Are interns worth the investment?

I often try to cling on the notion that graduating from University wasn’t too long ago, but a recent get together with old Uni friends at a posh function at the Houses of Parliament no less (get me), reminded me that time has moved on a bit and among other things, Monday nights out until way past my bedtime are not the best idea …

When I graduated way back in 2002, I didn’t have a fixed idea of the direction my career would take. I explored all the grad schemes my pals were talking about, like the Aldi, Enterprise Rent- A- Car and even the Arriva train driver grad scheme with the one common denominator being the starting salaries that were on offer. When I say explored, it doesn’t mean I applied, I was too busy day- dreaming about the Audi A4 I’d get in my package to channel my focus into to do something about it.

I ended up settling on going back to Uni to do a PGCE, with the intention of becoming a PE teacher. While waiting for the course to start in the September, I took a summer job at a student lettings business where I discovered I was quite good at “sales”. It turned out to be a 3 year summer job. I won the annual “top sales person” competition each year I was there and loved it. I didn’t do my PGCE…

After my initial three years in sales, I was headhunted to work in recruitment by a Global FTSE 150 business and 13 years on, I now find myself running my own business, with a fantastically loyal client base and with people who now want work with me to build the Parker Young brand! I look back at how different my life would have been if the lettings business that hired me, hadn’t seen the potential I had for sales and if I hadn’t backed myself to succeed in a number of unfamiliar environments throughout my career.

Where am I going with this?

I have recruited for mid management to director level roles for a number of years, so haven’t been close to the graduate recruitment market since being one myself. Through the NatWest Accelerator Programme however (www.business.natwest.com/business/services/accelerator.html) , I’ve been exposed to a number of businesses who have benefitted hugely from the involvement of graduates via internships. I have seen a huge amount of graduate/ generation X bashing on LinkedIn recently and falling foul of falling into the trap of the “graduates aren’t what they used to be” mantra myself, I was intrigued to explore the market.

I advertised the position of Social Media and Marketing intern and I had a huge response. Of the 50+ applications I received, I interviewed 10 candidates and it highlighted two things

• The challenge graduates face in finding a route into the working World, post- graduation: I interviewed one candidate who had been working, unpaid for 6 months in the hope of a job offer after it. Having a degree isn’t good enough to open doors now, the expectation is that you need acquire bags of work experience before you can be taken seriously or actually secure a role.
• There are some fantastic, bright, hungry and determined graduates out there waiting to be discovered and while yes, there were some Rotters in the mix, the process of identifying talent was no different to the Managing Director searches I’ve managed.

The outcome….

After selecting my preferred candidate, which wasn’t an easy task, I’m delighted to announce that Ellie has passed her internship and is now a paid employee.

So what is the point of the blog?

It will hopefully represent a statement to any employers or potential employers out there, deliberating over the value graduates can bring. I can confirm that taking a leap of faith in someone with no formal experience, but with all the characteristics I would look for in people at any level, has worked for my business.

It will also hopefully encourage graduates out there who may have had a number of knockbacks to consider applying for roles and what you are looking to gain from them:

• Are you prepared to put your money where your mouth is and, like Ellie, work on a trial basis to prove you are hireable?
• Have you done something different to stand out to a prospective employer? In Ellie’s case, she wrote me a personal, tailored application letter and didn’t simply send her CV via the portal I advertised the role through.
• Have you taken you’re A-Game to the interview, however informal the initial meeting was presented as?
• Above all, are you genuinely passionate about and interested in the business you have interviewed with? If not, it will show.

It will also act as a call to action for graduates who like the sound of Parker Young and who, like me, think they could demonstrate passion for a career in consultative selling and who would like to learn more about the growth plans we have.

If this is you, please contact Ellie Horton in the first instance at [email protected] and we will be in touch.