Birmingham Future appoints the fourth Graduate Apprentice…

Graduates are facing a difficult time in securing jobs during the recession so it became great news to twenty one year old Emily Williams when she was announced this week as Birmingham Future’s fourth Graduate Apprentice.

This year’s successful candidate overcame a field of seventy other graduates all hoping to be given the unique opportunity to experience three diverse sixteen week placements within the city’s professional sector.

Emily, from Coventry, has recently graduated from Lancaster University with a first in mathematics and will start her year as the Graduate Apprentice in September with Deloitte in Birmingham. She will also enjoy placements with the HR department of Matthew Boulton and Sutton Coldfield Colleges as they prepare for the merger of the two colleges to form Birmingham Metropolitan College before completing her year with business consultants, VC Consulting.

Emily is the fourth Graduate Apprentice and the first female to be given the unique opportunity to sample three diverse working environments during a structured year since the innovative scheme was launched in 2006 by Birmingham Future.

The programme is run by the organisation’s Talent Retention and Development Committee and supported by Graduate Advantage.

Emily recently visited all three of the placement companies and enjoyed a tour of the city that will become her home and was excited at the prospect that lies ahead;

“Very few of my university friends have managed to secure a graduate job so I am even more excited and pleased to be given this unique opportunity. Like so many other students, I was unsure of the exact direction I wanted to take after leaving university which is why the Graduate Apprentice programme is so appealing.

“I will now have the opportunity to experience three different working environments and with three very different projects to work on. I shall get to know how a major business operates at Deloitte, be involved with Matthew Boulton and Sutton Coldfield Colleges at a highly important and significant time in their development and find out about life in an SME at VC Consulting. I know this will be a fantastic journey.”

Chair of Birmingham Future’s Talent Retention and Development Committee, Anthony McCourt commented;

“Congratulations to Emily on becoming the latest Graduate Apprentice. The introduction of the Government’s new Graduate Internship Programme highlights the importance they are putting on work placements. The Graduate Apprentice, which has been acknowledged as an innovative scheme by leading politicians, goes one step further by offering three diverse placements which gives a far broader view of the opportunities that exist within professional services. This year’s applications were the strongest we have seen which reflects clearly that this opportunity both excites and stimulates graduates.

“During these challenging economic times, I am delighted we are able to continue to offer this unique programme which is only possible due to the continuing support of our placement firms and Graduate Advantage.”

Graduates In Birmingham

Birmingham Future has a range of committees, one of which, Graduates Into Employment, seeks to contribute to the work of ensuring that Birmingham’s professional and business services’ sector continues to attract and retain the top graduate talent.

One of the ways it looks to do this is through events such as “Welcome to Birmingham” reception, which recently took place in at the council house in the city centre.  In its second sucessful year, it offered graduates starting out in their careers in Birmingham a warm welcome to the city, and introduces them to the lifestyle and opportunities Birmingham has to offer, with the aim of encouraging them to stay in the city for the long term.

With so many new people in the city, the GIE committee could not pass up on the opportunity to interview them about their reasons for choosing Birmingham.  The results were quite interesting:

Only 26% of the 152 people who responded indicated that they grew up in the Birmingham area, which is compared to 35% in last years survey.  Contrast that with 36% who stated they had studied in Birmingham, which was an increase from 28% last year.

Only 6% of the graduates both grew up and studied in Birmingham.

Interestingly, 44% of the surveyed had no affiliation to Birmingham before choosing to start their career in the city.  Of those individuals, nearly half (46%) cited that it was a particular job offer or firm that brought them to Birmingham.

Last year, 45% of the graduates recorded that the city centre lifestyle attracted them here, but in this year’s survey, only 26% cited this as being a reason to move to Birmingham.  So what are the reasons for this significant drop?

Perhaps most disappointingly, and the key statistic for the GIE committee to work on is that only one in six stated that they moved to Birmingham for the career opportunities that the city offers.  Clearly, there is still work to be done in promoting the fantastic opportunites for individuals looking to move into the professional and business services sector.

So what brought you to Birmingham? What do you think the city can do to continue to attract and retain the best graduate talent? Are you interested in learning more about what Future, and specifically the GIE committee do? Please leave any comments below.