Two graduate interns have been recruited in the Highlands to spread the word about a nationwide Adopt an Intern programme that offers unemployed graduates paid work experience.
Eilidh Finlayson and Gemma Gentles have begun a paid three-month internship to promote the programme and help attract graduates and interested organisations.
Adopt an Intern was created by the Centre for Scottish Public Policy (CSPP), an independent think-tank, in January 2010. The programme gained Scottish Government funding in March of that year.
However, these two new internships have been made possible by the Highland Council through an Innovation Challenge Grant of just under £10,000 for which the programme successfully applied.
The council agreed to supply desk space for the graduates, as well as some useful guidance from its staff in the planning and development service department.
The graduate interns are busy meeting with key public agencies and businesses across the region to encourage them to employ a graduate for a minimum of three months and up to one year.
The Adopt an Intern team are dispersed throughout Scotland. They provide a free recruitment and shortlisting service to help make the process as cost-effective as possible for the host organisation.
To date, they have placed 153 graduates, 12 of them in the Highlands and islands.
The interns have already met careers service staff at the University of the Highlands and Islands and all UHI graduates will be advised of the opportunities presented by the programme.
Eilidh and Gemma are both graduates of Edinburgh University.
Eilidh said: “Having been looking for graduate employment in the Highlands, where I was born and brought up, I have experienced how few opportunities there are for graduates and how difficult it is to get a job close to home.
“To find a job, graduates first need experience in the workplace and the Adopt an Intern programme provides this important opportunity, as well as promoting a paid internship culture in Scotland.”
Gemma said: “It would be great if public agencies and private businesses take part in the programme and help job-seeking Highland graduates gain vital work experience near their homes, keeping local talent local.
“The programme has already witnessed the positive benefit this brings to local businesses and organisations alike. Our own internship is much appreciated and will give Eilidh and I important experience in project management.”
The council’s director of planning and development, Stuart Black, said: “The Highland Council recognises the challenge of graduate unemployment at the current time.
“The Adopt an Intern programme is an important way of tackling this issue and we were pleased to support the CSPP with their project in the Highlands.”
Source: Pressandjournal.co.uk, Friday 11th May 2012
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