Santander scheme success as interns welcomed back for celebration
The interns who attended the celebratory event are pictured with Santander's University Regional Manager Damian Mullany.
Mon, 16 Nov 2015 14:38:00 GMT
The Huddersfield Internship Scheme, in partnership with Santander, achieves 100% graduate employability in its first year
THE University of Huddersfield’s partnership with a major bank has enabled talented students to gain stimulating, well-paid work experience with a wide range of companies in the fields that fascinate them. It has also helped them to land full-time, graduate-level jobs.
The Huddersfield Internship Scheme, in partnership with Santander, has been in operation at the University for 12 months. Its successful first year was celebrated at a special event, attended by some of the employers, students and graduates who have taken part. Key figures from the bank and from the University were also present.
Under the scheme, students are offered 12-week placements. They are paid a wage by the participating company, but at the close of the internship – which is project-based – half of this is reimbursed by Santander.
The celebration event included presentations from some of the students and employers who had taken part during the first year of the scheme.
They included Graphic Design student Esther Orridge (pictured left). She had a Santander Internship with Social Progress Ltd and now that she has graduated she has taken up a full-time post with the company.
There was a presentation from Katrina Cliffe, of KC Communications, and from Marketing and Sports Promotion student Grace Lenihan, who had an internship with the company. The event also heard from James Betts (pictured below right with 10 Associates's MD David Worthington), a graphic design student who took part in a successful internship with design agency 10 Associates.
Opportunity for graduates
Eight of the companies that offered internships were represented at the event. Santander staff in attendance included University Regional Manager Damien Mullany and there was a presentation from Darren Oddy, who is Relationship Leader of Santander Corporate.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, Professor Bob Cryan, opened the celebration event and he participated in handing out certificates to the first cohort of internees.
At the University of Huddersfield’s Careers and Employability Service, Internships Co-ordinator Su Maynard administers the scheme, identifying employers in a wide range of sectors and helping applicants with their CVs and matching them to companies, providing one-to-one support when needed.
The first year of the scheme was exceptionally successful, she said, with 100 per cent positive feedback from both students and employers. All of the graduates who took part have now secured graduate-level employment and all of the students have developed strong ties with their companies and taken advantage of networking opportunities.
Now the Santander Internship Scheme is moving into its second year, this time offering posts to 25 recent graduates, plus four undergraduate work-placements.
The University of Huddersfield’s Head of Careers and Employability, Stephen Boyd, is in no doubt about the value of the scheme.
“It is a great opportunity for graduates to move towards a profession or sector that is of particular interest – including areas that can be difficult to get into,” he said. “These are graduate-level jobs and both the host company and the interns themselves can measure how successful the internship has been in a very tangible way.”
Globally, the Santander-backed internship scheme has been running for three years. There have been 4,000 internships, with more than half of the interns finding a permanent position after taking part.
