The CCR Graduate Scheme was created by the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal in partnership with the four universities in the region.
These include; The University of South Wales, Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan University, the Open University in Wales, and business representative groups in response to the low graduate retention rate in the Cardiff Capital Region.
The CCR Graduate Scheme focuses on enhancing productivity, innovation and economic growth while promoting the CCR as a destination for talented graduates.
£175,000 has been allocated by the CCR Regional Cabinet for a one-year pilot of the scheme which will provide targeted support for businesses to assist in creating an initial 50 graduate internships in 2019/2020. The scheme provides graduates with a qualification, an induction and various networking opportunities to help to instil a commitment to continuing professional development over the course of their careers.
The scheme offers businesses the following free services:
- Advice and support creating graduate job descriptions
- Region-wide marketing of the graduate position delivered in partnership with the four universities in the Cardiff Capital Region
- Applications sifted and assessment centres delivered on the business’ behalf, based on their business’ needs, to provide a short-list of candidates to interview
- Ongoing support during the graduate intern’s employment
- A fully funded qualification for the graduates and participation in a coherent graduate scheme that will help to attract high-calibre employees to their business
- Marketing opportunities to raise the profile of businesses
How does the process work?
The CCR Graduate Scheme will with you to identify whether a graduate internship is something that would suit the needs of your business. If so, we will help you to develop a job description for the role. We will then promote the job across the Cardiff Capital Region in partnership with the four universities, sift the applications for you job and run an assessment centre for candidates who have passed the first stage. Finally, we will provide you with a short-list of candidates who have passed the assessment centre to interview. We can tailor the process based upon how much input you would like and support you and the graduate during the placement.
The service is completely free. The only cost for your business is the graduate’s wages and national insurance – you should expect it to be no less than £7,500 for a six-month contract.
What kind of organisations are eligible?
To be eligible, businesses must:
- Be based in the Cardiff Capital Region (the ten local authority areas in South East Wales – Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen, The Vale of Glamorgan)
- Be an employer that is recruiting a graduate for the first time or recruiting a graduate in a new area of your business
- Be an employer from the private, public or non-for-profit sector. The scheme is open to businesses from all sectors and industries – ranging from large national organisations to growing micro businesses.
Kellie Beirne, Director of the Cardiff Capital Region, said:
“Businesses face multiple barriers when it comes to recruitment, as many don’t have the resources and time to promote their business to talented graduates. This graduate scheme enables us to support businesses within our region and encourage higher-skilled employment across the private sector, particularly in some of the investable sectors that were identified in our Industrial and Economic Growth Plan including financial technology, transport engineering and life sciences.
“We strive to deliver a scheme that will benefit our communities for years to come and that has the potential to outlive the CCR City Deal.”
For more information about the scheme, including how businesses can get involved, can be found on the Cardiff Capital Region website at: http://ccrgraduatescheme.wales
