3 July 2013

Sally Smith & Dr Colin Smith

• Employers as partners through placement creation – a regional perspective

• e-Placement Scotland project overview

• Findings

• Recommendations

• Q/A

Introduction

Project Objectives

• Create 750 paid placements for computing students across Scotland; in HE and FE

• Partnership between Edinburgh Napier University, ScotlandIS and e-skills UK – started August 2010

• Employers pay students – average salary is £15K pro rata

• Placements to last between 3 months and one year, full-time or part-time

Outcomes

• Employer stats:

• Student stats:

• Sector focus – tie in with subject discipline

• Programme leader engagement – in-lecture presentations

• Directed advice to students – CV for computing jobs, assessment centres for computing etc

What’s working? 1. Sector focus

• Visits to employer premises

• Network with employers locally around their interests

• Employers offering masterclasses to bring students in – not all will be placed –added value

What’s working? 2. Regional focus

• Registration and “matching” service

• Tackling low numbers applying?

• Campaigns – knowing the HE placement landscape

• Flexibility – employers rose to the challenge eg p/t

• Listen to employers in your sector – in computing, 3 month summer placements for third year students is the dominant model

What’s working?3. Skills-based recruitment campaigns

• Over 200,000 businesses have been created since 2011 (BIS, 2012)

• 53% of our placements in SMEs

• Not easy but build brand – reputation, repeat custom,

What’s working?4. Collaboration to widen access to SMEs

• Trade bodies – formal & informal networking

• Regional approach – manageable regions eg across Scotland

• Help & support – development of job specifications, IP statements, contracts, shortlisting, H&S checklist

Three secrets to accessing SMEs

• Application rates were an issue initially – students intimidated by job specifications – e.g. 7 essential skills, 6 desirable skills

• College students gaining placements – employers want highly qualified students. Many students who articulated from college were successful.

What’s difficult?

• Academic credit OR pay OR both (never neither)

• We looked at placement projects across Scotland

• Can pay, should pay? – funded by HEA

• e. g. Smith, C., Smith, S., Irving, C (2013) Can pay, should pay? Comparing employer and student outcomes of paid and unpaid work opportunities, HEA STEM Conference April 2013, Birmingham

Finally, paid/ unpaid

• Wilson T (2012) A review of business–university collaboration

• https://www.ukecc-services.net/ukpbata.cfm

• http://www.britishservices.co.uk/associations.htm

• Federation of Small Businesses http://www.fsb.org.uk/

• Smith, C., Smith, S., Irving, C (2013) Can pay, should pay? Comparing employer and student outcomes of paid and unpaid work opportunities, HEA STEM Conference April 2013, Birmingham

References

Any questions?