Enternships Blog

Enternships in the Media: FT ; CNN.com; The Independent; The Observer & CNN Posted on Thursday 10 December 2009 at 09:08AM by rajeebdey

There is no doubt that graduate unemployment and entrepreneurship have become hot topics recently. There has been a flurry of media activity over the past few weeks with Enternships appearing in numerous media channels; here are a few highlights:

- Enternships featured in the Financial Times in an article entitled "How to catch the high fliers"

CNN interview to discuss Graduate Entrepreneurship

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Hzzy8f730]

- Featured on CNN.com for an article on "Virtual internships"

- Mentioned in The Independent for winning the 02 X Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 Award

- Featured in The Observer Magazine / The Guardian as one of the Top 5 members of The Courvoisier Future 500 Network

There's more to come with the second installment of The Sunday Times feature out in the next 2 weeks (as part of a 3 year coverage of Enternships development); you can see the first article here.

Enternships.com welcomes Pre-Budget Report: support for 10,000 undergraduate internships for students from low-income backgrounds Posted on Wednesday 09 December 2009 at 13:17PM by rajeebdey

We welcome the announcement from Chancellor Alistair Darling in today's Pre-Budget Report that the government will be providing financial support to 10,000 undergraduates from low-income households to access internships in certain professions / industries.

The details of the scheme have yet to be released i.e. which industries will be targeted, but we would urge the government to ensure that those undergraduates who wish to pursue an enterpreneurial path or have an interest in working in start-ups and small businesses are adequately supported financially. These types of opportunities can rarely pay as well as the opportunities in large corporate internships and thus to ensure that no-one is deterred from small business for financial reasons we would urge the government to set aside funding specifically to support undergraduate internships in start-ups and SMEs. Ultimately these are the types of opportunities which will instil an entrepreneurial mindset in our undergraduates who may go on to launch their own ventures - providing wealth and job creation for the UK economy.

We look forward to hearing the full details of the scheme from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS)  in due course and will keep you posted.

Getting Recruitment Right, First Time Posted on Friday 04 December 2009 at 16:23PM by rajeebdey

We are delighted to have Anthony Sutton, MD of Cream HR as our Guest Blogger this month who shares his wisdom and insights into how SMEs can go about Getting Recruitment Right, First Time!

Now is the time of year when many people reflect on the past 12 months and begin to look forward to new opportunities in the New Year ahead. Having survived the biggest economic battering that most working people have ever known it is perhaps apt that many businesses are beginning to think about recruitment.

If you accept the premise that people are the most important part of any business, it is strange that so many businesses spend so little quality time on this vital process. So many businesses get recruitment horribly wrong, time after time.

By investing a sensible amount of time in the recruitment process you could save money,   heartache and stress. I lose count of the number of times businesses have called me to help sort out a mess following poor recruitment decisions.

To try to help you I’ve written this simple overview to try to help you think about the various aspects of recruitment and why it is important to get it right first time.

I’ve kept this deliberately simple, as it is a topic that can be discussed in great depth. The idea is to help prompt you to think about the various aspects of the process and what you should be thinking about before you start. If anybody would like to go into this topic in more detail, simply contact me using the link below.

Before you start – think, where does this role (or these roles) fit in with your business plan?

Many people embark on recruiting before seriously considering where these new roles properly fit into their existing plan or longer-term strategy. When you’re investing in new resource it is essential that you fully consider where that resource fits into your business, what you want them to deliver and how you’re going to be able to measure that contribution.

Once you have established where the role fits into your business, write a detailed job description. This will help clarify your thoughts and may prompt further consideration of the detail as a result.

When writing job descriptions avoid the trap of simply writing a “wish list”, effective job descriptions should be an accurate representation of what the job will involve day to day, week to week, month to month.

Recruitment is a great PR opportunity. It allows you to present your business to a potentially huge audience in a positive light. To maximise this opportunity it important that you think about how you want to positively present your business positively to that audience.

When writing advertising copy try to get inside the head of the person who will be reading the advert. They’re the ones you want to recruit. How can you make the job appeal to them? How will you portray that appeal? What makes the role really special? In general it is sensible to keep your advertising copy brief and to the point. People simply do not have the time wading through lengthy job adverts.

Beware – unfortunately there are a lot of people in the world who study adverts to lodge potential discrimination claims. You don’t have to even interview someone to fall foul of a potential discrimination claim, however unintentional it may be. I know that this is unfortunate, but it is essential that you check whatever you write to avoid any such pitfalls.

Devise some simple screening tools to enable you to use a structured approach to filter the candidates.

Put some simple instructions in your adverts to give yourself an easy screening too at the earliest stage. Separately think of some tests to properly assess the technical skills of the candidates (where appropriate). Whilst many candidates don’t like to undertake such tests, those who are genuinely interested in your position will relish the challenge that you set.( You are also sending out a message about the quality of staff that you employ – the barriers are high and  you only recruit quality people!)

Adopt a structured approach to your interviews, this will enable you rate each candidate against consistent criteria and help you make decisions based on facts rather than instinct.

Interviewing is an area that remains virtually untrained in the UK, but is so important! Take some time to think of questions that will elicit the answers you want not the ones the candidate has pre-prepared. Yes you do want to know what someone’s strengths or weaknesses may be, but candidates are prepared for that question. By asking someone what they’ve been particularly successful at in their last job, you are going to get a better answer in the context of the interview and the role you are looking to fill.

A few important legal do's and don'ts. Everything related to employment involves some aspect of legal compliance and it is important that you remember that candidates can bring claims against you whether you recruit them or not.

I have devised literally thousands of questions that get to the key issues that businesses want to address without infringing on any legal rights. It is very easy to make mistakes and expert help could save you a lot of pain. You need to consider all aspects of potential discrimination - there are some very easy traps to fall into. Be very careful when taking notes in your interviews, you may or may not be aware, but all candidates are entitled to a copy of any notes taken during an interview. Jocular, but abusive and potentially discriminatory remarks are lethal.

Always make sure that you check whether someone that you are going to employ is legally entitled to work in the UK. Failure to do so will give you no defence against a potential £10,000 fine should you recruit someone not legally entitled to work in the UK.

Follow up on references and check people’s qualifications. Whilst many companies can be reticent about providing references it is always sensible to make the effort. Checking qualifications is vital and whilst we can all smirk at very public fraudsters who have conned large corporations, don’t let it happen to you!

Now you’ve decided to recruit your ideal candidate make sure that you use their probationary period well. Set clear targets and objectives and review them throughout their probationary period. If you have inadvertently recruited someone who isn’t right for the role, the probationary period is an ideal time to address any issues – either positively or negatively.

Getting Recruitment Right is a fantastic experience – the benefits can be immediate, you can see the results every day and it can have an enormous positive impact on your business. Simply spend a sensible amount of quality time in the process rather than rushing out to get somebody on board as quickly as you can. Once you know how to recruit well, you can do it just as quickly as anybody else.