Student placements offer business benefits

Businesses that take on students for placements can benefit from their technical skills and energy, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has argued.

Such placements vary in length and can take the form of summer internships, sandwich years in industry-focused degrees or work experience for recent graduates, and often offer participants the chance to learn valuable skills and make connections in the industry.

The FSB noted that in addition to bringing new talents and enthusiasm to the workplace, students on placements can offer the opportunity to create links with the university. Businesses can also use the time that a student or new graduate spends with them as an 'extended interview' for a full-time position.

It spoke to Jon Sawdon Smith, Co-owner of DIY Kyoto, who took on a student placement and said: 'David brings a freshness to the company as a whole. His ideas are based on a non-tainted view of society and that is key to innovation.'

This view is supported by recent research from the University of Arizona, which found that graduates who undertook work placements or internships while at university have more success in finding work and received better starting salaries.