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Econsultancy and Inspiring Interns, a London-based recruitment agency which specialises in placing graduates in internships have formed this partnership to provide organisations with work-ready graduates. The week-long Graduate Bootcamp aims to deliver core digital skills and practical application alongside employability training and career coaching.

Programme graduates will be offered the opportunity to take a three month internship in a digitally focused role to put their newly acquired digital knowledge into practice. At the end of the internship it is hoped participants will be taken on in full time roles.

The programme is specifically aimed at graduates who might not have previously considered a role in digital. Econsultancy hopes to make entering into a digital role an easy first step for graduates and to attract a broad range of internship opportunities offered by our 120,000 strong member community. Each successful graduate will participate in Econsultancy training courses for free before selecting a role.

Econsultancy’s Head of Professional Development, Vivien Underwood commented,"Digital organisations are crying out for new talent, but for many the time and resource investment required to get someone up to speed is a significant barrier to hiring those with little or no previous experience. Internships offer companies a great chance to see new graduates ‘in situ’, and a training and internship programme such as this can help match the candidates’ skills to the organisation to make the experience more valuable and rewarding for both employer and intern."

Ben Rosen, CEO of Inspiring Interns added “We see a lot of high-achieving graduates who would be a real asset to the digital sector but simply aren’t aware of the breadth of opportunity available. Digital is a complex sector with unique requirements. Training can give them confidence in their skills and their career choices and helps address the skills gap for those joining the industry, boosting graduate employability and supporting companies through provision of enthusiastic, well-suited and knowledgeable interns.”

The training programme starts on 25 June, with candidates ready to take on internships from 2 July. Partaking organisations will be able to select interns through video CVs and face to face interviews. The full cost for the three month programme (including Econsultancy digital marketing and e-commerce training) will be £2250 + VAT. Organisations wishing to submit an internship position should can submit it tovivien.underwood@econsultancy.com or call 020 7269 1475 by Friday 1st June. To have your internship role used as the basis for candidate selection and to get first pick of the graduates, a £250 deposit payment is required.

The first training programme will start on 25 June. For further details visithttp://econsultancy.com/hello/bootcamp.

The ONS report found that the average rate of unemployment among 21-24 year olds with degrees is 13.6%; well above the national average of 8.9%. It is not until two years after graduating that the rate of unemployment amongst graduates drops below 8.9%, suggesting that in the current climate many graduates spent up to two years looking for work and gaining experience before they find a job.

In light of these statistics the importance of internships to gain experience and work towards earning a graduate job becomes even clearer. Inspiring Interns Communications Director Andrew Scherer, who began his working life as an intern for Inspiring Interns and is the author of Brilliant Intern, believes that internships are the ideal model for graduates to develop skills and earn meaningful graduate-level work.

"Recent graduates struggle to compete in the current saturated employment market and as such remain unemployed or find menial work that does not make best use of their education. Opportunities in the form of internships offer a vocational learning experience for them to develop skills, make a valuable contribution that more often than not will lead to a graduate job."

Since being founded in 2009, London’s leading internship provider has placed over 1,400 graduates into internships with SMEs that have offered real hands-on experience, 65% of whom secured full-time work with their host company.

With a staggering 28% of the class of 2007 still not in full-time employment (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14758464) and 50,000 more university leavers entering the job market in 2012 than five years ago, competition for jobs are increasingly fierce.

A recent report by High Fliers Research found that half of the companies they surveyed were unlikely to employ someone without any previous work experience. Recruiters have confirmed that a third of this year’s entry-level positions are expected to be filled by graduates who have already worked for their organisations.

"New graduates who’ve not had any work experience have little hope of landing a well-paid job with a leading employer, irrespective of the academic results they achieve or the university they’ve attended," said Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers Research.

With graduates trapped in this ‘need experience to get a job, need a job to get experience’ vicious circle, it has become vital for them to acquire work experience. Inspiring Interns Communications Director Andrew Scherer, who began his working life as an intern for Inspiring and is the author of Brilliant Intern, believes that internships are the perfect model to get graduates into meaningful work.

"The employment market is currently saturated, not just with those immediately out of university but by people with over a year’s experience under their belt. Graduates are finding that they simply cannot compete in these conditions and as such remain unemployed or find menial work that does not make best use of their education."

"It is a waste of personal ability and the public investment in their education to place those with degrees into short-term, low-skilled jobs or even onto the dole queue when opportunities exist, in the form of internships, for them to develop skills, make a valuable contribution and earn graduate-level work."

We call on the Government to expand its Work Experience Programme to ensure that unemployed graduates can undertake meaningful internships that offer an opportunity to progress to a permanent position. In 2011 Inspiring Interns formed a groundbreaking partnership with Job Centre Plus and the Work Experience Programme to help support graduates who want to undertake an internship. Thanks to the partnership, interns are able to receive JSA for a minimum of eight weeks during their internship. When graduates would otherwise be job hunting this scheme permits them to gain invaluable work experience at no additional cost. With this added work experience the likelihood of them getting a permanent graduate role is highly increased.

Since being founded in 2009, London’s leading internship provider has placed over 1,400 graduates into internships with SMEs that have offered real hands-on experience, 65% of whom secured full-time work with their host company. Ex-Inspiring Intern and author of Brilliant Intern, Andrew Scherer argues,

"We know from extensive experience that well-run internships are a solution to the graduate unemployment crisis. It is time for the Government to support them and reverse the worrying trend of joblessness among our university leavers."

It is, however, important to note that there is another significant group of young people that have serious difficulties trying to enter the labour market after education: university graduates. There is no mention of graduates in the ACEVO report, despite the fact that research suggests around 28% of the class of 2007 are still not in full-time employment (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14758464). While it is undoubtedly true that university leavers are better placed to enter the world of work than school leavers, clearly a concerted effort is required to ensure this stratum of jobseekers does not bear the brunt of current economic difficulties and long-term structural problems. Currently, there is no graduate-specific Government provision for unemployed graduates, meaning those that do turn to organisations such as Job Centre Plus rarely receive the tailored support that would enable them to find suitable employment.

Inspiring Interns accepts that the current job market is no place for a misplaced sense of entitlement. Nevertheless it is a patent waste of personal ability and economic capacity to place those with degrees into short-term, low-skilled jobs when opportunities exist, in the form of internships, for them to develop skills and earn graduate-level work. In addition to ACEVO’s recommendations, we call on the Government to expand its Work Experience Programme to ensure that unemployed graduates can undertake meaningful internships that offer a genuine opportunity to progress to a permanent job. Currently many Job Centres are reluctant to refer graduates onto the Work Experience Programme or find them inappropriate positions.

Since being founded in 2009, Inspiring Interns have placed 1,400 graduates into internships with SMEs that have offered real hands-on experience, 65% of which have become permanent jobs. There is undoubtedly appetite among both employers and jobseekers for such opportunities – it is vital that the Government supports both parties and fosters this path to employment.

Inspiring Interns had a very exciting year last year. Our expanding business took on six new members of staff, five of who started as interns themselves. As we grew we needed somewhere bigger and better to house our budding team. We bid a sad goodbye to our old office which has been our home from day one and moved down the road to our new headquarters. Our new office houses two candidate interview rooms so we can help twice as many graduates into jobs every day.

Last year saw us celebrate the publication of our careers guidebook Brilliant Intern which provides practical and meaningful advice to help graduates find and make the most of their internships.

We announced a wonderful new partnership with Job Centre Plus and the Work Experience Programme towards the end of the year to help support graduates who want to undertake an internship. Thanks to the partnership, interns are able to receive JSA (normally £53.45 a week) for a minimum of eight weeks during their internship. When graduates would otherwise be job hunting this scheme allows them to gain invaluable work experience at no additional cost. With this added work experience the likelihood of them getting a paid graduate role is highly increased, along with their employability due to their newfound awareness of a commercial setting.

An internship bridges the gap between student life and the working world – it is a vocational learning experience which provides graduates with practical experience, valuable skills and a network of contacts to increase a graduate’s understanding of an industry. Inspiring Interns founder and CEO Ben Rosen explains;

"Internships are a great tool to allow companies to minimise their risk when hiring inexperienced staff, while giving graduates the opportunity to create and earn positions that may not have been there without the internship. A three month placement gives the intern the chance to learn lots of new hands-on skills and make themselves indispensible, and therefore move into permanent employment."

The UK's jobless are losing hope for the future with the number of people unemployed for over one year reaching 857,000 in the three months to November 2011. Research conducted by The Prince’s Trust found that unemployed young people are feeling less confident about the future than they did this time last year.

With job losses in the public sector likely to continue, the Government must make every effort to help the private sector and SMEs to create more jobs. The key to reviving the job market is to focus on enhancing the right skills and considering roles in growing sectors and newer industries.

In our experience most success has been found in newer industries which often complement many graduates' personal interests. Areas such as mobile technology and digital marketing offer potential for swift progression when compared to more traditional professions and also allow university leavers to draw on familiar skills, such as knowledge of social media.

Inspiring Interns are championing internships as a new and successful approach to encouraging small business to hire university leavers and getting graduates into work. Their model – a three month placement with minimum lunch and travel expenses, with a view to permanent job – has seen over 1,300 graduates complete internships in the London area in the last three years, with 65% of them going on to secure full-time work with their host company. Inspiring Interns CEO and founder Ben Rosen believes that internships are the perfect model to get graduates into meaningful work.

"An internship provides that stepping stone between student life and the working world – it is a vocational learning experience that more often than not will lead to a job."

Rosen also explains the benefit for employers;

"Internships offer employers the chance to hire someone on potential rather than experience. A three month internship period allows them to offer the intern training and the chance to observe them in the workplace before committing to taking them on permanently. This limits their risk and allows them to take a candidate on who they would not have otherwise."

Against this background, graduate internship agency Inspiring Interns have been quietly and steadily going about their work, helping hundreds of university leavers find internships and jobs. Despite starting under three years ago, Inspiring Interns have created over 1,200 internships with 65% of these turning into permanent graduate jobs. As a successful start-up they have also grown into a twenty-strong team and last week moved into a new, purpose-built office.

Inspiring Interns' success in creating graduate jobs through quality internships has now been recognised by Job Centre Plus, who have made Inspiring an official partner of the Youth Contract's Work Experience Programme. This guarantees Job Seeker's Allowance for any interns who find a placement through the company.

As much media coverage has already highlighted, internships suffer from major two issues – quality and access. Inspiring Interns have always been at the forefront of encouraging best practice within internships – as highlighted by the publication of their careers guidebook, Brilliant Intern, earlier this year. They are also committed to finding the best candidates for a position by advertising their roles broadly and judging applications on merit – ensuring it is what you know, not who you know that gets you your dream internship. Now, with the Job Centre partnership established, any lingering fears that some graduates might struggle to complete an internship because of financial difficulties have also been allayed.

Commenting on this new partnership, Inspiring Interns CEO Ben Rosen said, "We have always placed quality and access at the heart of our approach to internships. They are a proven way to get young people into their first job and we are passionate about ensuring no-one misses out on this opportunity because of their background. This partnership will help us continue to offer help to the broadest selection of people possible."

Inspiring Interns' success, both in creating jobs for young people and as a growing business, demonstrates that green shoots are appearing – and the Work Experience Programme is helping them grow.

Inspiring Interns have put together a list of alternative routes to think about:

The SME

Often graduates look straight to the large global companies and discount the experience they can gain at smaller enterprises. SMEs have a lot to offer the current economy and are becoming an increasingly valuable option for university leavers who struggle to compete for the coveted schemes at major multinationals. They can offer better on-the-job training, invaluable hands-on experience and a more personal approach to further your career.

The Internship

An internship can offer great practical experience and provide valuable skills and a network of contacts to increase a graduate’s understanding of an industry. Any extras on your CV which help you stand out amongst the thousands of students leaving university this summer will be a major bonus in a tough graduate job market. Many companies use the internship period as an interviewing process to better evaluate applicants before committing to employing them.

Inspiring Interns CEO and founder Ben Rosen believes that internships are the perfect model to get graduates into meaningful work.

"An internship gives them the chance to learn practical skills which will impress potential employers, as well as make useful industry contacts and even earn themselves a full-time job."

The Business Venture

In the current economic climate starting your own business has become a viable option for creative and motivated university leavers bursting with fresh ideas. The government and universities can offer help and funding to graduates looking to set up a business.

The 'In-between Job'

If you have had a job during university then it is a good idea to hold on to it when you graduate. Any experience looks good on your CV, it will give you some income and also time to apply for jobs in your chosen industry. You also don’t know where it could lead.

Although graduate schemes are easier to track down and are more widely advertised during your time at university it is important to remember there are so many other options out there. Keep your eyes peeled and your mind open!

It is an impressive success story against a backdrop of rising youth unemployment and a suspicion among employers that hiring inexperienced workers in the current climate is too big a risk. With graduates trapped in the 'need experience to get a job, need a job to get experience' vicious circle, Inspiring Interns CEO and founder Ben Rosen believes that internships are the perfect model to get graduates into meaningful work.

"The employment market is currently saturated, not just with those immediately out of university but by people with over a year's experience under their belt. Graduates are finding that they simply cannot compete in these conditions and as such remain unemployed or find menial work that does not make best use of their education.

"An internship gives them the chance to learn practical skills which will impress potential employers, as well as make useful industry contacts and even earn themselves a full-time job."

Interestingly, Inspiring Interns have found most success in newer industries which often complement many graduates' personal interests. Areas such as mobile technology and digital marketing offer potential for swift progression when compared to more traditional professions and also allow university leavers to draw on familiar skills, such as knowledge of social media.

Having reached the 1000 intern mark independently, Inspiring Interns are now calling on the Government to do more to support internships and help create jobs for graduates. Commenting on the recent launch of BIS's Common Best Practice Code for High Quality Internships, Ben Rosen said,

"It is encouraging to see the Coalition engaging with internships and attempting to offer some guidance to business. However we would like to see them create some genuine measures, such as allowing companies to redirect National Insurance payments to internship programmes, in order to support what is now a proven model for combating graduate unemployment."

Having reached the 1000 mark, Rosen is unequivocal in his vision for Inspiring Interns. "2000 is next! There are still tens of thousands of graduates looking for work and thousands of companies who are unaware of the benefit hungry young talent can bring to their organisation. Inspiring Interns is committed to bringing the two together, creating jobs and boosting business."

"The AGR report gives a skewed picture of the graduate job market," insists Andrew Scherer, Inspiring Interns' marketing manager. "It has too great an emphasis on big business and as such does not reflect the positive developments within SME recruitment."

Inspiring Interns, who specialise in helping small business connect with graduate talent through internships which lead to permanent jobs, have seen far less competition for positions in smaller firms. Although they may not provide a marquee name for your CV, often these roles provide far greater responsibility and better prospects for young jobseekers.

"Students are often drawn to the 'big boys' on the milkround, who advertise heavily with university careers services and can offer eye-catching starting salaries. For many graduates, however, starting with a smaller company is often a more rewarding move. Better work-life balance, improved job satisfaction and swift progression up the career ladder are the sorts of benefits many employees find working within small business can bring.

"Importantly, graduates will come up against less competition when applying to SMEs and are far more likely to succeed with speculative applications. It is crucial that we broaden students' horizons when considering their careers and make them aware that graduate jobs do not start and end with the big multi-nationals."

Scherer and Inspiring Interns are championing internships as a new and successful approach to encouraging small business to hire university leavers and getting graduates into work. Their model – a three month placement with minimum lunch and travel expenses, with a view to permanent job – has seen over 1,000 graduates complete internships in the London area in the last two years, with 65% of them going on to secure full-time work with their host company.

"Internships are a perfect stepping stone between university and starting your career," explains Scherer, who has also written a guide to completing internships, Brilliant Intern, to be published by Pearson in September. "They give you the chance to learn more about a particular sector, judge whether a role is right for you, and gain crucial employability skills. For the employer it also gives them the chance to look at graduate talent that they might otherwise have ignored in favour of candidates with one or two years' experience."

The message from Inspiring Interns is for graduates to stay positive about their job hunt. "Don't let negative media dishearten you. There are plenty of opportunities out there if you look in the right places. Focusing on smaller companies and completing an internship could be the key to unlocking your career."

The survey of 2,614 students showed that 57% want universities to better explain what skills they need to impress employers, including customer awareness, team working and self management. A further 66% would like to be provided with support from their university in developing these skills.

These findings follow last week's publication of the 2011 CBI / EDI Education & Skills Survey which showed that 82% of businesses single out employability skills as the most important consideration when hiring graduates. The survey found that 70% of employers believe that students need to do more to prepare themselves for the workplace and make the most of what is available to them at university through societies, internships and volunteering.

With the forthcoming rise in tuition fees the pressure will be on institutions to show how their course can help students achieve a return on their investment by securing graduate jobs. The CBI wants all universities to embed the teaching of employability skills into course structures.

Susan Anderson, CBI Director for Education & Skills, said "Employability skills are the most important attributes that businesses look for in new recruits but graduates are currently falling short of employers' expectations.

"Competition for jobs is intense and graduate unemployment remains high, so students need to proactively develop relevant employability skills. But at the same time all universities need to explain these skills better and make sure they embed them in teaching."

Another means to improve your job opportunities post-university is to undertake a graduate internship. This will provide valuable work experience and employability skills, boosting job prospects and industry contacts to enrich your CV.

Graduates have been among the worst hit by the economic downturn with research forecasting a deteriorating jobs market for graduates who will leave university this summer. The study predicts that the figures will rise to 42% of this year's graduates working in low-skill jobs where a degree is not required, six months after graduating.

With the tuition fees set to soar, this raises the question of whether a university degree is worth the financial investment. Jane Scott Paul, chief executive at the Association of Accounting Technicians who commissioned the study says; "If we are asking people to invest £9,000-a-year on tuition fees, they should expect a credible return on that investment. Yet over half the graduates are nowhere near benefitting from their degree and the situation is set to get worse." Therefore those considering the option of university need to think more carefully about job prospects and employability skills post-university.

The study shows graduates of law, history and philosophy are the most likely to be "underemployed". However, graduates in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science are more likely to be in graduate employment.

With high competition for graduate jobs the alternative choice for university leavers is to find a graduate internship. Rather than taking a menial, low-skilled job with no career prospects and that the candidate is over qualified for, an internship can bridge the gap between university and a graduate job. A good graduate internship can provide valuable work experience, key skills and the potential to build up a network of contacts.

Inevitably the media picked up on the Deputy Prime Minister's own nepotistic professional advances – his father secured him a placement with a Finnish bank, a 'Clegg up' – and ridiculed his apparent hypocrisy. While I can appreciate the media love some juicy irony to feed off, ultimately it is fairly irrelevant if the man trying to change a flawed system once benefited from it.

More significant was the reignition of the debate surrounding National Minimum Wage and internships. The 'pay all interns' lobby have been understandably vocal on the matter, and I welcome campaigns to raise the standards of internships for all. However I do not believe that enforcing NMW for every single internship is either appropriate or necessarily beneficial for interns themselves.

I think the first thing to point out is that, rightly or wrongly, Clegg has not signalled he is 'championing a drive to end unpaid internships' as the Guardian puts it. He has been more subtle in his language: there is talk of fairness; better access; and appropriate remuneration. He has not, however, said that every internship must be paid. Indeed, the actual text of Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers (the document outlining the Government strategy) says of internships:

financial support could consist of either payment of at least the appropriate national minimum wage rate, or alternatively payment of reasonable out of pocket expenses in compliance with national minimum wage law."

To my mind that still leaves plenty of room for doubt as to whether an internship automatically qualifies for NMW or not.

Secondly, internships are still a new enough concept that there is not a broad consensus on what makes one. I know of companies who run two-week 'internship' programmes which give candidates a taste of life in their business, while there are firms which take on interns for a year as full members of staff. Clearly it is absolutely necessary to offer payment for some internships but to make the sweeping statement that all internships should be paid does not take into account the diversity of placements on offer.

I think it is fair to say that if all companies were forced to pay interns then the number and quality of internships would decrease. I am aware that many look to the original introduction of NMW for precedent in relation to a potential decline in opportunities available. They argue that as there was no negative affect then there would not be for internships. However internships are largely non-essential positions that, contrary to what some groups argue, are not replacing entry-level roles. Rather, they give students and graduates the chance to demonstrate their ability and earn themselves a job where they would not have been offered one without the extra experience and training.

I am aware that surveys have been conducted (for example that of Interns Anonymous) which suggest that up to 82% of interns do not earn full-time jobs at a host organisation following a placement. There are undoubtedly some companies that see interns as a short-term alternative to temporary staff, but the results of Interns Anonymous' survey are surely skewed by the fact that the majority of their users are people who have had a negative internship experience. Inspiring Interns' own data shows that 65% of interns become full-time employees at their host organisation and the majority of the remainder go on to secure full-time work elsewhere as a result of their additional experience. Internships, when run properly, do lead to jobs.

If every single internship was subject to NMW there is also a very real danger that their quality would decrease significantly. Currently if you are providing an internship with lunch and travel expenses (the minimum required by Inspiring Interns of their clients), there is a moral imperative to provide interesting work, extra training and structured support. Additionally the placement should be time-limited (we say three months as a maximum). If the intern does not feel their firm are matching these requirements they are free to leave whenever they like. If, however, all interns receive NMW then the scope for exploitation expands enormously. We could see year-long placements paying minimum wage where graduates, rather than learning, are given mundane tasks and become a general office dogsbody – justified by the fact they are being paid. Surely this is counterproductive to social mobility? It is far easier to live for three months on lunch and travel expenses (which are often almost £1000/month) followed by a full graduate wage than it is on less than £12,000/year, a figure below the London Living Wage.

Finally, I note that today's Low Pay Commission Report rejects calls for internships to become an official employment term and part of the NMW legislation. They argue that existing rules are strong enough but need tougher enforcement. This is reasonable, although long-term I still believe more specific internship legislation (such as that for stagiaires in France) is the best solution for all parties. While internships continue to fall under current rules governing payment I call on the Government and HRMC to adopt a sensible approach to enforcement. Punish those who wilfully exploit young workers but do all you can to support those who offer valuable experience and are helping combat the growing unemployment crisis among this nation's youth.

A major part of the policy focuses on making work experience and internships a driving force in widening access to professions. The Coalition believes practical experience can provide young people with valuable skills, understanding of a chosen industry and ultimately boosting their employment chances.

The strategy aims to open up internships to everyone, not just the "well-connected". Employers will be encouraged to make their employment methods more transparent, offer internships on merit and provide financial support to interns, with a minimum reimbursement of out of pocket expense.

Both these measures match Inspiring Interns' own commitment to fair internships. We advertise all our vacancies widely, so that it is not just those 'in the know' who can apply for our schemes, and our remuneration policy is one of lunch and travel expenses as a minimum.

We welcome the Government's social mobility strategy and their support for fair and open internships. With ever increasing numbers of graduates entering a hugely competitive job market it has become crucial for university leavers to have meaningful work experience. Securing this experience should be about what you know, not who you know.