Internships game heats up as competition for graduate job rises

Last week I published a report written by High-flyers a leading graduate recruitment researcher. Some of the key highlights from the report suggests that more and more graduate jobs are filed by students that have already worked within than company before on a placement or summer Internships. 32% in fact, that's around 5,500 vacancies according to high-flyers will be filled by graduates who have already worked for that organisation. As graduate job applications intensifies, people are looking for new ways to find employment within businesses and Internships go some way to achieving this.

Internships is a practical work or training experience that allows students to build upon theoretical bases that they have learnt at school, college or university. Much criticism has been made as to whether Interns programmes are both beneficial to the organisation and also the employees. With many interns often being treated like part of the furniture and not actually gaining any real life experience at all. A even bigger issue is the issue of pay, as interns are there to gain an experience this often the reward, rather than a financial incentive. I would like to point out that this is wrong and any person who is a intern should be paid at least minimum wage. Internocracy a leading campaigner for fairer Internships suggests that only 10% of under 35's actually know that unpaid Internships actually break the law.

From my eye's Internships are perceived to be a grey area, on the one hand students are keen to gain experience to build on the theoretical understanding on the other they can't all work for free. Furthermore students importantly need the experience to further their career progression, with graduates job being even more difficult to come by, Internships are probably seen as the first stepping stone into these companies

How do I go about getting an Internship then?

• Enternships - People often say that you get more of a buzz out of working for smaller organisations, Enternships offers Internships from a range of small to medium sized enterprises.
• WEXO - Work Experience On-line - a community portal offering access to a range of Internships opportunities within small, medium and large corporations. Downside to WEXO is you have to pay, but on the positive side most of the Internships on this site are advertised as paid, so if you are successful it will be quick to recoup your original investment.

Whilst these sites may improve your chances of attaining a Internships and career progression, in reality we live in a society where it is not what you know, but who you know. It is crucial that you know your rights when accepting an Internships, if they can't afford to pay you then at best you should be seeking expenses.

"Younger generation most affected as unemployement rises yet again"

How the bankers bonuses are affecting graduates?

Students are motivated by Money? With rising tuition fees and rising debts, students have far more to pay back than ever than the predecessors that came before us. It might be a wild statement, but I am beginning to think that it is true.

As I have mentioned in previous articles, graduates are faced with uncertain future, with masters degree's replacing graduate jobs, and more experience gained by students before they graduate, the future for graduates isn't the type of degree you have got and more about the practical uses of your degree in the real world.

Reading a recent article combined with the news, that Barclay's PLC has reported that its pre tax profits point towards £6.5 bn, it gives me no hesitation to suggest that most graduates will be applying to these types of companies. A recent report by High-flyers, a leading graduate research agency points towards graduate salaries have risen from £22,000 in 2003 to £29,000 in 2011.

Who is to blame for this rising trend? In my opinion it is the banks, although others may state to rising inflation and increased living costs. Investment banking in seven organisations intend to pay upwards of £40,000, including two banks that are offering packages worth at least £50,000 or more to new joiners. The resurgence of recruitment within the banking sector during 2010, combined with a reorganisation of how remuneration packages are structured at a number of banks has meant that average salaries at investment banks have jumped around 10% over the last twelve months.

You can read the rest of the report by following the link here.

The Graduate Gap

Prospective graduates have been told for the last couple of years that there is a shortage of graduate jobs out there. Moreover employers can now knit pick from the top universities to get the most high calibre graduates for the role. Having nearly graduated myself and from my experience thus far from the last couple of years, the story is a bleak one.

It is of my opinion that there is to exist something called a graduate gap, where the graduates graduating this year, may end up in the role or job, they do not want or not related to their degree programme, but it is the only job they can find at this time. This may even be part time employment which for some probably didn't even cross their mind when they started their degree.

The problem with the whole university degree system, is that there is no limit on the age you are allowed to go to University, furthermore graduate schemes don't restrict on the age you can apply, for some though you must have graduated within the last two years, but in terms of age there is no enforced restriction.

Some key points I keep hearing about my colleagues coming back from assessment centres "When you ask what university your fellow competitors went to? Cambridge, Oxford. It is OK if you can afford to go there.

"Do you have any experience? I have worked for Goldman Sachs for two years prior to University, then another financial placement. Over qualified perhaps? But these are the people we are up against. Another example and this is true, a friend said she was up against someone who had been in a graduate scheme, before for 7 years. Why would you want another graduate scheme surely if you were in one for seven years then it must have been worthwhile?

Altogether this will create something called the graduate gap, where thousands of prospective graduates, graduate and go into a job they aren't entirely set on as a career, of which they may have had different opinions when they started their degree.

Are you a graduate? Are you graduating in the next four to six months I would like to hear from you. What competition have you come up in interviews, assessment centres?

Graduates warned "You will struggle without experience"

Graduates without work experience will struggle to find jobs this summer, despite an increase in vacancies, research has suggested.

Three-fifths of employers are warning that graduates who have no previous work experience have little or no chance of getting a job offer, according to a study by High Fliers Research.

Around a third (32%) of this year's graduate vacancies are likely to be filled by applicants who have already worked for the employer as an undergraduate, and in some sectors, such as investment banking and law, this rises to 50%.

The study says: "Many recruiters commented that irrespective of the academic results that a graduate had achieved, it would be very hard for an applicant to demonstrate the skills and competencies that they were looking for if they'd not had any prior work experience."

The report, called The Graduate Market in 2011, analysed graduate vacancies and starting salaries at Britain's 100 leading employers. It found that employers expect to hire 9.4% more graduates this year than they did last year, with three-fifths of firms expecting to recruit more people than in 2010. But graduate recruitment has yet to recover to 2007 levels, it says. A quarter of entry-level vacancies at the UK's top employers were cut during the recession in 2008 and 2009.

Vacancies at high street banks have risen by a quarter, the study found, while there are also more job opportunities at city investment banks and accounting and professional services firms. But recruitment at many public sector firms has been cut. Half of employers questioned for the study said they had received more applications from graduates in the early part of this year's recruitment season than they did last year. In 2010 overall, employers received an average of 45 applications for every job - this could be higher this year.

Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers Research, said: "Today's report includes the stark warning that in this highly competitive graduate job market, new graduates who've not had any work experience during their time at university have little or no chance of landing a well-paid job with a leading employer, irrespective of the university they've attended or the academic results they achieve."

Employers have been marketing their vacancies at between 10 and 20 universities in the UK, the study found, with Cambridge, Warwick, Manchester, Oxford and London institutions including Imperial, University College London and the London School of Economics the most often targeted, the study found.

For students seeking to boost their employment chances, almost all of the UK's top graduate employers are offering work experience programmes in the 2010-11 academic year. In total, 10,665 places are available. Graduates who do find a job are likely to earn around £29,000 on average, but a quarter of programmes will pay more than £30,000 and seven organisations are offering at least £40,000.

Universities Minister David Willetts said: "Whilst we welcome signs of an improvement, the job market remains competitive for new graduates, as it does for everyone, and graduates need to work hard to maximise their chances of success. However, a degree remains a good investment in the long term."

Copyright © 2011 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

How to make your mark on the jobs that you want?

Proper practice for interviewing you over the phone

I recently received a call from a graduate employer asking me if this was a convenient time to ask me a few questions about my application I had submitted. I thought to myself that this was a convenient moment and I would be happy to answer the "few" questions she had.

The only prior warning I had was that the person in question was going to contact me within 28 days to review my application, no mention here of what communication method.

It made me wonder though, do companies have the right to phone you up speculatively about your application. Of course they want to know who you are and to know what you know about the company you are applying to but in essence is it fair that they can do is.

To be fair companies want to know what you are like on the spot, in a real world scenario they want you to be able to think on your feet, you won’t have time to research the situation.

Obviously they want to employ the right people, those people are the people who can think on their feet, but in hindsight what about the people who have applied and really want to work for that company, but have really been caught unaware. What about them? Companies say that you have to be commercially savvy, being able to think on your feet is one of the most important elements in business today and this should follow through in your phone interview.

Furthermore should there be more guidance on what they should phone you up to ask you. They say is this a convenient moment, if you say no, you feel rude, if you say yes then they can ask you what ever question they like.

You can’t win!