For any business in the Liverpool area considering taking on an intern from LJMU – go for it!
We were unsure initially however it was so beneficial to us as a business. So much so we’ve now gone through the process twice in the last 12 months!
After an initial meeting with Lisa O’Farrell (Employer Engagement Officer) whom we met at the Liverpool chamber well connected event last November we decided to take up the offer. Lisa spoke with so much enthusiasm and from what was said it was easy to recognise the importance and considerable value students and graduates bring to the Liverpool City Region Economy. By retaining talent, the university can support local businesses in various sectors.
The process for taking on an intern is very straightforward as it’s a quick online Q & A . Once completed a brief of the interns role Is required so as to attract applicants. Students apply via CV through Unitemps at LJMU. Marni Blackman-Cook (Office Manager) was our point of contact throughout.
We were fortunate in that our business development role had numerous applicants right up until the closing date for applications. Interviewing our shortlist of talent soon followed – this proved to be insightful for both ourselves and the applicants – for some this was their first real interview! Albeit not too daunting we hope.
It was evident to us just how talented all of the students we met were however naturally we could only choose one (more’s the pity).
After appointing our ‘chosen one’ the weeks in the office that followed really were great and as beneficial for us as they were (hopefully!) for our intern. Its fair to say we learned new skills and have become more knowledgeable in some areas as a result of our students’ expertise! Our latest Intern went on to secure a fantastic graduate position in the city at a top 6 accountancy firm – great news for them and something we are very proud of.
Our most recent internship was for a total of 140 hrs (20 consecutive days), 4 hrs of which were spent on LJMU training. Our intern completed a total of 136 hrs on work set by ourselves.
Weekly timesheet approval on behalf of the intern (via the Unitemps portal) is required however all is extremely straightforward.
The ‘Students at the Heart of Business’ lunch hosted by LJMU in July as a thank you to all local businesses that took part in the internship programme was most enjoyable. Shulah Jones from LJMU spoke passionately about both internship programmes and Graduate Futures, the latter being a project funded through the European Social Fund providing opportunities to increase graduate retention via collaboration, joint working and knowledge transfer partnerships across the Liverpool city region eco system.
To find out more contact GraduateFutures@ljmu.ac.uk or for Internship enquiries in the first instance email L.OFarrell@ljmu.ac.uk