SMEs encouraged to look at graduates

CHRIS Goodyear turns on its head the traditional perception of an intern as a young graduate carrying out menial roles in a large company for no pay in the hope of landing a permanent job.

The Teesside University graduate has played a key role in swelling the number of people coming forward as potential adopters or fosterers of children in the Darlington area.

But his expertise is not with social services or work with young people, it is marketing.

Since the 24-year-old intern was brought into the family placement service at Darlington Borough Council in August last year, he has overhauled the department’s online and social media presence as well as developing campaign materials for schools, GPs surgeries and public offices.

Mr Goodyear was brought into the service after work between Foundation for Jobs and Teesside University to create more internship places at North-East firms and organisations for young graduates.

Foundation for Jobs is a national award-winning partnership between The Northern Echo, Darlington Borough Council and the Darlington Partnership, which aims to tackle the long-term causes of unemployment for young people aged 24 and under.

It has supported more than 2,700 young people since its launch two years ago.

Mr Goodyear’s work has seen an increase in the number of potential adopters come forward particularly through Twitter and Facebook and led to other similar services in the North-East making enquiries about how they too can take an intern on.

He has also seen his internship period increased from six months to a year.

Mr Goodyear is an example of the modern face of internships, a graduate taking on a specific paid project - not making the coffee and filing - within a firm for a salary bringing with them skills that are needed for that project only, but which the company may not have.

Laura Woods, Teesside University’s director of academic enterprise, said: “I think it is really important to get the message across that this is something that has real value and substance.

“It is about allowing the graduate to take on a real substantial project within a company which allows the company to operate in a more efficient way.

“Because of that these internships have value, therefore they are salaried, it is not about free work.”

Those projects are also flexible. An internship can last as little as eight weeks or in the case of a highly specialised knowledge transfer partnership, up to three years.

Simon Crowe, architectural director, left, and Johnathan Munkley, former intern who was taken on fulltime, at Niven Architects, in Darlington

Possibly because of the traditional image of interns, many SMEs have been reluctant to go down that route but it is perhaps those smaller companies more than any others which stand to benefit most from the opportunities now on offer.

The company gets expertise to deal with a specific project they may not presently have the internal expertise for, often with funding and subsidies attached.

In return a graduate with little or no work experience gets a chance to shine, put their studies to practical use and receives a reference and entry on their CV.

Joanne Hughff, graduate spark project manager at Teesside University, said: “Over the last three years we have talked to businesses extensively about what they want and need to meet their business objectives and many SMEs benefit from short term access to highly skilled graduates to complete specific projects.”

Mr Goodyear said: “I had my qualifications but perhaps lacked on the job experience prior to taking up this role.

“In this role I have had to work with different departments such as communications and print and design, working with several people to get something done.

“It has been challenging but I feel more grown up and I am taking on responsibility.

“Rather than being told to do this or do that, this role is a case of the team telling me this is what we need to achieve and me going away and coming up with something that enables us to do that.

“It is increased my confidence and I now feel that when I finish my internship I am very confident of securing a job because I now have these skills and experience.”

Hilary Tillotson, manager of Darlington Borough Council’s family placement service, said Mr Goodyear had brought more benefits than they could have imagined.

She said: “When we took Chris on we expected to be getting somebody capable of updating our marketing materials but we could never imagine the impact that he has had.

“The great thing is that we have been able to brief him on what we need and have been able to leave him to get on with it.

“There has been an increase in enquiries and these have been as a result of our new Facebook page and use of Twitter. “Chris is certainly getting our message out there.”

Mrs Woods added: “I think the graduates get enormous benefit from it, nothing can substitute for real work experience, it brings a whole new perspective.

“The academic skills they develop at university are vitally important to them getting a graduate level job but without the on the ground experience in an organisation it takes so much longer to be able to add value to a company.

“There is no substitute for it and it is why the university are so keen for them to get this experience.”

Mrs Woods also said it was important in developing the confidence of the young graduates She said: “It is all part of it; it is showing what they can do and what difference they can make.

“If they don’t have this experience at any stage in their education there is a lack of confidence, there is a feeling that it is daunting.

“The confidence is really important, you can see the difference it makes when students go on placement to the personality, confidence and whole outlook of the individual.”

Although internships have traditionally lasted a minimum of six months Teesside University is in the process of launching an eight-week initiative.

It aims to enable North-East SMEs to access part financed graduate talent for short term projects or trial prospective new employees with a view to longer term employment and, due to a European Regional Development Fund subsidy, will cost the employer less than £1,300 in wages.

Ms Hughff said it had come about after consultation with the SME community on their particular needs.

She said: “In response the new eight week internship has been developed, enabling SMEs to not only access graduates with fresh ideas but also benefit from a 50 per cent European Regional Development Fund subsidy which makes this initiative very accessible.

“These internships offer a great opportunity for SMEs and new graduates to grow.”

The university undertake the recruitment and matching process and provide graduate candidates to the company to consider via interview.

For those companies looking for further reaching projects the university also runs intern based schemes such as knowledge transfer partnerships, which last one to three years and see half the participants salary funded by the scheme.

Niven Architects, in Darlington, is one SME that has taken part in a knowledge transfer partnership has ended up forming a whole new division as a result.

Having previously spent time at the firm and been supported through his studies Teesside University, architecture graduate Johnathan Munkley, 28, returned to Niven on a two-year knowledge transfer partnership contract to develop its building information modeling system (BIM), which involves digital modelling of structures and plans using computer software.

The firm’s owner Simon Crowe said: “John joined us as a year out student initially and that developed into two years before he went back to college.

“We came to an agreement we would help him through the second part of his studies and when he finished would come back and join us.

“Then the opportunity arose for John to come in and work with us on behalf of the university in a knowledge transfer partnership, with him based in the office for the past 18 to 19 months.

“When he was with us the first time he reflected the thinking we always need, which is to be at the cutting edge of this industry in order to survive.

“We could have gone out to the market but why would we when we had somebody we had already invested in. It was a case of bringing the bits together.

“We are coming towards the end of the two year programme with Teesside and the result of that process is that we have started a new agency to run alongside the architectural practice which is called the BIM strategy unit and which is what the knowledge transfer partnership is based on.

“John is both a director and shareholder so I can’t see a better way of proving that if you give the person the opportunity and they are willing to grasp it they can achieve good things and benefit the business.”

Mr Munkley said: “The opportunities I was given when I first came here were fantastic, I was working on major projects when I saw friends in bigger practices spending their time drawing toilets.

“The internship set the specific project down for two years.

“Having the opportunity to understand and experience the latest technology, as well as its implications for the ever changing world of architecture and construction, is vital to what Niven Architects are trying to achieve as a business.”

Darlington College students demonstrate sports massage at a Foundation for Jobs fair, held in the town’s Dolphin Centre. Daniel Wheldon, 18, left and Mark Williams, 17, work on 14-yearold James Roberts, from Haughton Education Village

For further details about recruiting an intern, contact Teesside University’s Business Team on 01642-384068 or email business@tees.ac.uk or Foundation for Jobs co-ordinator Owen McAteer at owen.mcateer@darlington.co.uk

A team from Teesside University will also be available to discuss internships at the DL Business Expo event at the Northern Echo Arena, in Darlington, between 10am and 4pm tomorrow (Thursday, May 1).

Graduate internship opportunities

Graduates for Business:

• Three to six month graduate placements

• Access to a 50 per cent salary subsidy up to £3,999

• Access to graduates from any university

Knowledge Exchange Internships:

• Six month graduate placements

• Regular academic mentoring expertise to support the graduate

• Equipment and Personal development budget for the graduate

• Regular progress review meetings

Graduate Internships:

• Eight week project based graduate placement

• Access to a 50 per cent salary subsidy of £1,283

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships:

• Six month to three year strategic projects

• Business case and funding application development

• Detailed work plan and project management

• Half day per week academic mentoring expertise

• Equipment and personal development budgets for the graduate

• Part funding up to 67 per cent SMEs/50 per cent non-SMEs