Graduates Yorkshire’s graduate Internship Programme has achieved the target it set itself of filling 60 paid for placements just six months after the initiative launched.
Although 60 interns have been employed on three to 12 month fixed term contracts with Yorkshire employers, at least 600 more graduates received advice and support making them more employable through their participation in the scheme.
The programme was funded by regional development agency Yorkshire Forward and offers paid graduate internships with employers in the region.
Graduate’s Yorkshire’s aim was to make the region’s graduates more employable by offering paid work experience, coaching and mentoring.
Martin Edmondson, Graduates Yorkshire Chief Executive, says the programme has been a success: “Our aim is to help the region’s businesses by encouraging the region’s best graduate talent to remain in the county. This programme has delivered real benefits for the companies that have taken part and recruited whilst the graduates who were unsuccessful have also benefited.”
“All the internships carried a wage and it was important to us that this was the case. Graduates can make a real difference in a business even over a short period. At the same time, it enables students without financial support to get valuable work experience they would not otherwise be able to afford“
Project Manager Becky Ascough said: “The feedback from the graduates who took part in our bootcamps and assessment days has been positive, with all of them taking away additional skills and experience.”
“The jobs market has been tough for graduates in the current economic climate and those who were lucky enough to be selected for the roles on offer are now gaining valuable work skills.
“Hopefully, some will impress their employers enough to make the position more permanent.”
Graduates Yorkshire was established seven years ago with the support of Yorkshire Universities to close the “knowledge gap” between the region’s universities and its business community by matching graduates with companies looking to make best use of that talent.
Despite Yorkshire having one of the largest Higher Education economies of any region, generating £3 billion of output, the percentage of graduates employed in key public and private organisations in Yorkshire is among the lowest in the UK.
