STUDENTS AND GRADUATES Reach your career potential with GO Wales

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STUDENTS AND GRADUATES Reach your career potential with GO Wales AN INTRODUCTION FOR STUDENTS AND GRADUATES IN WALES

www.gowales.co.uk

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Everyone at GO Wales was helpful. I gained many new skills during this placement including time management, IT skills, problem solving and sales and marketing techniques. My confidence increased too, which will all enhance my future employment prospects. Mairi Lees, graduate on work placement organised by GO Wales

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01 _ GO Wales Students and Graduates

Students and Graduates Your local University delivers a range of services for students and graduates via the Graduate Opportunities Wales programme. These services are designed to help you to make the best start to your career.

What is GO Wales? The GO Wales programme is funded by the European Union’s Convergence Fund and the Welsh Assembly Government and delivered by the universities and colleges of higher education in Wales. We help students and graduates to make the best start to their careers in Wales through quality work experience and other practical support and development services.

How we can help you We offer students and graduates with a Welsh address the chance to gain a head start in today’s competitive job market by offering a range of quality work experience opportunities and other related services. We can also support the training and development of graduates employed in small and medium sized businesses in Wales.



I have learnt a great deal from my GO Wales work placement, my practical skills have developed a lot over the 10 weeks which will be invaluable to me in my final year dissertation. Daniel Thomas, undergraduate on placement with Obsidian Research

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2/3 _ GO Wales Students and Graduates

Work Placements GO Wales work placements will provide you with good quality, paid, graduate level experience which will help to enhance your employability. At the same time you will be bringing your knowledge and skills to an organisation in Wales. In the current job market, employers want more than a degree. They want evidence that you have proven yourself in a working environment. This means you need good quality work experience where you’ve been able to demonstrate and enhance your skills and knowledge it’s the best way to get ahead in the graduate job market.

All GO Wales work placements are managed and monitored by GO Wales staff based in the Universities in Wales, so you will receive support from them while you are on placement. While on placement you are employed by the host organisation that will pay you a minimum of £240 per week. Examples of recent placements include: + Developing a marketing strategy and materials

Our work placements are available to both students and graduates of any age.

+ Conducting an environmental audit for a local business

How do work placements work?

+ Introducing new office systems

Our work placements normally last between 6 and around 10 weeks. They are usually full time and based around the completion of a project or projects or a range of graduate-level tasks.

+ Developing a website and database

Placements are with Wales based employers mostly in the small to medium sized business sector.

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Who can apply for a work placement?

What’s in it for you?

You can apply for a work placement if you have an address in Wales. You also need to either by studying for a NQF level 4 qualification (such as a degree) or already have one. We work with employers wishing to host a GO Wales work placement and with candidates to improve their CVs.

+ 6-10 weeks of quality work experience

The employer decides which candidate is best for the job – this provides good practice of the interview and job application processes.

+ A salary of £240 per week or more + An enhanced CV + A chance to find further work with your placement host – 73% of graduate placees continue to be employed by their host organisation after the end of the placement + The chance to gain a qualification: the City & Guilds Professional Development Award

How do I apply? Visit www.gowales.co.uk and view our work placement vacancies. You can then apply online.

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4/5 _ GO Wales Students and Graduates

Get a qualification while on work placement Students and graduates on GO Wales work placements take part in the City & Guilds Professional Development Award. This short, work based award will help you learn from and reflect on your placement experience. It will also help you to achieve your placement goals. The award is free of charge, does not take much time outside your day-to-day work and is aimed at working professionals.



Reflecting on my progress towards objectives each week was a great help in understanding my strengths and weaknesses. Sian Goddard, a graduate on a work placement with BIC Innovation

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Graduate Training and Development Fund Available to graduates working in small businesses in Wales SMEs* in Wales can access the GO Wales Graduate Training & Development Fund to help support the cost of training their graduate-level staff. The fund helps graduates to further develop their skills and knowledge and at the same time help employers fill skills gaps in their organisation. There is up to £1,500 per person available for eligible training. If you work in an SME in Wales then why not bring this fund to the attention of your employer? Visit www.gowales.co.uk/training for further details.

*SMEs are small to medium-sized enterprises which have 250 employees or under.

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6/7 _ GO Wales Students and Graduates

Work Tasters Paid work experience isn’t always possible so we organise unpaid periods of work experience for students and graduates seeking to gain some experience of a particular job, industry or career. They are entirely bespoke, arranged to suit you and your timetable. Work Tasters last between 1 day and 10 days. You may be work shadowing or working on a small project. We offer a contribution towards travelling expenses. Work Tasters are particularly suitable if you: + Want to find out more about a career or job that you are interested in + Need to narrow down your career choices + Want to find out more about the skills and qualities required in a career or job you are interested in + Want to improve your CV

To take part, visit the work taster section of the GO Wales website www.gowales.co.uk to express an interest and one of our Work Taster Advisors will contact you to discuss your requirements.



I would advise students to do more than one taster as it can help you build your CV and give you invaluable help for your career plans. Pawel Matusz, undergraduate on a work taster with Triptych Marketing

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Finding a Graduate Job in Wales Visit the GO Wales Jobs pages on our website (www.gowales.co.uk) to search for graduate level jobs in Wales. Our vacancies are sourced from all business sectors and new ones are added daily.

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8 _ GO Wales Students and Graduates

Working in Wales

www.gowales.co.uk Graduate Skills for Business 0845 225 60 50 [email protected]

This document is available online, in large print, on electronic CD, and in Braille and DAISY (digital audio). Should you or someone you know require this in an alternative format please contact us on 0845 225 60 50 (voice), via RNID Typetalk (18001) 0845 225 60 50 (text) or email [email protected]

Designed by www.nb-design.com Printed from FSC certified materials sourced from well managed and sustainable forests.

Visit the Working in Wales pages on our web site for information on business sectors and opportunities for employment in Wales.

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