Member Article

Internship recruitment firm launches Manchester office

A national internship recruitment company has this week opened its first office outside London, in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, creating three jobs.

Inspiring Interns, which specialises in matching graduates with internship placements at SMEs, expects to place around 200 interns with North West businesses in its first year in the city.

The Manchester office launch has created three new jobs, all at graduate level. The team will be spearheaded by Andrew Scherer, who has spent four years heading up the company’s marketing team from its Holborn office.

He said: “Manchester is the ideal location for Inspiring Interns’ first premises outside London. The city has a vibrant digital and creative business scene which, when matched with three well-renowned universities and countless colleges, makes it a fantastic city for businesses who want to tap into the wealth of young talent, as well as for graduates who are looking to get their feet on the career ladder.

“Smaller businesses often find that the costs and administration elements of recruitment, whether for full-time, part-time or intern positions, can put an immediate stop to their plans. Inspiring Interns has a proven record track of being able to fill the majority of vacancies within two weeks with bright, personable and confident people – with two thirds of those placements leading to a full-time role at the company.”

Inspiring Interns was formed in 2009 by former Hale resident, Ben Rosen, with the Manchester office launch coming as it celebrates its fifth year. During that time, it has created more than 3,100 internships at small and medium-sized businesses in and around London, mostly in the creative and digital sectors – with 66 per cent of those leading to a full-time job with the employer.

Inspiring Interns offers businesses a match-making process which includes online video CVs. This allows businesses to, in many cases, cut out the first round of interviews by seeing prospective interns speak about their experience first-hand. 94 per cent of businesses working with Inspiring Interns recently said that they would want to see video CVs as part of their internship recruitment process.

Andrew said: “Video CVs allow businesses to make sure that the initial spark of connection is there before they begin the more time-consuming process of seeing people face-to-face – something which is of particular concern with smaller companies and start-ups. This has been a hugely popular element of the business and is the key point of difference between Inspiring Interns and traditional recruitment agencies.”

Founder, Ben Rosen, added: “It felt natural for Inspiring Interns’ next move to be into Manchester. The city is alive with opportunity, both for businesses to grow and for workers to develop their careers, so we are confident that we can make a real difference for employers and graduates alike to make the most of Manchester’s prospects.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Graham Vincent .