Enternships

There is no doubt that graduate unemployment and entrepreneurship have become hot topics recently. There has been a flurry of media activity over the past few weeks with Enternships appearing in numerous media channels; here are a few highlights:

- Enternships featured in the Financial Times in an article entitled “How to catch the high fliers”

CNN interview to discuss Graduate Entrepreneurship

- Featured on CNN.com for an article on “Virtual internships”

- Mentioned in The Independent for winning the 02 X Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 Award

- Featured in The Observer Magazine / The Guardian as one of the Top 5 members of The Courvoisier Future 500 Network

There’s more to come with the second installment of The Sunday Times feature out in the next 2 weeks (as part of a 3 year coverage of Enternships development); you can see the first article here.

We welcome the announcement from Chancellor Alistair Darling in today’s Pre-Budget Report that the government will be providing financial support to 10,000 undergraduates from low-income households to access internships in certain professions / industries.

The details of the scheme have yet to be released i.e. which industries will be targeted, but we would urge the government to ensure that those undergraduates who wish to pursue an enterpreneurial path or have an interest in working in start-ups and small businesses are adequately supported financially. These types of opportunities can rarely pay as well as the opportunities in large corporate internships and thus to ensure that no-one is deterred from small business for financial reasons we would urge the government to set aside funding specifically to support undergraduate internships in start-ups and SMEs. Ultimately these are the types of opportunities which will instil an entrepreneurial mindset in our undergraduates who may go on to launch their own ventures – providing wealth and job creation for the UK economy.

We look forward to hearing the full details of the scheme from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS)  in due course and will keep you posted.

We are delighted to have Anthony Sutton, MD of Cream HR as our Guest Blogger this month who shares his wisdom and insights into how SMEs can go about ‘getting recruitment right – first time’. We’d love to hear your thoughts about how you approach recruitment, so please do submit your comments.

GETTING RECRUITMENT RIGHT – FIRST TIME

Now is the time of year when many people reflect on the past 12 months and begin to look forward to new opportunities in the New Year ahead. Having survived the biggest economic battering that most working people have ever known it is perhaps apt that many businesses are beginning to think about recruitment.

If you accept the premise that people are the most important part of any business, it is strange that so many businesses spend so little quality time on this vital process. So many businesses get recruitment horribly wrong, time after time.

By investing a sensible amount of time in the recruitment process you could save money,   heartache and stress. I lose count of the number of times businesses have called me to help sort out a mess following poor recruitment decisions.

To try to help you I’ve written this simple overview to try to help you think about the various aspects of recruitment and why it is important to get it right first time.

I’ve kept this deliberately simple, as it is a topic that can be discussed in great depth. The idea is to help prompt you to think about the various aspects of the process and what you should be thinking about before you start. If anybody would like to go into this topic in more detail, simply contact me using the link below.

PLAN

Before you start – think, where does this role (or these roles) fit in with your business plan?

Many people embark on recruiting before seriously considering where these new roles properly fit into their existing plan or longer-term strategy. When you’re investing in new resource it is essential that you fully consider where that resource fits into your business, what you want them to deliver and how you’re going to be able to measure that contribution.

WRITE

Once you have established where the role fits into your business, write a detailed job description. This will help clarify your thoughts and may prompt further consideration of the detail as a result.

When writing job descriptions avoid the trap of simply writing a “wish list”, effective job descriptions should be an accurate representation of what the job will involve day to day, week to week, month to month.

ATTRACTION

Recruitment is a great PR opportunity. It allows you to present your business to a potentially huge audience in a positive light. To maximise this opportunity it important that you think about how you want to positively present your business positively to that audience.

When writing advertising copy try to get inside the head of the person who will be reading the advert. They’re the ones you want to recruit. How can you make the job appeal to them? How will you portray that appeal? What makes the role really special? In general it is sensible to keep your advertising copy brief and to the point. People simply do not have the time wading through lengthy job adverts.

Beware – unfortunately there are a lot of people in the world who study adverts to lodge potential discrimination claims. You don’t have to even interview someone to fall foul of a potential discrimination claim, however unintentional it may be. I know that this is unfortunate, but it is essential that you check whatever you write to avoid any such pitfalls.

SCREENING

Devise some simple screening tools to enable you to use a structured approach to filter the candidates.

Put some simple instructions in your adverts to give yourself an easy screening too at the earliest stage. Separately think of some tests to properly assess the technical skills of the candidates (where appropriate). Whilst many candidates don’t like to undertake such tests, those who are genuinely interested in your position will relish the challenge that you set.( You are also sending out a message about the quality of staff that you employ – the barriers are high and  you only recruit quality people!)

INTERVIEWING

Adopt a structured approach to your interviews, this will enable you rate each candidate against consistent criteria and help you make decisions based on facts rather than instinct.

Interviewing is an area that remains virtually untrained in the UK, but is so important! Take some time to think of questions that will elicit the answers you want not the ones the candidate has pre-prepared. Yes you do want to know what someone’s strengths or weaknesses may be, but candidates are prepared for that question. By asking someone what they’ve been particularly successful at in their last job, you are going to get a better answer in the context of the interview and the role you are looking to fill.

LEGAL DO’S & DON’TS

Everything related to employment involves some aspect of legal compliance and it is important that you remember that candidates can bring claims against you whether you recruit them or not.

I have devised literally thousands of questions that get to the key issues that businesses want to address without infringing on any legal rights. It is very easy to make mistakes and expert help could save you a lot of pain. You need to consider all aspects of potential discrimination – there are some very easy traps to fall into. Be very careful when taking notes in your interviews, you may or may not be aware, but all candidates are entitled to a copy of any notes taken during an interview. Jocular, but abusive and potentially discriminatory remarks are lethal.

PRE-EMPLOYMENT CHECKS

Always make sure that you check whether someone that you are going to employ is legally entitled to work in the UK. Failure to do so will give you no defence against a potential £10,000 fine should you recruit someone not legally entitled to work in the UK.

Follow up on references and check people’s qualifications. Whilst many companies can be reticent about providing references it is always sensible to make the effort. Checking qualifications is vital and whilst we can all smirk at very public fraudsters who have conned large corporations, don’t let it happen to you!

PROBATION

Now you’ve decided to recruit your ideal candidate make sure that you use their probationary period well. Set clear targets and objectives and review them throughout their probationary period. If you have inadvertently recruited someone who isn’t right for the role, the probationary period is an ideal time to address any issues – either positively or negatively.

GETTING RECRUITMENT RIGHT is a fantastic experience – the benefits can be immediate, you can see the results every day and it can have an enormous positive impact on your business. Simply spend a sensible amount of quality time in the process rather than rushing out to get somebody on board as quickly as you can. Once you know how to recruit well, you can do it just as quickly as anybody else.

We are delighted to announce that the Enternships.com Launch “After-party” is also the official after-party for the prolific “#140 conf” taking place at the O2 Indigo in London on 17th November. Organised by the fantastic Jeff Pulver, the conference features speakers such Stephen Fry ; author Andrew Keen and other leading figures from business, media and civil society.

If you have a ticket to the #140 conference look out for a message from Jeff with the link & promo code for your free ticket to the after-party. 150 free places are available on a first-come-first-served basis so get your ticket fast!

We are also delighted to offer all pre-registered Enternships launch & after-party delegates 50% off the official ticket price to the 140 Character Conference – an email with the promo code will be sent directly to you.  Please be sure to register before November 14th.

Here is some more background to the conference:

At #140conf, Jeff explores what he calls “The State of NOW” which is his take on the emerging real-time Internet and the systemic changes which the worldwide adoption of twitter is having on society.

At the 140 Characters Conference, Jeff looks at twitter as a platform and as a language. The focus is on the impact of these emerging real-time social communication platforms and the effects on various elements of society around the world. In London you will hear from people involved in the media, Internet and Entertainment industries as well as from people who are making a difference with this emerging platform.  He believes the change we are experiencing is deep rooted and in the years ahead, billions of dollars of opportunity will be there for the first movers in this emerging industry.

To learn more about the event, please visit: http://london.140conf.com

The schedule can be seen at http://london.140conf.com/schedule

See you on the 17th!

We are excited to announce that today we’re releasing tickets for our Launch & Afterparty!

Join us in celebrating the launch of Enternships.com during Global Entrepreneurship Week in style with the company of 900 entrepreneurs / SME’s / investors / advisors / press / entrepreneurial students and graduates for a night of mingling with mojitos, speed networking, live entertainment (magicians, a cuban band, cocktail mixology lessons, Salsa lessons, Top DJs + more…) all until the early hours of the morning. You’ll even leave with your very own Enternships goody bag!

Tickets are available via our Eventbrite page and you can get promotion codes via our great partners and supporters so look out for invitations in your inbox / via Twitter or join our Facebook group for exclusive promotion codes.

This week has been an epic week. On Tuesday evening I was honoured to receive the 02 X Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards – a prestigious award recognising “the new generation of young entrepreneurs who are making an impact in today’s challenging economic climate.”

This however wasn’t just a personal achievement it was an achievement for the whole team and all our friends, family, supporters and users. We were overwhelmed by the level of support we were shown during the public voting and the subsequent messages received via email, Facebook and Twitter.

You can check out a video from the Awards ceremony here.

What was personally pretty moving for me was reading a blog by Nick Smith – a tremendous evangelist for Enternships and a real inspiration for all other students/grads/enterns. He has undertaken 3 enternships through us and explains why he “owes so much to Enternships.com”

It’s stories like these which remind us at Enternships why we’re doing what we’re doing, because as you all know – running your own start-up is pretty hard …so we love it when we hear feedback and stories like this. Please do reach out to us and tell us about your experiences.
We’re in the midst of planning our official launch party during Global Entrepreneurship Week which will take place on Tuesday 17th November so pencil it in your diaries and look out for an invite!

Thanks once again for all your support guys – we really appreciate it!

Enternships is pleased to announce the launch of NacueVentures.com – a new initiative from Enternships partner organisation NACUE.  Here is their press release:

Dragons’ Den meets YouTube video pitching website set to connect investors with UK universities’ entrepreneurial talent. Today sees the launch of an exciting new website, nacueventures.com, the first UK website to specifically connect university enterprise with investors. It comes as university graduates face the toughest jobs market imaginable.

Created by the National Consortium of University Entrepreneurs (NACUE) and cmypitch.com, nacueventures.com enables university-based entrepreneurs to upload a video pitch for funding supported by summary business plan details. A network of investors registered on the site are then permitted to review pitches and inform their investment decisions. Initial contact is managed via the site, before both parties meet in person to explore opportunities further or to close a deal.

NACUE is the creation of Victoria Lennox, former President of Oxford Entrepreneurs, Oxford University’s enterprise society and the largest of its kind in Europe. Recognising the fast-growing interest in entrepreneurship, Lennox has pulled together the country’s entrepreneur-focused societies, representing 25,000 students. She feels the lack of a ‘milkround’ among major recruiters this year has only fuelled interest in self-employment upon leaving university, with forming a start-up while studying an evermore attractive proposition.

It was reported in recent weeks that major graduate recruiters had reduced their planned intake by 28% with 5,500 vacancies cancelled or unfilled, according to High Fliers Research. Plus, the investor community has a long-held interest in backing the most innovative university ventures. Victoria Lennox says: “one of the key barriers that young entrepreneurs face when starting-up is information on, and access to, capital and investment.

Nacueventures.com is well-placed to fill this gap by helping young entrepreneurs across the UK to better understand funding options and to connect with interested investors.” Emmett Kilduff, cmypitch.com’s CEO says: “The best brain power in Britain is at the universities. The jobs market is effectively closed therefore students are being forced to explore the entrepreneurial route. And investors are out there, but have no formal way of sourcing good opportunities from universities. This is what drove me to launch nacueventures.com with Victoria. I want to help good university entrepreneurs find funding to fuel their business dreams.” Students using the site, which is free to upload pitches onto and only charges a one-off £99 to contact investors that express an interest, also boasts an unrivalled library of “investor readiness” tools, featuring video tips from top entrepreneurs, such as Dragons’ Den’s James Caan and former Dragon and SchoolforStartups.co.uk founder Doug Richard, both of whom are highly active angel investors.

There are other online resources such as guides, advice and offline support from incubation units and Enterprise societies. In addition, cmypitch hosts live pitching events entitled cmypitch Live, which are attended by business angels, family offices, seed funds and VCs. Investor-ready users of nacueventures.com will be able to pitch at the events. School for Startups’ Doug Richard, who is an advisor to NACUE, believes the site will meet a real need. “Student entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the economy. NACUE brings a focus nationwide to that community and nacueventures.com is a great way for angel investors and the wider world to get a direct view of student opportunities. School for Startups is highly supportive of this initiative.” For investors, nacueventures.com has the potential to open up the UK’s best university investment opportunities and makes identifying the most attractive deals more efficient. Investors can save valuable time, allowing them to not only assess the business opportunity but also the people behind the proposition. Pitches can be filtered by university, stage, size, sector and whether the business has intellectual property – all key considerations for investors. Investors can also receive email alerts when a new pitch is added that matches their preferred criteria.

We are delighted to have been shortlisted as a London Finalist in the 02 X Awards in the Male “Shortlist Entrepreneur of the Year” category.

Please do vote for us by going to the website and clicking on Rajeeb Dey (Enternships Limited) and cast your vote for the best male entrepreneur. Every vote counts – we really appreciate your support!

Click here to vote now!

Jordan Goldman, CEO of unigo.com, talks about the benefits of using Enternships.com at -5:14 of the video. Click the link below to see:

No Internship? No Problem!