GIEU Graduate Placements
Employ the skills of a committed and enthusiastic graduate to help develop a key area of your business, for a fraction of the cost usually associated with recruiting a graduate.
This initiative offers you:
- An additional graduate resource to undertake a specific project without depleting your existing staff resources.
- The opportunity to develop and grow a key area of your business.
- A cost effective method of evaluating a prospective employee.
GIEU have successfully delivered business support programmes offering graduate skills to local industry since 1993. Prior to starting a six-month placement with an organisation all graduates complete an intensive business training course to equip them with the practical skills they need to meet your business requirements. The nature of placements vary greatly from marketing to IT, finance to engineering - the scope is endless.
There is no obligation to offer the graduate employment beyond the placement period, although many organisations choose to do so.
The Process
You complete a project brief, which outlines your requirements and details the job role and the activities that the graduate will undertake during their placement. We will then send you CVs of suitable candidates, so that you are able to select which graduates you would like to interview. We arrange the interviews at your convenience and you will then select the graduate most suitable for the role.
The successful candidate will then be employed by your organisation on a 26-week fixed term contract. Placements of shorter duration can also be negotiated.
GIEU will support both your company and the graduate throughout the six months to ensure that the project is successfully completed. A clearly defined role is vital to the success of the placement. It ensures the graduate fully understands their objectives and responsibilities and enables you to measure their effectiveness.
The Financial Arrangments
During the placement your company will employ the graduate for a minimum of 32.5 hours per week, for a period of 26 weeks and will pay him/her a wage/salary. You will also be responsible for paying all Employers N.I. contributions in relation to the graduate.
Our graduate placement initiative is subsidised by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to support growth sector businesses in the Greater Merseyside area. For organisations eligible to receive ERDF support, this service is free of charge, as GIEU’s training, matching and mentoring and evaluation costs are met by ERDF funds.
For non-ERDF eligible organisations, a fee of £1500+VAT will apply to cover these costs. This fee will be payable to GIEU immediately upon commencement of the placement. To check if your company is eligible for ERDF funding support, click here.
There is no obligation to extend the graduate’s contract beyond the placement period, although many companies choose to do so.
Interested? Click here to complete our Contact form
Case Study
Liverpool Compact, a local company involved in forging links between the business world and education, is just one of many organisations that has benefited from the GIEU initiative.
"When a short term vacancy arose in our company, a graduate placement from GIEU seemed ideal to meet our needs", says Mike Corley, Chief Executive of Liverpool Compact. The company recruited Richard Hall, a 23-year-old LJMU graduate with a background in Health & Safety to the position of Health & Safety Advisor. His responsibilities include assessing work places as suitable for students to attend on short-term work experience placements.
Referring to the positive contribution Richard’s placement has made to the company, Mike Corley comments:"Richard has made a very positive impact within our organisation and has brought in many new businesses to support Liverpool Compact’s work. He very quickly assimilated the knowledge and skills required to fulfil the role and, as importantly, he had the essential qualities of fitting in with the rest of the team, a willingness to join in and adapt to the different tasks required of him. It was because of this that we decided to offer Richard a permanent position within our company."