A successful programme to help graduates gain employment experience through internships is to be stepped up, thanks to a £200,000 cash injection from the Scottish Government.
The extra funds will support around 110 placements over the coming year under the Adopt-an-Intern scheme, which was set up in 2010 by the Centre for Scottish Public Policy think-tank. The programme has placed almost 200 graduates in workplaces and two-thirds of interns have gone on to full-time employment after taking part.
The new money is in addition to previous Scottish Government backing of more than £300,000 and £195,000 from the European Union.
Youth employment minister Angela Constance said: ‘Schemes like internships can be the very break that young people need to take their first step on to the career ladder.
‘Interns can develop and learn new skills while gaining vital experience of the modern workplace.’
She added: ‘The talent and potential of graduates will be used to help grow businesses, which is good news for the young people, the employers and, of course, the Scottish economy.’
The government backing comes less than a week after a critical report from Citizens Advice Scotland, which found that almost a quarter of Scots graduates were still out of work a year after graduating and a tenth were still looking for jobs 18 months after completing their degrees.
It also reported evidence of jobcentres advising graduates to ‘dumb down’ their CVs to avoid appearing overqualified for the sorts of jobs on offer.
Constance insisted: ‘Scotland is in the strongest position in the UK, with the highest rate of graduate employment at 90.3%. However, one young person out of work is one too many.’
• Scotland’s population grew by 0.6% in 2011 to an all-time high of 5,254,800, according to figures published today from the Registrar General for Scotland. The increase is mostly due to net immigration, although births are also exceeding deaths. The new total is 14,000 up on the previous high in 1974.
