Scottish firms bid to attract the most talented graduates

Citation

(2002), "Scottish firms bid to attract the most talented graduates", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 26 No. 9. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeit.2002.00326iab.003

Scottish firms bid to attract the most talented graduates

Scottish firms bid to attract the most talented graduates

Companies in Scotland are offering students scholarships worth up to £20,000 in a scheme aimed at attracting the most talented graduate recruits, according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters.

The funding packages offered by companies including IBM, the Royal Bank of Scotland, BAE Systems and BP include paid placements over holidays, eight-month work projects and £1,000 a year towards the cost of studying.

Most scholarships are awarded to school leavers on the basis of examination results and an interview with senior executives from the company. There is no obligation on the students to accept a job with the company after graduation, but the companies involved admit that most sponsored students do choose to work for them.

Edinburgh University has recently appointed a dedicated scholarship-development officer to seek out new links with leading companies. It expects to have up to 200 students on scholarship deals.

A spokesman for BAE Systems, which has established 16 scholarships at Edinburgh in electrical and mechanical engineering, said: "We set them up because we were experiencing difficulties recruiting the right type of graduate."

The Royal Bank of Scotland is in the process of selecting four information technology students for a new scholarship programme, also at Edinburgh University. A spokesman said: "Information technology is an area in which we are keen to aid recruitment by whatever means we can, and we believe the scholarships will be beneficial. The students will spend time working with us and we hope to build a relationship with them up to and beyond their move into full-time employment."

Aberdeen University has a number of scholarships available to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Funds have been received from oil companies including Shell, BP and Total Fina Elf, as well as firms of solicitors and construction companies.

At Abertay University in Dundee, NCR, a multinational company specializing in the design and manufacture of cash-point machines for banks, has agreed to contribute £90,000 over three years to fund up to 30 bursaries.

Two years ago, the Scottish Executive highlighted its concern about the skills gap in key areas when Nicol Stephen, then minister for enterprise and lifelong learning, said almost a third of Scottish firms had reported shortages of skilled personnel. Last year, Wendy Alexander, the former minister for enterprise and lifelong learning, set up Future Skills Scotland in a bid to produce better and earlier intelligence about future shortages.