Member Article

Midlands firms invited to work experience seminar

West Midlands businesses are missing out on attracting some of the region’s top talent due to the poor standard of work experience being offered.

Leading recruiters at Birmingham-based Katie Bard say not enough businesses in the region are providing well structured work experience programmes and it is costing them not only time but also money when sourcing long-term candidates.

Verity Stokes, team leader at Katie Bard which is part of the international Angela Mortimer Group and has its offices on Waterloo Street, said quality work experience programmes can be the key to retaining talent in the Midlands.

“Although a large number of businesses in Birmingham and the wider region regularly offer work experience opportunities, it’s the quality of the opportunities which is key to attracting and later retaining talent,” she said.

“All too often people are shoved in the corner of a room or purely invited to shadow members of staff and not involved in tasks which are engaging, which just ends up being counterproductive for both parties.

“By developing well structured work experience programmes companies can not only engage better with candidates but also identify people which could be a good fit for the business in the future.”

Businesses can find out how to overcome hurdles faced when offering work experience at a breakfast event being held by Katie Bard in conjunction with Birmingham Forward on Wednesday, May 1.

The event, at Bruntwood on Newhall Street, will include presentations from Birmingham Forward, Jennifer Nicholson, HR manager at SGH Martineau and Wendy Duprey from Pathfinders Media Recruitment.

Verity added: “The feedback we had from visitors to the Live and Work In Birmingham event last month showed there remains a huge appetite from job seekers and students to get as much work experience as they can under their belts.

“The event on May 1 will be great opportunity for businesses to find out about the success of different work experience programmes and how they can be applied across multiple sectors.”

The breakfast event at Bruntwood takes place from 8.30am until 9.30am. For further information or to register email Katherine Morton at k.morton@katiebard.com or call 0121 633 4443.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Pete Squires .