The "low down" on Internships

Internships can be paid and unpaid and happen during vacations at university or after graduation.  The most controversial are the unpaid, because they predispose that graduates have sufficient funds to finance themselves and thus exclude poorer students. Unpaid internships are most common in the media, environmental areas, PR, fashion, social charities and law. London has 60% of all unpaid internships, 63% of people doing them are women, 79% have a first or 2:1 and 48% are from London or the South East. The most common degree for unpaid interns is design, followed by English, History and Politics.

[ source: GTAssociates ]

What do graduates do?

Research from the Higher Education Careers Services Unit found out the following:

• 43% of graduates started work for a small company, with 28% working for firms with less than 50 employee
• 1/5 started work in London, where 35% of jobs are at graduate level, compared to 26% nationally
• A survey of 202 major employers found that they were increasing their vacancies by 10.2% this year, with big increases in IT, telecoms, utilities, banking and accountancy. However, jobs in law and investment banking are harder to find.
•  There were 314,635 new UK domiciled graduates last year, 74% were working after 6m, 8.5% were unemployed and 13% were undertaking further study
• A study of 2008/9 graduates 3.5 years after leaving university found that 80% were working, 8.1% were studying full time, 5.1% were combining study with work and 3.4% were unemployed.

Reaching too high for a Medical degree?

“David Willetts, the Universities Minister, has said that there is a “gross excess” of applicants for Medicine degrees.  He said: “There is every summer several thousand very unhappy 18-year-olds, predominately but not exclusively female, who think they will become medics who, sadly, do not get a place despite being very smart and well-qualified.  And this is one of the most dysfunctional features of the English school leaving A-level system.  The truth is that the number of young people, and it does tend to be more girls than boys, with an aspiration to do medicine way exceeds any number of places that the NHS is likely to have.”  Last year around 4,800 students with AAA grades failed to get into university, with the largest number, 1,800, prospective medics.  The number of unplaced medics has risen from 28% to 37% per cent over the last four years.

New part-time degree offered by University Campus St Albans

University Campus St Albans (UCSA) claims that 'learning is shaped to fit around your life' and there is now a 'new and innovative alternative to realising your ambitions'.  You can study with UCSA for a University of Hertfordshire Honours degree part time over three calendar years by combining study one evening a week, one Saturday a month and on-line.  This gives you the freedom to work or gain valuable work experience whilst you study and also have access to the rich learning and social resources of the University of Hertfordshire and Oaklands College.

The accelerated 3 year route costs £13,500 which is 50% less than a standard full time route and you can still apply for a student loan for the course fees.  All offers are based on a direct application to UCSA and are subject to interview and spaces are limited.  For more information, click here.

New developments in Traineeships

New guidance has been published this week by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills to expand Traineeships and make them more accessible to young people.  The changes will introduce greater flexibility to help learning providers and employers develop quality programmes.

Launched in August 2013, Traineeships are an education and training programme offered to young people, including those who are unemployed. Trainees benefit from work experience, support with Maths and English and work preparation training to improve their chances of gaining an Apprenticeship or other job.

Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock believes that the guidance "will enable the programme to be expanded and allow more young people to benefit from traineeships, whilst maintaining a strong focus on quality."  To read the full article, click here.

10 useful websites if you're looking for work ...

The days of "getting on your bike" and knocking on doors in your search for a job seem to be over.  It's now all about letting the web do the work for you. Alongside the useful websites at the top left of this blog, here are ten more you might find helpful.  Get clicking ...

allaboutschoolleavers.co.uk

careercompanion.co.uk

directions.org.uk

future-talent.com

icaewjobs.com ( accountancy & finance )

jobs.nhs.uk ( healthcare sector )

lawcareers.net

schoolleaverjobs.co.uk

thebigchoice.com

unisnotforme.com

Rise in 'Zero Hours' contracts

Office of National Statistics figures suggest that 1.4 million workers are on 'zero hours' contracts and nearly half of all large companies ( those with 250 staff or more ) use them, compared with 12% of businesses employing 20 staff or fewer.

For more information about what a 'zero hours' contract is any why so many companies choose to use them, click here.