From Salford


Graduate Gateway T


he Graduate Gateway programme was set up in 2009, with the support of the European Social Fund and the Higher Education Funding Council of


England (HEFCE), which made money available to universities across England for graduate internships. The schemes were designed to give students and graduates opportunities in the workplace, and to give local businesses a chance to recruit graduates on a short-term trial basis, ideally with a view to offering them longer employment. Over the course of the funding, which lasted from March 2010 to March 2011, 150 Salford graduates undertook twelve-week placements in local businesses. The placements were linked with a five-day employability training scheme, funded by the European Social Fund. At the end of the training, after graduates had spent time developing their communication and teamwork skills, and polished their CVs and interview skills, there was a Speed Networking event where local employers could meet each of the graduates for three minutes before moving on to the next. Hilary Stephenson, who graduated from Salford herself with a degree in English Language and Literature in 1995, is now the Managing Director of Sigma Consulting Solutions. Hilary attended the first Speed Networking event in April 2010, and recruited Kevin Reay through the placement programme.


“Our company offers a variety of user centred digital services, including web and mobile application design, web content management and usability testing, so we were really looking for someone with a web design background,” Hilary says. “Kevin had graduated in Tourism Management, but we liked him at the Speed Networking and he showed a clear interest in marketing, so we offered him a placement in our Sales and Marketing team.


24 Alumni Magazine 2011


That’s worked out really well, and he’s now a permanent member of staff.” Sigma Consulting has a relationship with Manchester Metropolitan University, but this was their first experience of working the University of Salford.


“The process was very easy, and we’d definitely consider coming back to Salford if we develop the team any further.”


The placements ranged across a variety of sectors, including graphic design, arts administration, marketing and sales, construction and property management, digital technology, media, the voluntary sector and professional services. At the end of the scheme, nearly 30% of the graduates had been offered further work by their placement providers. Some of these were full-time, permanent positions, and graduates looking for work in popular areas like media, arts administration and design could use the scheme to kickstart freelance careers, treating the twelve-week Graduate Gateway placement as their first contract and making contacts within their chosen industry.


Beth McCann, who graduated from BA (Hons) in Media and Performance in 2003, now runs the arts festival Not Part Of, and took several graduates on marketing and arts administration placements through the scheme. “We liked the scheme because we got applicants from all sorts of different areas, and were able to bring new skills into the office. We’re currently waiting to see whether we’ve been successful on a funding bid for a project that one of the graduates worked on, and if we are, we’re hoping to offer her more work.”


Two local alumni have benefitted from an innovative placement scheme run by Careers and Employability at the University of Salford.


Although the Graduate Gateway placement scheme has now come to an end, there are lots of other opportunities for alumni to get involved and contribute to current students’ experience and career development. We are always on the lookout for employers who are able to offer


z Industrial year-out or summer placements for students, or Unite for Business placements;


z Live Projects, where teams of students work on a real industrial project as part of their degrees;


z Independent Learning Modules, where students complete a 50-hour placement with a not-for-profit organisation


z Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, collaborations between an academic, a company and a graduate recruited to work on a project central to the needs of the business


You can also take a stand at one of our Recruitment Fairs, deliver a presentation to students, act as a mentor or business adviser to students developing their own business, or sponsor activities such as the Salford Student Life Award.


If you’re not an employer, but still want to be involved with students, we are also looking for mentors for our new Barriers to Employment Mentoring Scheme; panel members to work on the Student Life Award; people who would like to contribute to a series of case studies of our alumni; graduates of Salford who have been in local authority care – and a whole host of other opportunities.


For more information about any of these opportunities contact futures@salford.ac.uk or ring us on 0161 295 5088. We look forward to hearing from you!


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