As we all know competition for jobs is fierce and the fact of the matter is 1 in 4 students from 2011 still do not have a full time employment. Employers have told us at Lifestep that academic achievement and a respectable degree are no longer enough to guarantee a good first job. Nowadays, all employers want to know what you have done to make yourself more employable, and what you have done to set yourself apart. It is crucial that you can demonstrate to employers the skills and behaviours that are transferable to the work place.
This easier said than done and developing your transferable skills will require more than just your experiences at university or on a gap year. The specific transferable skills that employers are looking are; working with others, resilience, leadership and drive. All of these are particularly relevant to the work place and that is why the best place to develop them is when working. For this reason internships have proven to be so valuable for those looking to improve their employability.
Internships have proven to be one of the best ways to increase your chances of getting a good first job and consequentially, they are becoming ever more popular. The professional services company Ernst & Young received 2,800 applicants for 750 places, up 200 per cent form last year. In fact entries opened 3 months early this year to accommodate the enormous demand. But why is demand so high? In the case of Ernst & Young, 90 per cent of interns are offered jobs at the company. It is felt that those who have undertaken the internship perform more strongly once a full time member of the company. Similarly, KPMG, another professional services company takes on 150 interns on a paid vacation programme and many of those involved are later offered jobs in the firm.
Internships allow for a rounded training experience in all departments and it gives both parties time to get to know each other so once fully employed, those who have done internships really do hit the ground running.
Useful Links:
http://www.ey.com/UK/en/Careers/Students
http://www.kpmgcareers.co.uk/Graduates/default.aspx?pg=2
Lifestep Blog 