Date: 2009-08-12
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The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has today announced a major extension to his graduate employment website by posting over 250 work opportunities on the site’s own newly created jobs board.
(Media-Newswire.com) - The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has today announced a major extension to his graduate employment website by posting over 250 work opportunities on the site’s own newly created jobs board.
This follows the highly successful launch of the site last month, which has generated great interest, not just from London’s graduate community, but also from potential employers with a wide range of work opportunities to advertise. Even ahead of the jobs board launch a number of employers have approached The Careers Group, University of London, who administer the site on behalf of the Mayor, asking to have their jobs posted on the site. The addition of the jobs board not only satisfies this demand, but is part of the Mayor’s longer term plans to expand the site to offer more help, both to graduates, and to other groups of Londoners looking for work and training opportunities.
The jobs board will allow graduates to search for jobs across London. Current highlights include a three-year marketing fellowship with the WPP group of companies, an internship with the Royal Society of Arts, software developer opportunities with Orbis Technology, and a deputy economist position at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Since its launch three weeks ago, the site has had 4,000 visits and nearly 22,000 pages have been viewed. It has been welcomed by students across London and the UK, as well as by business groups and London firms looking to recruit talented graduates.
The Mayor said:
“With so many opportunities now up on our site it shows there is high demand for the extraordinary talent produced by the capital’s renowned universities. I am confident that we will be continually adding new opportunities as more employers hear about this unique website and learn what an excellent gateway it is to London’s graduate market place.
“My message to employers is send us your opportunities and we will help match you with some of the best brains on the planet – brains that we allow to leave and join the competition at our peril.”
Anne-Marie Martin, Director of The Careers Group, University of London said:
'By showing this year's graduates the range of careers that previous graduates had secured, we had hoped to encourage them to consider as wide a range of jobs as possible. We have been astonished by the response to the site, which has been terrific. The addition of live current vacancies will provide the finishing touch to a fantastic resource for graduate jobseekers in London.'
Ed Henry, University of London student, said: “The website is user-friendly, it offers a variety of entry routes to the job search market according to the kind of search that the student wishes to perform. It provides encouragement alongside practical advice, and reminds job hunters that their degree allows them access to a far greater range of careers than they probably think.
”Whilst offering a range of resources it seeks to remind students that ultimately they are the ones who have to hunt the job, the market is as bad as it has ever been and a pro-active approach is a key to success. The website is clear and concise in explaining this and constitutes an excellent resource for students in these tough times for graduates.”
The Mayor is particularly keen to see more internships created across London. Recognising that many of the capital’s firms already make internship programmes an integral part of their business strategy, the Mayor will promote and support good practice in this area.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
To access “Helping Graduates into Work’ please visit www.london.gov.uk/graduates.
A unique feature of the ‘Helping Graduates into Work’ site is that it allows graduates to enter their degree subject and access a range of job and career results including names of employers who typically recruit in that area and the salaries they pay. The site offers extensive advice on the best approaches to finding and applying for work, preparing CVs, and attending interviews. It also includes information on job fairs in London, internship schemes and many other post-graduate opportunities that are available.
The new website is in addition to the ‘Collaboration Tasters’ project, launched last year by the London Development Agency which involves placing 200 undergraduates and post graduates with London based small businesses on short-term, innovation related projects.
100,000 graduates are expected to enter the London labour market this year and half of these student job hunters have little confidence that they will find a graduate position.
The most recent survey of the top 100 recruiters showed vacancies down 13.5 per cent on 2008 and the Association of Graduate Recruiters report this month that one in four graduate vacancies have disappeared. However, there is much anecdotal information that there are still many graduate opportunities in London, but graduates are not applying believing there are none. Tesco, for example, have taken on 45 London based graduates this year alone.
The most vulnerable in times of recession are our young people. In London, 18-24 year olds make up nearly 15% of the working age population and yet in June 2009 this same group accounts for 25% of all Jobseeker Allowance claimants.
Since 1909, The Careers Group, University of London has provided the careers services at Birkbeck College, Courtauld Institute of Art, Goldsmiths College, Institute of cancer research, Institute of Education, King’s College London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, Royal Holloway University of London, Royal Veterinary College, Saint Georges University of London, School of Advanced Study, School of Oriental and African Studies, School of Pharmacy and University College London – delivering crucial employability and careers support to more than 100,000 students.