Euro funds to encourage work placements

The European Union is backing a scheme to encourage companies to provide work placements over the summer vacation for Teesside University students.

Firms taking part will benefit from having a well motivated additional member of staff for up to six weeks with the European Social Fund paying the students £80 per-week. Called ‘Ready to Work’, the scheme is being co-ordinated by the Research & Development Office with support from UniTec, the Students’ Union Job Shop.

Jamie Briers, the General Secretary of the Students' Union said: "This is a good opportunity for local companies to benefit from having an additional resource at no extra cost - someone with the latest technological skills who is looking for some real-life work experience to complement their academic studies at the University."

European funding is available for up to 30 placements and interested companies should contact Lesley Riggeling at UniTec on Middlesbrough 384454, e-mail l.riggeling@tees.ac.uk or write to her c/o Students’ Union Job Shop, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, TS5 82T. Interested undergraduates should contact Faye Thomson on 01642 384426 or f.thomson@tees.ac.uk

The University also has European funding for a longer-term work placement scheme for unemployed graduates called Bridges and Routes. This aims to support innovation in small-to-medium size enterprises (SMEs) and assist economic regeneration by keeping talented graduates in the North East.

Through the scheme, unemployed graduates from any discipline, are placed within North East SMEs, free of charge, for 15 weeks, during which time, trainees receive a weekly training allowance of £125 from the European Social Fund. Work placements can be arranged in any field, for example, IT, science, fashion and marketing. The SME benefits from a graduates’ knowledge and innovation in exchange for a contribution in kind which is the supervisory time of the manager.

Bridges and Routes manager, Faye Thomson, says: "The scheme is proving to be extremely effective in terms of both increasing the employability of unemployed graduates and enabling SMEs within the region to access the skills and technological knowledge they need."

The University of Teesside Careers Service also provides a link between prospective employers and students & graduates and publishes a fortnightly ‘Current Vacancies’ booklet, available from the Department of Student Services, at 10p a copy. The Careers Service can be reached on 01642 342260 or careers@tees.ac.uk

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