Bid to slow uni brain drain
LINK WITH BUSINESSES TO KEEP GRADUATES IN CITY
A NEW partnership aims to encourage students to keep their skills in the city when they graduate.
De Montfort University has teamed up with Leicester’s ER Recruitment to try to slow the braindrain.
Together they have launched BrightER Futures, a nine-month programme that will see 20 finalyear students seconded into the business community prior to finishing their studies.
Students will be matched with employers to learn key skills, enhance their talents and get a feel for the city’s business community.
Employers, including PPL PRS, Everards brewery and Freeths solicitors, will mentor and guide the students.
The university is also working with Leicester City Council.
It said about a quarter of graduates from De Montfort and Leicester stay to live and work locally, compared with a national average of almost 50 per cent.
Eileen Richards, president of East Midlands Chamber of Commerce, said: “Graduates offer huge potential talent for our city and I’m very excited to announce that ER is taking this focus on supporting graduates’ early careers.
“I had the huge pleasure of meeting a group of highly talented students at De Montfort’s Leicester’s Future Leaders conference in February
last year and believe many businesses can benefit from the energy and vision of our graduates.
“Above all, I want the students to find out business can be great fun.”
The students will participate in a programme including visits to their employer partner, invite-only events in the business calendar and interview practice and masterclasses.
Adele Browne, head of graduate success at De Montfort, said: “We know our students want to build their careers in Leicester, but they can struggle to cross that first bridge into graduate work.
“I’m really excited to be working with Eileen Richards on this new programme.”
Sean Smith, managing director of engineering firm Michael Smith Switchgear, in Braunstone Frith, said: “It is a fantastic opportunity to support the development of the next generation of business leaders.
“Leicester is in the heart of the Midlands and has a fantastic manufacturing background, of which we are very proud to be a part.
“The history of manufacturing and engineering within the city is a key part of the local and national economy and the students will receive first hand experiences and insights into the businesses they are partnered with.
“These students can create great value within our city as they become very influential and future business leaders not just within our city but nationally. They are our future.”
Accounting and finance student Harry Dickinson said: “Getting paired with a business that best suits the accounting and finance course I am taking will allow me to better understand what it is like to work within the many professional fields of finance.
“I am very excited to begin the programme and take this fantastic opportunity to set me up for a successful career in finance.”