reasons to want to work outside London. "It's a much nicer life," he claims. "Most of my staff cycle or walk to work and their working day is shorter because they spend less time commuting. And there's a better social life attached to regional firms, in that people tend to live closer together."

Source: Graham Snowdon, Guardian.co.uk, Friday 26th August 2011

Why I became an apprentice instead of a graduate

Engineer Victoria Shepherd chose to become an apprentice at the age of 17 rather than get a degree. She says her decision shocked her teachers but it was the best thing she could have done to advance her career.

Name: Victoria Shepherd

Age: 19

Occupation: Engineer

Company: Arqiva, the international broadcaster

When I was 17 I made a choice, against everyone’s apparent better judgement, that I would become an apprentice. Even despite crippling university fees and no promise of jobs at the end of long courses, my decision to go on an apprenticeship scheme still seems out of the ordinary to many people.

Two years on, as a result of that choice and a great deal of effort, I’m the first woman broadcast engineer to work in the satellite master control room at Arqiva’s head office near Winchester. When you watch satellite television, I’m one of the people making sure that the show reaches your TV set.

I’ve never really done what people might expect. As a child, while my friends dreamed of being supermodels or popstars, I wanted to go into IT and build computers.

I’ve never learned particularly well from being talked at, so by the time I came to make my choices in my first year at sixth form, I’d already made up my mind that I didn’t want to spend another three years staring at a whiteboard. This decision didn’t sit well with my teachers. And it’s easy to see why I was rocking the boat.

My sixth form college sends a large number of students to Oxford and Cambridge each year, and it’s very proud of that fact. So when I announced that I was looking for a company in order to do an apprenticeship, I was urged to reconsider. Careers advisers seemed to think that I’d only ever work in a low-skilled job without a degree. I came up against a lot of opposition to the fact that nowadays, there are many other valid options for young people looking to enter the world of work.

I stood my ground. My parents really helped – they didn’t try to push me either way. They had no desire to see me waste three years of my life that I could spend applying real skills to a real job.

I’ve since been asked why I even bothered with A-levels – why not go straight into an apprenticeship then? I’ll be first to admit that my A-levels in general studies, IT, drama and history don’t exactly scream ‘engineer’, but perhaps that’s another argument against schools limiting choice to overly-academic subjects.

What my A-levels did teach me, however, was the importance of being able to think for myself. At GCSE level you’re spoon-fed everything – the texts you need to read, the questions to explore. At A-level a lot more of this is left up to you to identify and research, and that’s the most important lesson to learn, whatever subjects you study. I don’t think I’d have got as far as I have now without that crash course in thinking for myself.

My first week at Arqiva was unnerving – after being shown the control rooms, which supervise the transmission of television channels all over the country, I didn't think I would ever learn how to operate it all. However, I surprised myself – and my new colleagues – with how quickly I picked everything up. I spent time with various departments to work out where my strengths and weaknesses were.

The key for me was getting hands-on time using the equipment and finding out that the theory doesn’t always match up with the practice. That’s what I worry about most – eager new engineering graduates spilling out of universities, believing that every little bit of theory they’ve been told will work in practice because “the book” says so.

Many of my friends who went to university and begged me to do the same for the sake of my career are now coming to the final year of their courses, and are now only just starting to look for jobs and begin their careers. Meanwhile, I’m already well into mine, and wouldn’t change that for the world.

I’ve been at Arqiva for three years now and I couldn’t be happier. The job isn’t for everyone – you expect your TV to work all night, so the graveyard shift comes with the territory. I’ll even go out and work with other departments on my days off to make the most of the opportunities I’ve been presented with. If you’re willing to put in the effort, there’s no reason why you can’t go as far, if not further, than anyone leaving university.

I’m now an ambassador for science, technology, engineering and maths subjects. This means I go into schools to promote my skills to young learners, actively encouraging them to enjoy their subjects and inform them about the unique career opportunities that are available to them.

I’d like to think I’m making up for the sort of career advice I was given when I decided to do an apprenticeship; the reality is that with the rise in tuition fees, many now feel they cannot afford to go to university and the emotional protests we saw earlier this year demonstrate just how important going to uni still is to many 16-18 year olds.

I would urge them, however, to look beyond the pressure that still remains in many schools to apply for university and embrace the wide range of other options that are available to them. I did and I haven’t looked back since.

Source: Victoria Shepherd, Telegraph.co.uk, Thursday 25th August 2011

“A Graduate Job Or Your Money Back” – (Well, A Bit Of It...)

The London School of Business and Finance are offering a “No job, less fees” deal for graduates of their private school.

Any student who gets at least a 2:2 degree on the School’s Trium programme will be offered £2,500 of their fees back if they fail to secure a full time graduate job within six months of graduation.

The incentive is quite impressive and it will certainly attract a few undergraduates to boost the School’s current 16,000 students. However, it’s worth pointing out that since the degree lasts for three years with fees totalling close to £30,000, the £2,500 cashback offer might not actually be a great deal of comfort if you fail to find a graduate job after six months.

That said, no incentive is to be sniffed at, and one of the other huge benefits of the Trium programme at the London School of Business and Finance is that students also have access to an internship as part of the course.

Group managing director of the School, Valery Kisilevsky, said that an agreement had been reached with Accenture, the global management consultant, to take on 240 of their graduates.

Summing up the breadth of experience that students would receive from the Trium programme, Ms Kisilevsky said: “There are about 2 million graduates struggling to find jobs. It's not the quality of the degree or education that is the problem, but they are lacking certain skills. Having language skills and work experience are key aspects that will add to the undergraduate programme.”

Source: Employment4students.co.uk, Thursday 25th August 2011

Nepotism alive and well as one in three lands job through family members

One in three Brits has landed a job through a friend or family member - proving that nepotism is alive and well in the British workplace, a study has shown.

Researchers found that 11 million people are either working with a relative who gave them the role, or in a position which a family member helped them secure.

Over a third (34 per cent) dodged the interview process completely after getting a nod from a friend.

But working with friends or family doesn't always mean you are in for an easy ride - half of those polled have found it hard to live up to expectations.

One in ten have left soon after they started amid bad feeling among other staff about nepotism.

The study of 3,000 workers by Aldi Graduate Recruitment confirms that the old adage 'it's not what you know, but who you know' still rings true.

Nearly two thirds of respondents believe that good contacts are just as important as qualifications when it comes to getting a job.

Richard Holloway, Head of Graduate Recruitment at Aldi, said: ''Recent graduates are having a tougher time than ever with the job market becoming more and more competitive and young adults are looking for employment through various means - friends, family and social networking.

''Having the right qualifications is what many employers look for in new graduates but it's better to be a strong all-rounder with extra-curricular activities and interests.

''In this tough climate it's essential to develop contacts and relationships in your chosen field whilst also bringing other skills to the work place such as self-motivation, dedication and leadership qualities.''

It seems graduates are a lot savvier now when it comes to using networking and social skills, with more than a third of people keep in touch with former bosses or colleagues purely because they hope they may one day be able to help their career.

Nearly half of those surveyed said they had got a job after staying on good terms with people they had interned for, done work experience with or met in a business setting.

Most agreed they would trust someone they know to do a better job than someone else.

Three quarters said that in the current climate and with high unemployment they would prefer to hire someone they know or have worked with previously, considering a complete stranger to be a 'gamble'.

More than half have said that since the recession they are much more likely to rely on contacts and relationships they have had with people in the past to find work.

Two thirds said they would turn to their former colleagues and family members to help them if they suddenly found themselves out of work.

Richard Holloway added: ''Through our Retail Placement Scheme, undergraduates have the opportunity to establish themselves within our business and develop relationships, with a view to achieving a full time position on the Area Management Programme once they have graduated.

''We are seeing more and more successful candidates through this route who are looking for a challenging career in retail.''

Source: Telegraph.co.uk, Wednesday 24th August 2011

A fifth of graduate workers earn less than school-leavers

One in five graduates earn less than the average worker educated to A-level standard, new figures show.

Data released today by the Office for National Statistics show that the worst paid 20 per cent of graduates had lower earnings in October to December last year than those who left school with qualifications at 18.

Fifteen per cent of graduates also earned less than those who left school at 16 with only GCSEs or equivalent qualifications.

However, overall employees educated to degree level earned 85 per cent more on average than those educated to GCSE level – although this has fallen from a high of 95 per cent in 1993.

During this period the percentage of people in the UK with a degree has more than doubled from 12 per cent in 1993 to 25 per cent in 2010.

This has resulted in a decline in the percentage of graduate workers holding the highest skilled jobs, such as managerial positions, engineering and accountancy jobs.

In 1993, 68 per cent of workers with a degree were employed in a job in the highest skill group, falling to 57 per cent in 2010.

Analysis shows the median hourly pay for employees educated up to around GCSE or equivalent level was £8.68, for those at A-level or equivalent £10, up to higher education but below degree level £12.60, and for those with a degree £16.10.

Those with no qualifications earned £6.93 on average and with other qualifications the median stood at £8.07

The Labour Force Survey also shows that those with a higher education qualification, but not a degree, earned around 45 per cent more than those with only GCSE level qualifications. Those educated to A-level or the equivalent earned around 15 per cent more than those leaving school at 16, down from 18 per cent in 1993.

There was also a fall in the percentage of working people with no formal educational qualifications, from 25 per cent in 1993 to 11 per cent in 2010.

This was mainly driven by people aged 50-64 in 1993 who, because of the education system in the 1960s and 70s, were less likely to have stayed on in school.

By 2010 these people were over the age of 64 and therefore likely to have retired.

Source: Jack Grove, Timeshighereducation.co.uk, Wednesday 24th August 2011

Caroline landed dream job after shunning university

A newly-qualified solicitor has given hope to students after getting her dream job – despite not going to university.

Caroline Gray, 29, left school after completing her A-levels and went straight into work as an office junior for law firm Fisher Jones Greenwood.

She has climbed the career ladder, completed her training and managed to become a solicitor, while holding down a full-time job.

Her message to students who have just received their A-level results is: “Don’t dismiss the value of experience, because working in the profession you are interested in counts for a lot.”

Miss Gray’s unusual career path started after she achieved two A grades and one B at A-level at Colchester Sixth Form College.

She said: “University never appealed to me and I wanted to start working. I started as an office junior in the post room and gained really good experience.”

She moved on to working as a legal secretary and spent several years training as a legal executive – specialising in family law.

By 2007, she had qualified, but had to wait two years before she started practising.

So, while working in the firm’s Colchester office, she was able to begin a graduate diploma in law – the equivalent to a law degree.

By 2009, she was working as a legal executive and had started studying for the legal practice course, her final step before becoming a solicitor.

Miss Gray passed in July and is looking forward to the graduation ceremony in September.

She said: “It is a relief and I am very proud of what I have achieved.”

She has done it while earning a salary, allowing her to avoid debt and buy a house.

She said: “I have never regretted doing it this way.

“I was aware it would take longer, but gaining the knowledge and experience and working every day around lawyers helped a lot.

“It is difficult. You have to be strict with yourself.

“Sometimes the last thing you want to do when you go home is get your head in the books, but if you are determined you can do it.”

With rising university fees, and no guaranteed jobs for graduates, she is delighted with the decisions she has made.

Kate Taylor, a partner at Fisher Jones Greenwood, said: “She has worked incredibly hard. It is not easy to study while doing a full-time job.

“She is a valued member of the family team and will make a very good solicitor.

“It is extremely important to us we look to give people the opportunity to progress and achieve their potential, and do all we can to support them.”

Miss Gray now works in the company’s Clacton office.

Source: Adam Cornell, Essexcountystandard.co.uk, Monday 22nd August 2011

Increase in graduate jobs been offered in the retail sector

According to the latest research by the Ashbridge Business School the UK retail industry is creating more job vacancies than ever before. During the recession many graduate were accepting the first job they were given, yet now some of the major retailers are starting to re-open their graduate trainee schemes aimed to give graduate quicker career progression.

Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has just re-opened its graduate trainee management scheme for the first time since 2009. Head of resourcing Jackie Hallums commented that “The Sainsbury’s Trainee Manager programme is designed to equip candidates with all of the skills and experience they need to make a great start to their career. In just over a year the candidates will be running their own team, making a difference to tens of thousands of customers each week. Also our trainees know that by joining Sainsbury’s they are joining a business that will let them rise to the top.”

The Sainsbury’s scheme is also open to school leavers, although most industry insiders believe graduates to have better skill sets that will enable them to cope with the pressures of work.

John Lewis is also another retailer that has launched its graduate trainee scheme and is number 11 in ‘The Times Top 100 Graduate Retailers’ list.

Although the jobs market for graduates is still uncertain the availability of graduate schemes is starting to improve which will be good news for many unemployed graduates.

Source: Pareto.co.uk, Monday 22nd August 2011

Still Plenty of Jobs for Graduates

Despite recent gloom about youth employment, there are still plenty of graduate jobs available, Nick Godwin from student and graduate careers website Gradplus has said.

"We have seen a large increase in the number of recent graduates registering with the website in recent months looking for the latest graduate jobs and graduate training schemes. Despite the relative gloom about job prospects it is plain wrong to suggest that no employers are taking on graduates – there are plenty of jobs available to the right candidates if you look in the right place."

Gradplus.com has come up with some top tips for graduate recruitment success that include:

1. Keep in touch with as many people as you can – course-mates, past employers and lecturers as well as friends, as they can be a good source of information and can give you insider knowledge about graduate jobs.

2. Think about your online profile and the impression it gives of you to potential graduate employers. Companies are increasingly using social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin to attract people to their brand via competitions, interactive games and viral campaigns.

3. Join your university alumni society, a great way to network!

4. Research everything. Decide what industry your ideal graduate job is in then research everything about it including the type of work available, the companies in that sector, starting salaries and career progression.

5. Make sure your applications are high quality. There are an average of 83 graduates applying for each graduate job according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) so make sure that your application stands out for the right reasons. You must tailor your CV for each graduate job you apply to and get someone else to proof everything before you send it.

Source: Raleighinternational.org, Friday 19th August 2011

Microsoft: IT Graduate Decline Could Jeopardise UK Jobs

Microsoft’s education director warns the UK of the consequences of a drop in IT A-level students.

Just as many students are finding out their exam results, a worrying trend is developing that could impact British jobs in the future.

The warning came from Steve Beswick, UK director of education for Microsoft, speaking to Computer Weekly.

It seems that what is causing him concern is the decline in numbers of A-level students opting to take IT-related subject.

Microsoft’s Beswick was responding to the 2011 result figures that showed a 1.8 percent decline in the number of students taking IT-related A-levels.

The 1.8 percent decline on the surface seems modest, but dig a little deeper and it seems that five years ago the figures showed that 20,441 A-level students were taking IT courses. This had dropped to just 16,251 in 2010, and in 2011 this fell even further to just 15,962.

This has serious implications for the UK’s IT skill levels going forward.

“The downward trend around computer science numbers is a worrying trend from an IT perspective and a business point of view,” Beswick was quoted as saying by Computer Weekly. He also warned the decline in IT A-levels could lead to increased offshoring of IT jobs.

“IT jobs are growing at four times the rate of the standard jobs market. With fewer people with appropriate IT skills coming out of education, there’ll be no-one to fill the jobs available in the marketplace. We could see more off-shoring to India and China as a result,” Beswick reportedly said.

Beswick apparently believes the IT sector needs to do more work to inspire young people from ages as young as eight years old. But in the meantime businesses could fill IT job vacancies by looking to maths and engineering graduates.

There are well known skills shortages in the IT sector at the moment, especially in the security and mainframe environments.

In July the boss of the UK’s GCHQ complained that his department was losing valuable cyber security experts to the likes of Google, Microsoft and Amazon. And in February e-skills UK revealed that the UK is suffering something of a recruitment crisis, which sees companies struggling to fill an estimated 110,000 new IT jobs created this year.

Meanwhile the Open University recently launched new undergraduate degrees in IT and Computing to help close the UK skills gap. It has also licensed the International Data Group (IDG) CIO Executive Council’s Pathways competency framework earlier this year in order to give potential IT managers a route from IT staff to board level.

Other initiatives are also trying to fill the IT skills gap in the UK.

These include the Cyber Security Challenge, which is now in its second year of operation, and in March CA Technologies announced the creation of its Mainframe Academy to combat the mainframe skills shortage.

Source: Eweekeurope.co.uk, Friday 19th August 2011

Wallace and Gromit creators hire film graduate to work on next big hit

Wallace and Gromit creators Aardman Animation has employed a Staffordshire University film graduate to work on their next big hit. Jon Ryan, 23, from Lemington Spa, landed his dream job as a motion camera operator on the animated comedy The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists.

The BSc (Hons) Film Production and Technology graduate has been working on the film since March, using the skills he learnt on his course developing and using new camera technology.

He said: “For my final year project I was looking at interactive media and 360 degree cinema that could be projected onto a curved screen. So I tried to create a rig that could film in 360 degrees using different equipment and testing different ideas.

“In the end I got four small cameras and I connected them all together so each camera could film a different angle. I was looking at new technologies and what images they could get.”

“With my job at Aardman, when the camera needs to move, because it’s stop motion, it’s controlled by motors. I program the motors to move where I want the camera to go. And that way I can do that move over and over again.

“Motion control is relatively new but it’s used in everything now and there’s not that many people that can do it.”

He added: “There’s nothing like working for Aardman. Pixar have a great reputation for their work place and Aardman is just the same. In the building, there are great places for people to meet and come up with new ideas. It works really well.”

As he is working at Aardman freelance, Jon is also a partner in Yeah Sure Man!, a film production company based in the Midlands that he set up with a friend.

He said: “We have just come back from filming the Nass Festival, in Somerset, where there were only two of us with filming equipment, so we covered it with backstage press access for the organisers. It was so much fun.

“We’re currently building the website for the company and hoping to move this forward in the future.”

Source: Katy Cowan, Creativeboom.co.uk, Thursday 18th August 2011

Student wakes up to a dream job with Disney

Mickey Mouse, Buzz Lightyear, Simba and Nemo are just some of the well-loved characters Disney has brought to life - and now a Belfast man has been tasked with working on other animated characters for the world famous studio.

Jonathan McKee (23) has landed a dream job with Walt Disney after impressing the famous animators with one of his cartoons.

The University of Ulster first class honours graduate in design for visual communication will be designing and drawing characters for upcoming Disney TV shows after winning a prestigious international competition, backed by the celebrated US company.

Jonathan, from Dundonald, wowed the judges with his 60-second animation, Dreamcatcher.

"During a visit to China last year I heard the story of a make-believe ghost called Baku which children called upon to destroy their nightmares when they became frightened at night," he said.

"That inspired The Dreamcatcher."

Jonathan's animation, entirely hand-drawn and hand-painted, depicts a battle between Baku and one of these nightmares.

The 2011 Design and Art Direction (D&AD) had asked entrants to create a minute-long animation incorporating a lead character which embodied the themes of hope and optimism.

The character had to be of a unique design and appeal to children aged between four and 14 years old.

"D&AD awards are seen as the Oscars of the design industry and I was overwhelmed to win first prize in the student animation category," Jonathan said.

He received his award from Orion Ross, a vice-president with Disney Channels, during a glittering ceremony in London.

"As we were walking off stage he asked me to give him a call during the summer if I was free to do some work and I jumped at the chance," he revealed.

"I contacted him and now have a contract to work on animated character designs for forthcoming Disney TV shows - but I can't give away any details."

Jonathan sends his drawings to a London-based company which sends them back with any changes and refinements.

"Feedback has been really positive and I hope to further strengthen my skills during a five-day boot camp at the D&AD graduate academy, which I'll be attending at the end of the month.

"That could open up a whole new world of opportunities as it's a chance to be spotted by some of the most influential names in the industry."

University of Ulster Professor of Graphic Design John McMillan said: "Jonathan's D&AD success reflects not only his talent but the intelligence, hard work and rigour that underpinned his study."

Source: Lindsay Fergus, Belfasttelegraph.co.uk, Thursday 18th August 2011

Morrisons To Fund Degrees Leading To Graduate Retail Jobs

The supermarket chain Morrisons has plans to fund up to 1,000 degrees for A-level students who are interested in taking up graduate retail jobs with their company. At a cost of up to £4,000 in tuition fees for each student, the initiative could cost the Bradford company in excess of £4 million.

The Morrisons students will be signed up over the next 18 months and will be required to study from home for 8 or more hours a week. In addition to study time, the students will also take part in intensive courses in their region and will embark on a six month training plan with Morrisons.

Up to 100 students could be enrolled on these Morrisons “Futures” programmes in the next month or two and the following 900 will be sourced before the end of 2012.

Although the degrees from the University of Bradford School of Business are tweaked in favour of building future mangers of Morrisons, the supermarket chain is keen to point out that the skills and qualifications gained during these foundation degrees in retail management will be transferable to almost any other company in the retail sector. However, if the students stay with Morrisons then it is possible that they could be store managers in less than seven years.

Norman Pickavance, director of human resources at Morrisons, highlighted just how career-advancing these degrees could be in the hunt for a graduate retail job. “This is an opportunity for young people who have the right drive and attitude to reach senior management levels in the company. It offers a genuine alternative to self-funded university qualifications,” said Mr Pickavance.

Source: Employment4students.co.uk, Sunday 14th August 2011

Bright students seek jobs instead of university

Bright teenagers are preparing to shun university in favour of finding a job amid intense competition for degree courses and fears over rising graduate debt.

Research by The Daily Telegraph shows a sharp rise in the number of students aged 17 and 18 directly applying to leading companies after leaving school and college.

Employers such as Network Rail, Marks & Spencer, Laing O’Rourke, the engineering firm, and the accountancy firms PricewaterhouseCoopers and Grant Thornton are reporting huge rises in applications for A-level entry jobs this summer.

The disclosure, which comes days before students throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland receive their A-level results, casts doubt on claims that degrees are a prerequisite for careers at top companies.

The exam results are expected to trigger the most intense scramble for university places ever seen as record numbers of students compete for courses before the introduction of annual tuition fees of up to £9,000 in 2012. With those who missed out on places last year adding to demand, it is believed 220,000 out of 707,000 applicants in total may be rejected.

The demand for places has already prompted an estimated third of universities to declare themselves “full” a week before results are published.

In a series of other developments yesterday, it emerged that:

A record one in 10 A-levels could be awarded an A* grade — a rise of around one percentage point on last year — which will make it even harder for universities to pick out the brightest students;

The head of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) said that schools were wrecking teenagers’ degree ambitions by advising them to study the wrong A-levels — leaving them locked out of the most academically demanding institutions;

One of Britain’s biggest exam boards, Edexcel, apologised after wrongly posting thousands of A-level results on its website on Saturday — almost a week early.

University still remains the main aspiration for most schoolchildren. But the competition for places is prompting more sixth-formers to seek other options.

These include applying to European universities where tuition fees are often a fraction of the £3,290 being charged in England from September.

Yesterday, Maastricht University in the Netherlands, which charges £1,526 a year, said it had seen a 15-fold rise in applications from Britain this summer.

But some teenagers are shunning university altogether to focus on apprenticeships and other school entry-level programmes. According to figures from the Association of Graduate Recruiters, more than a quarter of leading businesses employ staff directly from schools and colleges and a fifth of other companies are considering opening up recruitment schemes to this age group.

For the first time, Boots, the chemist, is running an apprenticeship scheme for sixth-formers this year.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has so far received 1,600 applications for just 100 places on its employment scheme for A-level students. Applications for the programme, which leads to a chartered accountant qualification in four years, have doubled in a year and increased almost fourfold since 2008.

Gaenor Bagley, the firm’s head of people, said: “Students are being forced to look at different options for their future and university may not be the right solution. Anyone who has a genuine interest in pursuing a career in business has options.”

Network Rail has received 8,000 applications for 200 places on its paid apprenticeship programme, up from just 4,000 in 2010. The firm said demand for positions was being caused by university leavers unable to find graduate jobs.

Marks & Spencer said applications for just 40 places on its management scheme had increased from 1,100 to 1,600 in a year. Laing O’Rourke said applications for its training scheme had increased by almost 10 per cent to 284 this summer, while Grant Thornton said it had 700 applications for school leaver-entry jobs.

The Government has created more than 100,000 extra apprenticeships for people aged 19 and over this year as an option for young people.

Source: Graeme Paton and Kate Griffin, Telegraph.co.uk, Monday 15th August 2011

Lady Gaga ditches top fashion labels for graduate designer

Her eccentric outfits trigger attention wherever she goes and she has relied on a number of globally acclaimed designers to fashion eye-catching numbers - one of her favourite labels being Alexander McQueen.

So one fashion student couldn't believe her luck when Lady Gaga opted for one of her designs.

Snapped at a press conference in Singapore last month the 25-year-old singer, who was promoting her album Born This Way, sported a nude coloured rubber dress by Birmingham fashion student Rebecca Short.

Gaga - who is notorious for her outlandish wardrobe choices - teamed the long-sleeved avant-garde design with a startling turquoise beehive, double rimmed sunglasses and white gloves.

Rebecca, 22, who tailored the dress for Graduate Fashion Week in London is now hoping that this exposure will lead to future commissions.

It was while she was on a month-long trip to Mexico, Guatemala and Belize that she first discovered that Lady Gaga had picked her dress and pictures were flooding the internet.

She said: 'I was getting all these messages from my friends telling me to look at Twitter as there was a picture on there. It was all so surreal but there it was.'

Gaga went on to post a photograph of her wearing the dress to her Twitpics and on her Facebook wall gaining more than 100,000 likes in less than a week along with dozens of comments, including 'gaga i love your style...go gagalicious!'

One of Gaga's most acclaimed stylists, Japanese born Nicola Formichetti has come up with some bizarre looks previously, one of the most outrageous being the 'meat dress' that she wore to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.

But Rebecca, who grew up near Sheffield was pleased with the way her neoprene dress had been styled.

She said: 'The stylist had made it look amazing. It is a very minimalistic dress. I had focused on shape and structure with experimental draping.

'I think she chose it because it was stripped quite bare so could be styled however you want. She had styled it completely differently from how I had done it.'

Since graduating from Birmingham City University with a degree in fashion design Rebecca has landed a job with a boutique fashion label Suzannah. Her fashion hereos include Calvin Klein, Raff Simons and Jill Sander.

She added that the New Yorker - who is one of the best-selling artists worldwide with the estimated sale of 64 million records - had returned the dress in impeccable condition. 'It is sample size but they haven't altered it at all.'

Rebecca was one of many budding designers who sent outfits to Lady Gaga's stylist in the hope that their creations would be chosen.

She said: 'We all went to Graduate Fashion Week at the end of term and took our designs there. Lady Gaga's stylist was there and she asked if she could borrow the dress. I knew she had a few designs so I didn't expect to hear anything else.'

Rebecca, who is now considering auctioning the dress, added: 'I am a big fan of Lady Gaga's style and thought she looked amazing in it.

'And the stylist has said to keep in touch and send her any future designs so I am hoping it may lead to other things.'

Source: Sadie Whitelocks, Dailymail.co.uk, Monday 15th August 2011

Oracle on recruitment drive; graduate jobs growing

Technology company Oracle has today announced a major recruitment drive. The organisation, which provides business software and hardware systems, plans to recruit 1,700 new employees in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This includes many entry-level positions, suitable for graduates or those looking for an early career-change, a number of which will be based in the UK.

Graduate jobs available include both technical roles, such as developer and engineer, and sales positions. Many of the roles are in the latter group, for which technical degrees are not required.

Oracle’s vice president of technology solutions, Alan Hartwell, commented: ‘It is safe to say this is one of the biggest graduate recruitment drives the company has ever undertaken in the UK.’

The news about Oracle follows hot on the heels of a number of other positive developments for IT job hunters. Last month a survey carried out by a membership group for e-retail organisations found that job opportunities were growing in e-commerce, with 63% of online businesses increasing staff levels over the past year. Earlier in July, technology consulting firm BAE Systems Detica announced that it was increasing its graduate recruitment from 120 in 2010 to 150 this year and 200 next year.

Source: Targetjobs.co.uk, Wednesday 10th August 2011

Teesside University internships create hundreds of jobs

More than 420 jobs will be created over the next three years by Teesside University in a £4.6m project to put graduates on internships with smaller businesses.

The project, which is jointly funded by the university and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), aims to match graduate skills to the needs of hundreds of businesses in the North East. The ERDF announced yesterday that it had agreed to match-fund the university scheme.

Professor Graham Henderson, vice- chancellor and chief executive of Teesside University, said: "We are fully committed to working in partnership with business and to boosting graduate employment prospects, and I greatly welcome this ERDF support for our efforts.

This funding not only helps us to play a key role in improving business competitiveness through expert knowledge exchange and innovation but will also be invaluable in helping us to create literally hundreds of new job opportunities within small businesses in our region."

A major strand of the project is the Graduates for Business initiative, which will see 375 graduates taking up salaried internships with SMEs throughout the region over the next three years, 125 per year.

"We know from experience that internships work for both the company and the graduate," said Laura Woods, the university's director of academic enterprise. "This initiative builds on a successful scheme that we ran last year, placing 250 graduates with employers, who are fully involved in recruitment and selection, to ensure a good match between their needs and what the graduates can offer."

A second strand is the Knowledge Exchange Internships (KEIs) programme, which puts graduates into SMEs for six to 12 months to tackle specific business change projects.

Woods added: "A KEI is ideal for a company needing expert help with a short-term project, perhaps to introduce new technology or new working practices. As well as a full-time graduate on the staff, the company gets academic support to deliver its improvement programme.

Longer-term programmes of this type, known as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), are extremely successful but they normally last for two or three years. We realised there was also a need for shorter schemes to help smaller companies."

One of the university's partnership projects with business was the KTP with Middlesbrough-based engineering company Stanley Vickers which led to university graduate Sara Zarei joining the 60-year-old firm after she helped it improve its manufacturing efficiency and production potential.

The ERDF grant will support 30 KEI projects per year for the next three years, which will see it supporting a total of 90 graduates at 90 firms.

The project will also provide information, advice and guidance to help graduates find routes into work or help in setting up their own businesses in the region.

Source: Iain Laing, Nebusiness.co.uk, Friday 12th August 2011

KPMG To Fill 75,000 Graduate Finance Jobs In Next 3 Years

KPMG, the finance and professional service group, has said it will hire 75,000 graduates across the globe over the next three years. Up to 3,000 of the positions will be graduate finance jobs in London and other major cities in the UK.

In addition to the graduate position available over the next few years, KPMG will also hire an extra 175,000 staff in a massive recruitment drive.

Graduate jobs will be available in London and elsewhere for applicants who are interested in specialising in tax, auditing and general financial advisory services.

Head of Recruitment for KPMG in the United Kingdom, Iain McLaughlin, stressed that the graduate recruitment strategy was about more than headline-making figures: “While KPMG's firms plan to hire a large number of new graduate employees, it's important to note that our focus is about more than simply high volumes - it's about recruiting top talent to drive our growth now and into the future.”

“Globally, we are seeing a revitalised labour market, with students seeking international work experience. The competition for top talent is fierce,” warned Mr McLaughlin.

In order to draw the best graduate talent to KPMG, Mr McLaughlin said recruits would be afforded the chance to work with gifted professionals in the finance sector at ‘some of the world's most prestigious organisations.’

KPMG will recruit graduates from university campuses all over the world in an effort to keep an edge in an ever-globalising world.

Source: Employment4students.co.uk, Wednesday 10th August 2011

University unveils its job venture

A new scheme to provide Peterborough students with vital work experience has just been unveiled.

Academics at the University Centre Peterborough have been working with the Heritage Lottery Fund East of England to develop tailor-made placement opportunities for some students.

And the venture has notched up its first success with second year history and English student Helen Palmer, of Whittlesey.

She impressed the selection panel with her enthusiasm for local heritage and ideas for engaging with young people.

Abigail Hunt, the centre’s higher education programme leader for arts and sciences, said: “In an ever competitive job market it is crucial that students graduate from our degree programmes not only with a theoretical underpinning of a subject, but with a range of practical and transferable skills that ensure they can meet the demands of employers.”

Robyn Llewellyn, head of Heritage Lottery Fund East of England, said “We are looking forward to welcoming Helen.

He added: “It’s a really exciting opportunity to have a young person adding value to what we do by sharing her ideas about how we can engage even more communities in heritage.”

A centre spokesperson said there are still places available on the archaeology and landscape history degree and the English single honours degree course offered at University Centre Peterborough.

Source: Peterboroughtoday.co.uk, Thursday 4th August 2011

Why the world is queueing up to sit the MBA

More people than ever want to study for an MBA, the course first offered by Harvard more than a 100 years ago. The London Business School has had 3,500 applications for this month’s 400 places. Demand for business courses in the UK is up by 8 per cent.

Jane Delbene, the director of marketing at the Graduate Management Admissions Council, which sets the entry tests used by many business schools, says: “There’s an inverse relationship to the economy. When the economy’s down, people decide they want to go to business school.”

But, after the financial crash of 2008, business schools are improving their teaching of ethics. Diane Morgan, the associate dean of the London Business School (LBS), says: “We went through an MBA programme review – which we do every five years – and we’ve just moved our ethics course from the first half of the first term, and we’ve enhanced it to be a business, society and government course in the third term.”

The change has been influenced by business failures dating back to the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 – the responsibility of Enron, run by Jeff Skilling a former Harvard graduate now jailed for fraud – to the financial collapse of 2008. Ethics has been on the LBS curriculum since the school opened in Regent’s Park in the 1970s, when students were largely British with a common style of doing business. Now the school tries never to have two people of the same nationality in each study group of six or seven students, and it accepts that diversity has revealed differences in acceptable business behaviour.

“Now we look at ethics from a micro level – what it means to you – and at the macro level of what it means to the greater economy,” says Morgan. “The big debate is how we talk about bribery.

“We were seeing that, with such diverse classes, that there are different perspectives. We could not look at ethics as a stand-alone but in terms of government and the world the students will encounter.”

Students spend a term learning about finance, another on managing themselves then, after an internship, a whole term on how to engage with the world ethically. “That’s brand new from this month,” says Morgan.

There have never been so many people wanting to become MBAs (masters of business administration), the title Harvard coined originally and which is now used internationally. Of the 59 students who enrolled for the course at Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1908, only a quarter returned for the second year, but today the qualification is eagerly sought by a generation who know that an MBA will get them a job and better pay.

The Association of Business Schools has about 120 full members in Britain, and figures to be published soon will show an 8 per cent increase in students in the past year; the rise for 2009-10 was over 6 per cent. The country is covered, from Exeter to Edinburgh and Lancaster to London.

There are now 269,000 people studying business and administration in the UK plus 32,000 more reading economics. That 8 per cent increase outstrips the 5 per cent rise in the numbers in higher education generally and means that one student in every seven is on a business course. The increase in post-graduate business courses is 12 per cent.

But many places are being taken by overseas students impressed by British teaching. Morgan says: “When LBS started, we were mostly British, mostly men. Now about 90 per cent come from overseas.”

And although analysis of last month’s school exams will show girls taking commercial subjects are significantly outnumbered by boys, the split is even for all business degrees; on MBA courses, women fill 29 per cent of the places. Morgan hopes to raise that to 30 per cent for this month’s LBS intake to match the target for women in boardrooms set in February by Lord Davies’s committee inquiring into gender equality at the top of business.

Anna Abramovich, daughter of the Russian oligarch who owns Chelsea football club, is reported to be taking a business course in London, starting in September. And although she may not worry about the cost, the fees are not small.

They will be £53,900 this year at LBS, which tops one respected league table of UK schools (see box) – ahead, internationally, of US institutions such as Wharton, Harvard and Stanford. However, other British top-10s include schools at Ashridge, in Hertfordshire, and Bradford.

While not all fees are that high, Joe Clark, the head of policy at the Association of Business Schools, admits: “The top-level MBAs are eye-wateringly expensive.” A small number of people are sponsored by companies or foreign governments, but Mr Clark says: “The majority of them are paying themselves.” And people taking a postgraduate MBA have often had to give up a well-paid job to attend the course. LBS takes only people who have at least 10 years’ in work for its executive MBA, for instance.

When you consider that a three-year first degree at a large number of universities costs £27,000 in tuition fees alone, the cost of an MBA starts to look less expensive. On the other hand, managers who are still paying off their original undergraduate student loans may be reluctant to take on a further education cost, especially if their own children are approaching university age.

“I can see both possibilities,” says Ms Morgan. “We’re interested to see what impact it will have. It could change the mindset of how people view paid education.”

Mr Clark is also interested in how the Government’s policy on student fees will affect courses. “There’s a question in future of whether students will be prepared to pay to take on a postgraduate course when the are still in debt and repaying their first course.

“There seems to be growth in part-time study, and distance-learning is being offered more. It’s an easier way to fit it round earning, and the costs are lower.”

But people contemplating a business course ought to be capable of doing the sums. A survey of business schools found that 19 of the top 20 graduates claimed to have more than doubled their salaries after leaving – and the increase was 86 per cent even at the bottom end. LBS graduates claimed an average 124 per cent jump to the equivalent of $142,000 (£87,000) a year; the Stanford increase was 110 per cent to $165,000.

“You do your first degree in something you like, but you do your postgraduate in something to make money,” says Mr Clark, but he points out that different people gain different benefits. “People who go to Harvard are well driven anyway. The higher pay may well not come from anything they were taught; it may be from who they meet there.”

Most business schools squeeze the teaching into one year, although Manchester takes 18 months, LBS’s courses last 15 to 21 months and Edinburgh’s two years is more akin to the American model. Mr Clark suggests higher fees may make applicants seek better value, but there is no shortage of people wanting to attend business schools.

“It’s a pretty high selection test,” says Ms Morgan. “They have to do a GMAT (graduate management admissions test) to see how well they’ll do and write five essays on why they want to come to business school and what they will contribute.

“They need very strong references, and everyone that makes it through the first test is then interviewed and has to do an on-the-spot presentation on a topic they’re given during the interview. It’s a very extensive and rigorous process, and it’s very competitive throughout.”

The suspicion is that, with so many courses on offer from so many institutions, standards of entry and graduation are falling and that a qualification that was once rare is now common, diluting the value of an MBA.

Ms Delbene, who sets the entry tests, says: “Where once the MBA was wholly American, now more schools around the world are offering it so a lot more students are staying in Europe to attend graduate schools.”

She denies the entry test has become easier, but admits it has changed. The maximum score is 800 marks: a few business schools demand 700-plus; most of the top schools take people with scores above 600, but others are prepared to accept lower scores. However, she points out: “It’s only one element of the process.”

Ms Morgan admits: “We have quality indicators that we think are important to students coming in – maturity, a number of years of being in business, and being at the point where you’re starting to lead people.

“The proliferation is creating a bigger gap between the schools at the top and the others. I wouldn’t be so bold as to say they don’t have value but we have an ambitious vision, and I’m not sure if every other school does.”

It shows, she says, how graduates identify themselves. “Alumni will often identify themselves by their school rather than their degree,” she claims. “At other schools, they say they’ve got an MBA.”

Source: Richard Northedge, Independent.co.uk, Sunday 7th August 2011

Unpaid internships at charities are about more than money

With volunteer interns becoming an inescapable fixture of many offices, a consensus has emerged around the need to offer an intern wage – with increasing focus on those organisations that fail to do so. A recent Guardian poll found just over 60% of respondents believed charities shouldn't offer unpaid internships, while Tanya de Grunwald, writing for Cif, criticised major unnamed charities for offering these internships.

Having been a volunteer intern for a leading UK charity, and now a paid intern for another, I am familiar with internships in the third sector. I fully support those campaigning for an intern wage and I do not wish to see unpaid internships continue among for-profit companies. However, volunteer charity internships are distinctly different, and I am one of a growing number who have benefitted from them.

Charities, by their nature, work for nobler causes than for-profit organisations. They put the interests of the vulnerable at the heart of their work and in difficult economic times they remain as important as ever. As charities face their own financial problems they are increasingly turning to volunteer interns to help continue the work they do. The objective at the heart of a charity's work means that interns are often directly helping to change lives; this is profoundly different to the work interns do elsewhere.

The level of commitment and the reasons why interns feel so strongly about certain causes can be hard to grasp. Nevertheless, undervaluing just how significant a motivation this can be is a mistake. It is a central factor in why they choose to invest their time in a charity internship, confident in the belief that they are not only making a wise career choice, but also making a real difference. Charities recognise the role volunteer interns play in helping to complete vast workloads, and in return offer support to further careers. I received excellent support from my manager who encouraged me to apply for paid positions, offered help in completing applications and practice for interviews.

Concerns that volunteer internships negatively impact on social mobility often lie at the heart of criticisms. Coming from a low-income family I know the difficulties inherent in pursuing certain careers without having the necessary contacts. When it comes to improving social mobility having equal access is as important as any other factor. On this note charities should be commended for running truly open recruitment processes. They offer anyone, from any school, from any university, the same opportunity as the next person.

Of course, being able to afford to undertake an internship is also a critical consideration. However, it is under-reported that volunteer interns can claim state benefits. I claimed jobseeker's allowance and I know of others who claimed housing benefit, but there is a worrying lack of information over what interns are entitled to. As youth unemployment reaches worrying heights we should be pressing to see volunteer internships put on an equal footing with any other welfare-to-work programme.

With all internships the ultimate question is whether they will help gain employment, so the quality of experience gained is crucial. Given the growing strains on resources charities are increasingly offering interns the chance to play key roles in major projects. Only by being involved in challenging work can interns develop the abilities and experience to showcase their skills to potential employers.

There are examples of interns who have worked unpaid for prolonged periods, but equally there are many success stories. Those interns I worked alongside have used their experiences to find paid employment. In light of the difficulties faced by those interning for long periods, as Tanya references, we may be better focusing on why, after interning, they haven't gained enough quality experience to find a permanent position. Internship schemes run by many leading charities should act as a template for others. They offer a consistent level of quality that reassures interns their time will be well spent.

Volunteer internships with charities are being engulfed in an ever narrowing debate, one too focused on the issue of pay. If charities were to end volunteer internships they would lose a vital stepping-stone for those wanting to work in the third sector. Interns, and groups representing them, should give equal attention to how we can improve the quality of internships, such as establishing a code of best practice, to ensure that interns gain the most from their time.

Source: Daniel Breslin, Guardian.co.uk, Sunday 7th August 2011

Going gets tough for new graduates and job seekers

According to research, there are more than 80 candidates competing for every single job in the UK. The majority of these students are new graduates who are finding it extremely hard to cope with the current economic situation.

According to the data published by the Association of Graduate Recruiters; The most sought after are the off course the well paid jobs – that have become so difficult to get that the number of candidates have almost trebled since 2009. Research reveals that more than 200 candidates are applying for every single position available in investment banks, and over 150 candidates are applying for every job in the energy sector.

As a result of this high competition, the selection criteria are also becoming tougher. On average the student who score 2:1 are now considered below average or just about acceptable for 75pc of the firms out there.

The report also suggests that a large number of these qualified graduates are likely to end up with low paid work. This is also due to the current economic difficulties and their expectancy of low salaries. On the flipside, the top 200 companies are saying that they are creating more graduate jobs.

The new graduates also have to face competition from highly experienced workers who were laid off in the recent months. It’s hard for a company not to choose someone with years of experience over a fresh graduate, while offering them the same level of salaries.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of vice-chancellors’ umbrella group Universities UK, said: “This is encouraging news. While the recession has been very hard for the whole jobs market, there are signs that things are improving for graduates.

“Competition for some graduate positions remains intense, but the predicted rise in the number of graduate vacancies is positive. It’s also good to see that average starting salaries have increased slightly during these turbulent few years. UK graduates are still highly valued by employers.

Source: Newsden.net, Sunday 7th August 2011

Speaking from experience: a parent's view on sending children to university

University loans, applications, empty-nest syndrome and outside toilets... One parent explains what it’s really like.

Jane Scutt’s eldest son, Ben, did mathematics at Brasenose College, Oxford, and her youngest, William, will start his final year in Sport and Exercise Science this September at Sheffield Hallam University.

What were the key issues in the run-up to uni and how much time did you devote to them?

The A-level subjects your child picks can really limit or widen their university choice. In an ideal world they will achieve their best possible grades and go off to their university of choice, but one only has the guidance of teachers as to predicted grades. If your child knows they want to study at a particular institution, it obviously makes the process easier. Some schools have parents’ evenings to explain the options. Set aside time to go to any meetings the school offers, read the university prospectuses, attend their open days and fill in the relevant forms. We and our sons visited all of the universities they applied to, which can be time-consuming – especially if you live in Kent and your child picks Edinburgh!

Did your child’s school do enough to help?

Not really, although they did stage mock interviews for potential Oxbridge candidates. I think this interview practice should be offered to all their students. Tips on how to conduct themselves, shake hands, look people in the eye, and so on, would be very useful. It would also be great if every school had someone parents could talk to about their concerns.

With hindsight, what would you have done differently?

I would have done more research into accommodation for our first son, Ben. We were really chuffed when he was offered a conditional place at Oxford, but we were concerned about money as we still had two other sons at home. Ben was offered a choice of three grades of accommodation and we opted for the lowest one, assuming that as it was Oxford it would be rather fabulous anyway — and it was at a price we thought acceptable. The initial gateway through one of the lodge gates, opening onto a quadrangle surrounded by beautiful stone buildings, was breathtaking. But we then came across an ugly concrete block. Our son’s small room was shabby to say the least – his nearest toilet was either two flights up or down a communal stairwell and his nearest bathroom was two flights down, and outside. I was appalled. Luckily, being a lad, he didn’t seem too fazed by it. Once we were in the know, his digs were much improved in years two and three.

Could you have been better prepared in any areas, and what information would have helped?

Deadlines, the loan system and things like an out-of-date passport can really catch you out. Also, the style of university can get overlooked by parents and students in the rush to attend meetings on the open days. Is the university formal and stuffy or is it more relaxed and convivial? Some students enjoy being singled out, their name known to the professors; others prefer anonymity. Another thing to consider when reading the syllabus is what jobs the course will equip them for. How do employers regard the degree? Some are quite specific while others offer more scope in terms of career opportunities.

Did you encourage a gap year?

Personally I’d recommend a gap year after, rather than before university, but I think it depends on the course and the individual. If it is an art, design or language degree, for example, visiting other countries and learning more about their languages and/or cultures can be an excellent idea. I’m not so sure about maths and science though, where you could get out of the academic loop.

What were your main concerns once your sons had left home?

Are they actually attending the relevant tutorials/lectures? Are they well? What would happen if they were ill? Does someone automatically check their room? How secure are they? None of these questions are answered and you have no contact with the university at all. I suppose the child is deemed to be an adult and therefore any issues are between them and the university officials.

How often did you visit?

We had to stem the yearning to go and visit as often as possible. It’s a good idea to make a date for the first visit when you drop them off. That way both child and parents have something to focus on – this needn’t be set in stone but it’s a marker and seems quite constructive. It worked for both our sons (who are very different). This is when you can discuss how money is working out, how the course is going, whether they have they made friends, etc. As parents you can get a real feel for how things are going.

How do you feel about empty-nest syndrome?

When your last child goes, there is a huge gap. I continued to shop for five of us when there was just my husband and me at home. A pet is a big help — just to be able to take the dog out for a long walk is brilliant therapy. An important thing to think about is the sibling left behind who doesn’t go to university — in our case, our middle child. I am aware that we have a photo on display of our eldest son smiling proudly in his cap and gown, and I am hopeful that our youngest son will soon be doing the same. But what about our wonderful middle son? It is incredibly difficult to know what’s best for the child who doesn’t want to attend university, and we’re aware that he hasn’t had that special attention given to our other sons. Ultimately, he decided to go to Australia for nine months and we were able to help him out with this trip.

Any final tips for other parents in the run-up to university?

Try to make it fun. Don’t put too much pressure on your child, and remind them that their grades are for them and not for you, no matter how you may feel inside. Encourage them to broaden their horizons as much as possible. Our youngest son, William, who has just completed his second year at Sheffield Hallam, is spending the summer working in the US on the BUNAC (British University North America Club) scheme. One of his brothers plans to join him for a week’s holiday.

When our son Ben had his degree ceremony in Oxford, it was the most wonderful experience for us. William isn’t sure yet whether he would like to teach or do something else once he graduates, but he is loving everything about being a student — the course, his pals, his independence and the fact that he is able to hike in the Peak District and can come home whenever he likes.

Source: Teresa Machan, Telegraph.co.uk, Thursday 4th August

Leaving so soon?

Despite tales of widespread unemployment many young graduates it seems remain undaunted and plan to leave their current job in under two years.

Although the majority of graduates questioned were happy in their work, nevertheless they cite career progression as the main reason for moving on, indicating that they see little chance of promotion within their current organisations.

The report - Great Expectations: Managing Generation Y - from the Institute of Leadership & Management and Ashridge Business School in the UK questioned more than 1,900 graduates and managers. The findings point to a clear disconnect between the expectations of employers and graduates.

Whist the employers place much emphasis on good management and leadership, graduates in contrast cite the importance of money, status and career advancement, aspects which are not so highly valued by their employers.

When questioned, 57 per cent of graduate recruits said that they planned to leave their current role within two years, with 40 per cent hoping to find a new job within a year.

“Recent graduates are hugely ambitious and are looking for rapid career progression and it seems that the majority do not expect to be able to progress within their current organisation,” says Penny de Valk, chief executive of the Institute of Leadership & Management.

Organisations she adds invest considerably in graduate talent to drive innovation and competitiveness, however graduates’ desire to move on so rapidly “undermines efforts to manage talent effectively and promote the long-term success of the organisation”.

Kai Peters, chief executive of Ashridge says the disconnect between graduates’ expectations and what organisations actually provide needs to be bridged. In this way he adds “employers can pave the way for both better graduate recruitment and retention and a more productive working relationship between graduates and their bosses”.

As well as career advancement, remuneration is also a bone of contention with 45 per cent of graduate recruits stating that their salary is below their expectations. Mentoring too is also another area of dissatisfaction: 56 per cent of graduates want their managers to be a coach or mentor to them, but whilst 75 per cent of managers believe they are acting in this role in fact only 26 per cent of graduates say that this is the case.

Source: Linda Anderson, FT.com, Friday 5th August 2011

Atkins remains in positive position despite difficult UK market

It’s mixed news for engineering students and graduates as Atkins released their latest interim management statement this week. The engineering consultancy acknowledged challenging market conditions, but it's worth noting that graduate recruitment continues and that the firm states that there will not be significant job losses this year.

In spite of the turbulent economy and internal redundancies, Atkins has continued to recruit graduates over the last few years. 2011 has been no different with the company advertising approximately 100 graduate places for the September intake. It is likely that the vacancies will be largely concentrated in the potential growth areas set out in the statement.

The consultancy revealed that there has been a ‘modest’ increase in activities in its highways and transportation services and that its UK water business remains active. Atkins also expects to secure a reasonable share of signaling framework contracts later in the year for its UK rail business.

The company also anticipates growth in its energy business, which is progressing within its core markets (nuclear, oil, and gas and power) through the development of new skills and geographical expansion.

Major projects that the firm continues to be involved with include the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, and overseas work on the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.

Source: Targetjobs.co.uk, Thursday 4th August 2011

Graduates prefer cash when looking for a graduate job

Financial concerns of graduates means they are more concerned about starting salaries when looking for a graduate job.

With starting salaries for graduates increasing, graduates are finding salary is one of the main factors when considering a graduate job for new professionals according to the Hay Group. 93% of graduates this year have outlined base pay as the most important factor in a career choice.

The Hay Group conducted research on over 10,000 graduate’s wages in over 600 mid-sized and large private sector organisations in the UK. The top three criteria they found after salary were also based around financial remunerisation; benefits were graduates second choice of 51%, future earnings (45%) and bonus potential (37%).

Just 16% of respondents believed a passion for the job and values and benefits of an organisation to be important factors. Many graduates believe that a company that has the ability to make a difference was the least important consideration of all, with this placed in the top three for just 4% of graduates.

Christopher Smith, reward information consultant at Hay Group said: "The economic climate is clearly influencing graduates' career decisions. Acutely aware of the difficult labour market and rising living costs, they are looking for a career path that makes financial sense first and foremost. Idealistic factors barely come into consideration."

There are wide discrepancies between what a graduate expects and what is available, with an uncertain outlook for graduate jobs many graduates are lowering their remuneration expectations well below what they could earn in the some of the largest graduate employers.

Source: Pareto.co.uk, Wednesday 3rd August 2011

Rate of graduate employment raises questions about high fees

Graduate employment rates vary widely between universities of similar shapes and sizes. The proportion of graduates who say they are working or studying six months after leaving higher education ranges from 100% at the University of Buckingham to 78% at the University of East London.

Glamorgan and Cardiff top the list in Wales, sharing an impressive ratio of graduates to jobs.

The nation’s biggest higher education institutions, they are based in and around the Welsh capital and have established links with big business.

Conversely, graduates looking for work in hard-hit rural areas are unlikely to unearth the same breadth of attractive opportunities.

Some universities will, quite understandably, complain that employment black spots in their region had unfairly contributed to their lowly ranking.

Others, like the University of Wales, Newport, are specialists in the creative and media industries – both of which have been particularly badly hit post-recession.

Reputation is, of course, a notable factor yet the same cannot be said of all of the home nations.

English powerhouses Oxford and Cambridge are conspicuous by their absence in the UK’s top 20 most employable universities.

Whether this is because an Oxbridge degree is not enough on its own, or because graduates do not need to take the type of jobs accepted by graduates of other universities is not clear from the statistics.

More generally, the rate at which university graduates find work after leaving is sure to re-ignite the tuition fee debate.

How can vice-chancellors justify charging a £9,000-a-year in tuition fees if there is no guaranteed job at the end?

After all, Welsh universities produce fewer first and upper second-class degrees than any other home nation.

The respected Guardian University Guide rates our best institution 39th in the UK and we have no representation in the world’s top 200.

The evidence stacks up but the reality, of course, is that employment is never guaranteed and in the current economic climate, well-qualified students far outweigh vacancies.

Instead, the advent of higher fees – and subsequent rates of employment highlighted by Hesa – will once again bring into question the validity of a university education itself.

Would, all things considered, students be better off trying their luck in the world of work after leaving school?

Further education and on-the-job apprenticeships are other options – and the route to a successful career can shape up any number of ways.

But Education Minister Leighton Andrews has laid his cards on the table. He will not, under any circumstances, disregard one or the other – for good reason.

But by sparing Welsh students the burden of a hike in tuition fees, he has highlighted the government’s commitment to higher education. Boosting the nation’s knowledge economy is crucial in a troubled 21st century.

Source: Gareth Evans, Walesonline.co.uk, Saturday 30th July 2011

Sandy graduate is a high flier

A would-be pilot has got her career in aviation off to a flying start.

Philippa Bonnick has been awarded a first class degree in air transport with commercial pilot training and could soon be applying for a job with a leading airline.

After completing a three-year degree at Buckinghamshire New University, Philippa, from Sandy will now complete her multi-engine, instrument and cabin crew ratings before she becomes a Civil Aviation Authority qualified pilot.

Philippa, 22, of Everton Road, said: “The degree covers a lot of what you need to learn and the three remaining qualifications cover the instruments in the cockpit, the technical side in terms of how the aircraft operates and how you interact and work with the cabin crew. I’m hoping to complete these sections by October and then I can start applying for jobs.”

Flying has always been an area of interest for Philippa.

Her father Mike has a private pilot licence and she took an interest in aircraft from an early age.

She added: “It has always been something that has appealed to me. I took a gap year after finishing school and I had originally planned to study philosophy at Lancaster University but then I achieved better A-level grades than I thought I would so I started looking around to see if there were any degrees in aviation that I could apply for instead.

“During my gap year I did some travelling in New Zealand and while I was there I came round to the idea that a career as a pilot could be for me."

Source: Biggleswadetoday.co.uk, Monday 1st August 2011

Universities 'to offer A-grade students cash'

Universities plan to offer financial incentives to attract the brightest students regardless of family income, the president of Universities UK says.

Sir Steve Smith says reforms allowing institutions to take on unlimited numbers of top students next year will create competition for the brightest.

Institutions risk losing funding if they attract fewer top pupils than now.

Ministers insist there will be tough new criteria for attracting A-grade students from lower income backgrounds.

Sir Steve, the outgoing president of Universities UK - the body representing UK universities - said the government had introduced a market for A-level students with the best grades.

He said they might be offered cut price deals or bursaries to try to secure their places.

"The complication for universities is if you don't recruit the same percentage of students with AAB or better than you had last year what happens is you lose the funding for those students," he said.

"That means those students become very attractive and thus institutions will do what they can to lower the cost of attending university in order to attract them."

Sir Steve, Exeter University's vice chancellor, said many middle-ranking universities might reconsider their plans to charge the maximum fees of £9,000.

Even those with low numbers of grade AAB students will get involved in the bidding war for those with top grades - because they will be seen as a kite mark of an institution's success, he added.

Under government proposals, universities in England will be able to take on as many high-achieving students as they wish, starting from September 2012.

Shadow universities minister Gareth Thomas said a market could develop with all sorts of "hidden and unintended" consequences.

"Money which might have been earmarked in the past to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds go to university is instead used to try and help recruit people with very good grades," he said.

University finances would be destabilised as the system would encourage a "race to the bottom" on one hand and competition for AAB students on the other, he added.

The general secretary of the University and College Union, Sally Hunt, said the introduction of a higher education market was "a recipe for disaster".

"With teaching budgets being slashed by 80%, institutions are desperate to attract students to replace this lost income.

"The government is obviously hoping that expanding places for students with AAB grades will lead to a bidding war and drive down costs, after it spectacularly botched up its sums on university funding.

"I fail to see how moving from a system where there is collaboration between institutions to one which encourages cut-throat competition is in the interest of our sector."

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said universities will need to meet tough new criteria for attracting the brightest students from lower income backgrounds, including offering fee waivers and bursaries.

Source: BBC.co.uk, Sunday 31st July 2011