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Latest NewsGraduatesRecruitment & retention

Students choose work experience over pay in bid to secure top jobs

by Gareth Vorster 18 May 2007
by Gareth Vorster 18 May 2007

Eight in 10 students believe work experience will help to build a career, with half certain that it will help their quest for a graduate job, new research has found.

A survey of more than 1,200 students by career website doctorjob.com, found that only 22% selected their place of work for the money. Instead, gaining experience to help them get a job after graduation was the most important factor for 76% of respondents.

Up to a quarter of students had worked for no wage, while 78% had worked for minimum wage or less.

Additional reasons for taking up work experience included: how good it would look on their CV, a convenient location, getting a ‘taster’ of a job or sector, and gaining experience to help them get on a course.

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More than a third of respondents found out about work experience opportunities by word of mouth, with 16% arranging their placements through a careers service.

Chris Phillips, publishing director for UK and Ireland at publishing firm GTI said: “Providing good work experience benefits students who learn valuable skills and improve their CVs and it benefits employers who get a fast-track to the best recruits. Despite what people may think, money is not the major factor in students’ minds.”

Gareth Vorster

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Employment-focused learning schemes to be trialled in prisons in East of England and the West Midlands

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