WEALTH & RICHES EMMA VITES
THE NATIONAL
STUDENT APPRENTICE
I
used to work in graduate recruitment, placing candidates into companies, from larger organisation such as Accenture, Microsoft and MTV all the way through to smaller, more entrepreneurial organisations. During this time I have seen the success over and over again of companies home growing brilliant young talent and them going on to become the future business leaders. An organisation can no longer rely on seeking talent from the same small pool as all their competitors. It is critical for a company to home grow their own talent to ensure there is a pipeline of great talent for the future to facilitate business growth. One of the key reasons so many young people are out of work is the fear that many employers have that young people don’t have the right experience to take their company to the next level and they know they don’t have the time to coach and train. Young people are perceived as a risk as there are a lack of opportunities for young people to showcase
Youth unemployment has remained stubbornly high this year with the number rising by 9,000 from February to April this year. The state of youth unemployment in the UK is beaten only by Spain and Greece, according to the OECD. BELOW Students need some help in becoming employable
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their skills and talents. It’s the chicken and egg scenario with employers hesitant to employ people without experience and graduates not being given access to the experience to showcase their talents and improve their employability. With nearly a million young people out of work, what can we do to help them become less of a risk to an employer? How can we ensure they have a place to showcase their skills and gain critical exposure to enterprise to improve their employability and prevent a shortage of key skills and talent for the future? The National student
Apprentice is a nationwide competition where the brightest and most ambitious students from 40 top universities all compete in a format similar to the show, The Apprentice. It enables candidates to understand more about enterprise, showcase their abilities and talents and ultimately win the prizeand, and ultimately, the winners are rewarded with prizes and recognition. The competition sees candidates performing a series of tasks alongside local start-ups, SME's and selected number of multinational corporations, and through practical tasks being