Posts Tagged ‘Graduate’

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It’s not easy being an intern – but who wants it to be easy?

September 6th, 2010

Graduate intern

Upon initially reading the strives and toils of the five female interns featured in recent Telegraph article, ‘It’s not easy being an intern’, it seemed I would have another battle on my hands defending the value of graduate internships.

Describing their intern experiences – ranging from placements at Vivienne Westwood to Whitechapel Gallery – Jessica Turner explained how she has to commute an hour each day to her internship in London, whilst Hannah Sanderson noted that most of her friends were buying houses and have cars.

Yet, essentially, by the end of the piece, a simpler message doggedly and unavoidably rang through about internships – that they were worth it.

“I never feel I missed out,” explained Hannah, who is currently interning with emergency relief charity Merlin, “because I‘m doing what I’ve always wanted to do.”

All the women’s experiences listed in the piece demonstrated one of the initial great advantages of an internship – they allow access to employment areas otherwise often strictly closed to new, inexperienced graduates.

But of course, there is far more to an internship than just a bridge into those no-go zones. They can help build professional confidence, teach all the important occupational knowhow, provide relevant contacts and provide the opportunity to acquire work experience sometimes imperative for achieving a permanent position in the employment field you really want to be in.

But no, I’m afraid they aren’t always easy.

What would be the point if they were?

Just think about all those “Devil Wears Prada” incidents you hear about – I shall set the scene:  a lucky someone has accomplished an internship – and it’s going to be ground-breaking. They just know this is going to be their step up, the break they need to really make it in the world.

Then they arrive and get handed the morning’s post to sort and the office’s tea and coffee order to prepare. Turns out, discovering who has sugar – one lump or two? And alphabetising letters are to be some of the more complicated tasks they will be allocated during their time with the company. What do they learn? Nothing. Why? Because it’s all just too easy.

Crucially - internships are a learning experience. They are meant to be challenging! They are meant to make you think and they are meant to teach you something new, not wear out and bore the skills you’ve already perfected – even if you do make a damn good cuppa.

Sure, there is a different side to ‘not being easy’. Some people may need to take a second job to top up the pennies, or have to adhere to a strict budget for a few months, retained from previously saved funds topped up with the paid expenses from the internship. A tough, tiring and limiting experience as I very well know – I’ve been there numerous times myself.

But then is this any different to those who have to do the same to get through their university degree or college course?  - Minus the fact that they don’t get the added bonus of refunded expenses? No, not really. And do those people get criticised? Of course not. They get commended for their hard work and commitment to doing whatever is necessary to achieve their aspirations. Hmm, I see a connection here…

An internship should be regarded as a similar extended curve of education. It is meant, and should be regarded by both sides of the intern agreement as a training opportunity; a chance to work alongside professionals and get the practical skills and wisdom that just can’t be taught in a classroom.  Hopefully such a vocational and colourful educational experience will strongly compensate being a bit short for a few months or having to work a few extra hours. And if it doesn’t? Then leave! No internship should ever obligate you to anything, or -importantly – go on for longer than a few months, i.e. a reasonable amount of time to learn all the tricks of the trade. If it’s not working for you, find something that does.

Despite all the intern horror stories that often take prominence in the media (c’mon – it’s the media…) there are a lot of really good, genuine internships out there, organised and structured for everyone to get the most out of them. Just take our Telegraph girls for example. Hannah is now eagerly anticipating getting involved with the relief programme for Pakistan through her internship. “It’s still very early on for them,” she explains, “and that’s one of the issues with crises – when does the emergency finish? Usually, not for years.”

And Jessica, who was working as a script development intern for Future Films, is thrilled to have just been offered a paid role of production and development assistant at the company. “I’m so pleased to be able to stay,” she said. “It’s been tough getting to this point, but you can’t expect too much because it’s a competitive industry. Because my degree was in film theory, I didn’t come away with the practical experience of being able to go on set and know what’s what. Maybe I would’ve progressed more quickly if I had.”

Like the girls in the Telegraph article, few of the graduates I speak to regret doing an internship.  Instead, they appreciate what they gained from the experience, and are enjoying the career boost it provided for them.

And sure, few of them will say it was easy. But who wants it to be easy?

To read Telegraph article ‘It’s not easy being an intern’ visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/7956303/Its-not-easy-being-an-intern.html

Inspiring Interns is the UK’s leading internship consultancy. We provide meaningful three month internships, mentoring and graduate job opportunities in London and throughout the UK. The majority of our roles lead to paid, full-time employment. For the latest vacancies visit our website: http://www.inspiringinterns.com

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They think it’s all over – think again!

August 20th, 2010

They think it's all over - think again!

It’s fair to say there was a strong feeling of apprehension in the air travelling to work yesterday. Groups of parents quietly muttered expectations together on the regular commute, the headline of the daily freebie spoke of record results, and parades of nervously giggling young people – something of an unusual sight at that early time after weeks of summer holiday – indicated which day it was: results day.

And yet this year everybody’s concern wasn’t necessarily about what grades they got. For weeks the headlines had reiterated the same gloomy forecast for this year’s school leavers hoping to go to uni: that there are too many applicants and not enough places. With multi-million pound cuts leaving universities particularly feeling the sting, and student applications ever rising – a said result of heightened media emphasis on the necessity of having a degree mixed in with the effect of recession scare mongers crying about the lack of any employment opportunities right now – the future looked bleak for a generation where even hard work and good grades couldn’t save them from an already pre- determined fate.

The final published statistics said it all. A record 97.6% of students passed their exams, 27% of which acquired an A and one in 12 scored the new, media hyped A* grade. With such consistent high achievers there is no longer an obvious divide between those bound for academic greatness, and those who face a different (and often just as successful) route to their future careers. Instead, a top-end scramble for the 200,000 of those who didn’t quite achieve their predicted results (including notably a large number of brighter school-leavers who just missed out on achieving a set of ambitious grades) is occurring through clearing. Some – the lucky ones – will claw back a last chance second place option. The rest will leave empty-handed, disheartened and dejected by a system that has let them down, and often, with no back-up plan.

Go abroad for a degree the headlines shouted today at the crestfallen.  Take a gap year, go travelling, do an apprenticeship, enrol on a college course. Certainly it is a bewildering time for those whose aspirations were focused on being achieved via a university experience to suddenly have to rethink their strategy. Yet, however great the initial disappointment, and however patronising the media , they do have a point. A pro-active attitude to what could now be a new beginning (especially for those believers of everything happening for a reason…) is the only way to get through such grim times. After a summer of post-exam relaxation and fun it really is time to get off the sofa and get practical.

And by practical we mean making it count. It is time, as John Guy said in a recent Guardian article, “to be selfish and think about what would help your career most in the next five years.” A year out shouldn’t be viewed as a waste, but instead as an invaluable opportunity to not only get some life experience, but to also enjoy the luxury of time – away from the professional and peer pressure – to truly consider what to do in life and which career path to take.

Of course, just considering is often still not enough. How is anyone expected to know what they want to do when the options are things they have never done before? One of the main problems today is that a lot of life-affecting decisions are being made on assumption. As law graduate Ben found out, choosing a degree in something you think sounds good doesn’t always work out; “I hadn’t had any previous experience in Law before choosing to study it,” he explains, “but had always liked the idea of becoming a barrister one day from what I had seen on the TV. I had no idea how boring it was going to be and by the end of my three years knew that law was the last thing I wanted to do. I wish now I had done some work experience or an internship beforehand to give me some better direction on what to do with my life.”

Internships are always a great option – the value of work experience should never be underrated. Not only will an internship allow a proper, lengthy working insight into a particular job sector (rather than just the kettle boiling insight of a work experience kid…) but also, unlike with most work experience placements, they will pay travel and lunch expenses, meaning that there is nothing to lose via the experience, just lots to gain. Plus, in the midst of the current university administrative chaos, more companies are coming round to the concept of taking on interns of all different academic backgrounds – not just university graduates – meaning that finally the opportunity really is getting there for everyone.

Though for some it may seem like a huge defeat to have to wait another year, the professional and personal development that can be achieved during that time (not to mention all those extra points on the CV) can more than make up for it. A portfolio of working experience will not only heighten any candidate’s credentials, but also assist a far more informed decision of where to go and what to do next, and hopefully – if the perfect job has been discovered – drive the motivation to succeed in achieving the realised goal. Recent statistics have even shown that students who take a gap year often achieve better academically than those who go straight onto university – so don’t write off the year just yet.

Hopefully for those who did miss out on the grades, the potential that can be achieved during a year out will be realised, and rather than disappointment, a sense of new beginnings will join me on today’s trip home.

Inspiring Interns is a recruitment agency that place students and graduates in internships with a view to full-time employment.   See http://www.inspiringinterns.com for all the latest news and vacancies.

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Money v.s Life Experience

August 17th, 2010

Minimum wage

Internships: they’re becoming the trendy next-step for graduates, and are a proven success in getting young people onto the career ladder.  But as Julia Margo pointed out in her Sunday Times article, there’s one sure-fire way to ruin them, and it all comes down to money.

In terms of internships, it’s impossible to escape the wage debate – it is dominating all media interest on internships, diverting all attention away from the benefits of these invaluable work experiences.  People are forgetting why internships are there in the first place, what the actual concept means.  It is not a graduate job, nor is it a minimum-wage, bottom-of-the-company-tea-maker position.  It is an experience, a taster of what working-life is really like, an insight into a company.  Internships are not designed for graduates to make a quick buck and then move on to something else.  Their value lies within the experience they provide, which is what many school-leavers and graduates need before they plunge themselves head-first into a job about which they know very little.

The suggestion that all companies pay their interns the National Minimum Wage would entirely undermine the concept of what they stand for – work experience.  Clearly in some cases it is appropriate that the intern receives some level of remuneration.  However, if all internships paid the same amount as entry-level jobs, then why would a company hire an inexperienced intern over an experienced worker?  The intern may be talented and contribute to the company, but then again he or she may be totally unsuited to the role.  Why take the risk when there are plenty of capable potential employees waiting to be given the thumbs up for an entry level job?  Moreover, if internships cost more, then companies and businesses, who already invest a lot of staff time into running these placement programmes, simply won’t be willing to shell out huge amounts of money to run them.  Internships will be harder to come by, and young people will be in an even tougher position when they are looking to enter the job market.

The perception of internships needs to revert back to what it used to be – people should focus on the reasons for why internships occurred in the first place: for the experience, not the pay packet.

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How much are you willing to pay for higher education?

August 13th, 2010

IOUWith A-Level results released next Thursday, it looks set to be a tough ride for the thousands of people who have applied to university for the coming academic year. With even more barriers to overcome, and even more costs to factor in, the big question is: how much are students willing to pay for higher education?

The first hurdle to leap over is actually securing a place at university.  We all know that this year has seen record numbers of university applicants, following a trend of eager teens on the quest to continue their studies (or delaying their entrance into the real world of work).  If they do manage to secure a university place, then two more giants need overcoming.

Student debt.  For the lucky few out there, student debt is not a major concern.  However, for the majority of university students and graduates, student debt forms a menacing black cloud that stands as a threat to the financial stability of themselves and their families.  New figures have now been released by online university guide Push which estimate university starters of 2010 will have to endure up to £25,000 worth of debt when they finish their degrees.  The average amount of debt accrued per year has risen by 5.4 per cent, with some universities costing even more; Goldsmiths, University of London, expect their graduates to leave with an average debt of £36,638, while London’s Central School of Speech and Drama graduates bid their university farewell with an IOU of £38,071.

Push editor Johnny Rich is right in his concern that “many talented potential students may shy away when they hear a degree will cost £25,000”, though there are means to support students through their years of tough budgeting, aside from the bank of mum and dad.  The Student Loans Company is a UK public sector organisation established to provide financial support to over one million students annually across the UK.  In theory, this should induce a sigh of relief from many a student-to-be, but beware the woes of applying for a student loan!  It may not be as peachy as it should be.

Thousands of students will shudder at the mere memory of last year’s student finance fiasco; by the start of the 2009 academic year the Student Loans Company had processed a mere 43 per cent of applications, forcing many to simply hold tight and ‘manage’ for a number of weeks at university without any financial support.  The company are looking to avoid a similar situation this coming year, beginning with the appointment of Ed Lester as the interim chief executive.  Under his leadership, 63 per cent of applications have already been approved. Of those outstanding, 103,000 require applicants to provide further information, while a further 37,000 have been classified as “works in progress”.  Despite Mr Lester’s efforts, including hiring more than 520 additional staff to deal with telephone enquiries and to process applications, he has already stated that “it may be uncomfortable for a week or two” come September.  Is it too cynical to presume that the word ‘uncomfortable’ was deliberately ambiguous? Perhaps Lester wanted to dissuade  students from rashly deciding to forfeit their place for fear of not being able to survive financially.

The question remains: is a university degree enough of an investment to persuade the masses into thousands of pounds worth of debt?  According to a spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, “graduates on average have better employment prospects and can expect to earn at least £100,000, net of tax, more than non-graduates across their working lives.”  Perhaps it is worth feeling uncomfortable after all.

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Internships – a ‘first stage of recruitment’

August 9th, 2010

I got a new job

If the term ‘internship’ makes you think of tea-making and picking up the boss’s dry cleaning then think again – internships are now being hailed by the BBC as almost a ‘guaranteed rite of passage’ in the ever-competitive job market.

2009 saw record numbers of university leavers and new figures show more than 660,000 people have applied for a university place for the next academic year.  This staggering amount is up by 12 per cent from last year, once again breaking the record for the number of university applicants.  With these figures on the rise, the coalition government have made an extra 10,000 university places to support the hefty amount of applications, meaning more students than ever will be graduating with degrees in the coming years.  It is becoming even harder for employers to recruit graduates when they simply cannot distinguish who is more qualified for the job – how does one chose between the graduate with the 2:1 History degree from Durham or the 2:1 English Literature graduate from Bristol?

The answer, I hear you cry, is internships.  These are becoming the latest box that graduates need to tick in order for them to increase their employability and stand out from the other hundreds of applicants after the same job.  According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, 21.7% of graduates in full employment within six months of graduating were taken on by employees who had previously provided them with some form of work experience.  It would appear that employers are less willing to gamble on a new recruit who may look fantastic on paper, instead choosing to take on someone who has already experienced working at the company and who therefore has a “basic grasp of workplace dynamics”, according to a BBC article.  In other words, the internship has become an ‘extended interview’ whereby the intern has a chance to showcase their abilities and see if they fit into the company lifestyle.

One could even go as far as saying personalities are coming back into fashion as far as job placements go – seemingly, it’s no longer just about the prestigious university and impressive degree result; employers are interested in who they are recruiting rather than trusting the CV alone.

So where does this leave graduates? With competition for entry-level jobs as tough as it has ever been there is no room to rest on your laurels. A good degree is not enough to take you onto the career ladder: experience, contacts and demonstrable skills are your key to a first job. An internship will give you all three. So the message is clear: don’t get left behind – call us, email us, tweet us, facebook us, send us a pigeon or do anything to get in touch so that you can do an internship and realise your potential.

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Graduate Tax – Friend or Foe?

July 19th, 2010

tax-bill-stock-photo

As a graduate or current student, the words ‘tuition fees’ and ‘student debt’ may make you shudder at the mere thought of them.  You might want to add ‘graduate tax’ to this list, as the Government has revealed plans to totally scrap the tuition fee system.

Vince Cable, the new Business Secretary under the Coalition Government, gave his first speech on Thursday outlining the proposal to introduce a graduate tax to replace tuition fees.  According to Cable it would be a fairer system, whereby graduates are taxed according to their earnings, higher earners taxed considerable more than those with lower salaries.  “The problem”, he said, with the current tuition-fee system, is that “it is a fixed sum – a poll tax – regardless of the income of the graduate. It surely can’t be right that a teacher or care worker or research scientist is expected to pay the same graduate contribution as a top commercial lawyer or surgeon or City analyst whose graduate premium is so much bigger.”

The proposal comes as part of an independent review, led by Lord Browne, which is assessing how universities are to be funded in the future, with the report being published in the Autumn.  There are a number of keys issues that are going to be reviewed alongside the new proposal, including the impact it will have on student debt and how to encourage more students from disadvantaged backgrounds to get into higher education.

NUS (National Union of Students) President, Aaron Porter, commented after Cable’s proposal, stating his opinion that “the fair solution is to abolish tuition fees and ensure that graduate contributions are based on actual earnings in the real world, rather than sticker prices in prospectuses, which are based on guesswork”.

So does this mean that tuition fees, as well as a hefty student debt, will soon be a distant memory?  Cable recognised this as a major problem with our current university system – that students now expect to come out of university with huge amounts of money owed to the Government.  “Most of us”, he said, “don’t think of our future tax obligations as ‘debt’”.  However, the new tax could mean the top 20 per cent of earners will be paying the equivalent of £16,000-a-year tuition fees, according to The Russel Group which represents twenty elite universities.  Perhaps a graduate tax is the way forward – what do you think?  Is it a fairer system or an excuse to wring out more money from graduates?  Tell us your thoughts.

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The proposed training wage – the way forward for interns?

July 14th, 2010

throw-money-765885There have been whispers in the media about the introduction of a training wage for all interns, proposed by the CIPD (The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development). The £2.50-per-hour minimum wage would align interns with apprentices who will be entitled to this sum come October, with other increases to the national minimum wage happening at the same time. It seems like a interesting proposal – all interns will legally be entitled to a nice pay packet in their pockets, no longer walking home empty handed with only vague dreams of earning money. Like me, you may already be envisaging rolling around (somewhat uncomfortably) in a pile of crisp £50 notes, casually throwing wads of cash around the room. Sadly, however, this may be a slightly overenthusiastic reaction to the new proposal.

In reality, a growing number of internships are based in Central London, which on the surface sounds rather glamorous for the humble student or graduate, but in actual fact amounts to a laborious and costly journey, as well as an overpriced sandwich for lunch and a meagre window-browse of the shops after work. I asked a friend of mine who has recently graduated from the University of Manchester about her internship and the amount she has to pay to get to work every day. It turns out it costs Rebecca over £100 per week travel-wise, which includes catching a National Rail train, followed by two changes on the Tube. And then there’s her lunch on top of that. Fortunately for Rebecca, her travel and lunch expenses are subsidised by the company at which she is interning, so there is never a risk of her losing money. The training wage, however, would fail to cover her costs, causing her to be significantly out of pocket. Of course this does not happen with everyone; for many the proposed wage would give interns a modest amount of spending money, and according to Jenny Lee, a recent graduate doing an internship in London, “it feels better to actually be earning something, rather than striking even without a faint whiff of cash coming my way”.

Is it worth it though? Should interns be legally entitled to a training wage, or do you think travel and lunch expenses suffice? We want to hear your thoughts and comments, let the debate rage on!

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Internships ‘An Industrial Finishing School for the Middle Classes’? I’m Not Convinced.

July 13th, 2010

Anyone who follows the news cannot have failed to notice the current debate about the value and legitimacy of internships. Obviously this is a subject we at Inspiring Interns feel quite strongly about, and felt it was time to chip in with our thoughts on the subject. One of the main concerns we are seeing is that many young people are unable to afford to carry out an internship. Unfortunately, there are actually funding options to help such individuals, but these tend to be poorly advertised. We at Inspiring Interns are able to advise you on the available options so feel free to get in touch with any questions. I asked Royal Holloway lecturer Nigel Saul to give an opinion on the matter, having spent years guiding students into careers upon graduating. Nigel tells me that he believes, ‘As completion for graduate-level jobs increases, so it becomes all the more important for applicants to show that they’ve got some experience of the workplace. These days, the process of gaining such experience begins at school, when pupils do a week’s work experience in a setting of their choice. The idea of internships builds on that and helps to bridge the gap between the process of thinking and studying at university and the business of working on graduation. Internships help both the graduating student and the employer. They help the employer by proving them with better trained, more experienced and mature graduate applicants. They help the graduate by providing them with experience – and perhaps to assist in helping them decide which career path to ultimately pursue.’ This is just the opinion of one individual; however we are finding that across the board, the happy endings earned through internships are far outnumbering the horror-stories the media often pounces upon in order to generate a social panic! This is just our belief however, please feel free to comment with your own experiences on internships, good and bad so that we can continue to tailor the services we offer to best suit our clients.

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‘I’ve graduated – what next?’ Guardian Careers Q&A

June 24th, 2010

Yesterday, Inspiring Interns’ CEO Ben Rosen took part in a live web chat hosted by Guardian Careers. The subject was ‘I’ve graduated – what next?’ and Ben was one of a panel of careers experts on hand to give out advice to confused or concerned graduates. It was a lively and engaging discussion, with plenty of questions to keep him busy, so we thought we’d do a summary for those of you who couldn’t make it (either due to the fact you were busy securing your future at the Guardian graduate fair or you were settling down to watch the football in your local…).

One question that repeatedly came up was whether doing a Masters was a worthwhile investment, in terms of time and money, when it came to finding a job. One graduate was interested in pursuing a career in public policy and wanted to know whether a Masters would be a good idea. The general consensus among the panel was that doing a Masters shouldn’t be used a last resort because job hunting has proved unsuccessful. They can prove expensive and with increasing numbers of graduates resorting to them they are no longer as valuable as they once were. Most of the panel suggested that work experience is now considered more valuable to employers than a further qualification, something we have experience first hand here at Inspiring.

Another big worry among graduates was the state of the economy and the effect on job prospects. Despite the fact that there are fewer opportunities out there and as a result, graduate jobs have become fiercely competitive, graduates shouldn’t lose hope. Job hunters simply need to find innovative and resourceful ways to proactively search for and create opportunities, such as using online networks. For hints and tips on using social media for job hunting, check out our blog post here. New emerging industries such as social media are always on the hunt for internet savvy graduates, so you may find that the ability to arrange nights out on Facebook and stalk Lindsay Lohan’s every move on Twitter are actually considered valuable skills in the workplace.

You can look at the Guardian Careers Q&A here to look at the discussion in full. The panel gave excellent responses to all the questions, so if you’re confused or worried about life after graduation, it’s well worth a read.

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Are online games the future of graduate recruitment?

June 16th, 2010

From the moment I first picked up the controller of a Nintendo Entertainment System as a wide-eyed youngster, I understood the impact that computer games would have on my life. Never has there been an invention, a medium, more detrimental to personal success and aspirations. Their power lies in their ability to create a false sense of achievement whereas in reality you have achieved nothing; the fact that you managed to complete Metal Gear Solid in less than three hours is not going to help you in your quest for success. So when I heard that L’Oreal had created an online ‘business’ game to aid their graduate recruitment, I thought that this is it, it’s finally here: a productive computer game.

Reveal is the latest in a long line of ‘business games’ produced by L’Oreal, to aid them in their bid to attract the hottest graduate talent. Dubbed ‘the first multi-vocation talent detector’, it claims to separate the wheat from the chaff whilst suggesting possible livelihoods for the player. During the game, the hapless applicant takes the role of a new recruit at L’Oreal’s Head Office in Paris. Here they are set a variety of tasks by a group of increasingly bizarre characters, supposed to address several potential career paths. There appear to be many evangelists who believe that this technology is ‘the future’, whereas others have dismissed the process as a gimmick. I decided that the only way in which I could pass judgement was to give it a go myself.

The first thing that struck me about Reveal is its distinct style. Somewhere between Pokémon and semi-erotic manga, I couldn’t seem to fathom the link between the game and L’Oreal, stylistically speaking. The result is a game in which the L’Oreal testing labs are portrayed as a place of a truly threatening and nefarious nature, and I was left wondering when I was going to have to save the world from a debilitating super virus; albeit one that leaves you with gloriously, silky, smooth hair of course.

Upon beginning the game, I needed to assign myself an avatar. Most of the options were of fairly standard fair but one in particular stood out.

What I can only assume to be a product of L’Oreal’s animal testing in the early 80s; I was amazed to see that these animals are now being considered for graduate marketing roles. That aside, in choosing this as my on-screen icon, I’m moderately sure that I have been disregarded from the hiring process before it has even begun.

The other characters didn’t appear to fair much better with notable mentions going to a facsimile of Brittany Spears in the video for Toxic, and a cone-headed barman named Tim.

The ‘game’ itself played out a little like a cross between Broken Sword and a choose-your-own-adventure novel, extra points if you know what either of those are. You are required to question characters for information and scour rooms for clues, whilst every now and then being asked droll questions about account management. The game feels drawn out and monotonous, and after playing for half an hour I felt as though I would have preferred the questions without all of the contrived dialogue.

This is clearly a brazen attempt to be ‘down with the kids’ with the tagline for the whole project (What R U up 4?) being excruciatingly cringe-worthy. I acknowledge the attempt to make recruitment a more exciting process, but judging by this wayward effort there is still a lot of work to be done.

Thomas Riegel, L’Oreal’s director of recruitment explains the motivation behind the project: “We had the idea because the concept of the ideal career path has changed from 10 years ago. Then the goal was to become a senior manager on a steep career ladder; today, it’s flexibility. Graduates want to choose when and how they work, and don’t necessarily want to be in an office face-to-face with colleagues.” This may be true, but I personally like recruitment to be concise and to the point. The game draws out the process and takes the total time of application to upwards of an hour. I’d rather spend this time crafting intelligent and relevant answers instead of ordering imaginary beverages in a cafeteria.

Riegal goes on to say that “students in the UK don’t do many internships and often don’t have a clear idea of what’s available to them.” I think that this is slightly naive of him as students and graduates are increasingly partaking in internships as a way of bridging the gap between university and their first job. Inspiring Interns offer internships over a variety of sectors, the majority of which can lead to full time employment; all without the aid of a pink critter and an insufferable barman.

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