On Wednesday 18^th January, The National Placement & Internship Awards, sponsored by PwC and supported by AGCAS and AGR, were attended by over 300 representatives from both the corporate and higher education world.

The event kicked off with the unveiling of the results from our recent First-Year Student Survey by our On-Campus Promotions team, followed by an incredibly inspiring and motivational key note speech from Olympian and former World Record Holder Steve Backley.

As a few of you have already requested, please see the industry facts and stats mentioned by Ollie during the Awards Ceremony.

You can also click on the link at the bottom of this post to view the presentation slides from the On-Campus Promotions session, ‘An Insight into Engaging with First-Year Students’.

Thanks,

The RMP Team

Ollie’s Facts & Stats of the Higher Education Industry: 

Where do we see the market heading?

In the UK last year there were 1.8 million full-time undergraduate students in higher education. 477,000 started in September, which interestingly is 5.6% up on last year’s stat. This year, with the increased tuition fees coming in for September 2012, UCAS have already seen 15% reduction in university applicants. How do we see this affecting the market?

Fewer students at universities will hit the institutions, and from reading through the 60+ university nominations across the 3 university categories, it’s overwhelming how much they are investing heavily in their employability agenda quoting figures in the tens and hundreds of millions of pounds. With fees rising so significantly, the return on investment from entering university to coming out of the other end is being increasingly scrutinised by students and parents. Therefore we personally see placements and internships playing a much greater role in academia, encouraged through:

• A rise in accredited work-based learning modules

• Increased resource and provision from the university

• Heightened awareness from students, and at an earlier stage

How are employers changing? The recent recession has taught most businesses to be more effective and justify every pound they spend. Across all our 200 clients, we see the average retention rates from undergraduate schemes to graduates is between 60 – 70%. This outlines how in the long term, attracting and retaining the best talent early can be a more successful and efficient form of recruitment. Anecdotally, we are seeing more and more companies engaging with the best talent earlier through starting and growing placement, internship and insight programmes and that’s reflected in our client base doubling in the past year.

Latest Graduate research from the article below in the Telegraph outlines:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9005585/Graduate-job-competition-hots-up.html

“An extra 50,000 graduates are set to leave university this summer compared with five years ago”

“Employers have already received 19pc more graduate applications for roles compared with last year”

More than half of the recruiters warned graduates with no previous work experience had “little or no chance” of landing a job this year.

Specifically in the investment banking industry, 3 / 4 of investment bank graduate jobs will be taken by candidates who have completed industry placements.

More than a third of new graduate jobs this year will go to students who have already worked for the employer – a record high

In conclusion… All arrows point towards early identification, with placements, internships and insights becoming increasingly important…

-          to students needing to gain work experience before they graduate

-          to universities needing to differentiate themselves through their employability agenda to attract students

-          and to employers looking to recruit the best talent earlier, and most effectively

On-Campus Promotions Presentation Slides:

Please click on the link below to access the slides from the On-Campus Promotions session, ‘An Insight into Engaging with First-Year Students’ hosted by Ali Lindsay and Amber Jones.

An Insight into Engaging with First-Year Students – presentation slides

So my last few blogs have featured drugs, boobs, embarrassing-photos-of-the-night-before and snippets of advice that I have shared along the tumultuous path of what has become my blogging career. With all this knowledge imparted, I now do not feel guilty about asking for your help, advice and insights on an upcoming excursion I am undertaking….

This week I learnt….

…..that I am going to LA!!

Yes, you heard it here first – in preparation for my blog (amongst other things) I have planned a trip to LA. So far my itinerary is as follows;

• Depart London Heathrow

• Arrive in LA X

• Visit amazingly witty, clever and talented actor-brother

• Depart LA for the Grand Canyon (it’s on my bucket list)

• Depart the Grand Canyon for San Francisco

• Visit amazingly intellectual, long-standing friend from Ireland who has a very big and important job

• Return to LA to see brother for an update on his (undoubtedly multiple) successes

• Depart LA X

• Arrive in London Heathrow

• Recover

View Larger Map

Interesting? Yes.

Detailed? Not really.

And that’s where you come in. In true ‘Idiot Abroad’ style, I want your hints, tips and advice on what I should do and how I should do it. So please leave your comments and recommendations below and I’ll report back upon my return!

2 flights + 10 days + 3 cities + 1 best friend + 1 brother = 1 trip to remember (with your help)

………..that bubbles make everything ok – just ask Winston Churchill.

One of my highlights over the last week was catching up with my champagne-loving partner in crime. We have a long-standing appreciation for sipping bubbles but last week that appreciation hit a pinnacle whilst we sat in Selfridges, watching Chanel bags be put to bed from the Champagne bar on the first floor.

Now that, is what I call a Friday night to remember.

Here are a few of our favourite London champagne haunts for you to check out…

• Mews of Mayfair

• Searcys, particularly at the National Portrait Gallery

Here, here Winston.

• Claridges for afternoon Champagne tea

……….presenting to over 300 people can make you forget to breathe

Unless you have a great team to help you raise your game and get through it (lucky me)!

If you don’t already know, last week was the 2012 National Placement & Internship Awards (NPIA’s). It was a great day, with a great crowd and a great team of organisers behind it. As my first NPIA event, I was hugely impressed at the work put in by everyone here at RMP Enterprise, the guest list of industry experts, Steve Backley’s inspirational speech and the results of all this hard work combined. Good job. Go Team!

……….exactly what Chinese New Year means (other than free calendars with your takeout)

Happy Chinese New Year! In case you didn’t know, the year of the dragon has been celebrated this week, and with the amount of posts and tweets wishing me a happy a new year I felt nothing short of an obligation to send similar well-wishes on to my friends and followers (of which I would love to say there are many, but are probably better described as a ‘select few’).

In Chinese astrology the animal signs assigned by year represent what others perceive you as being or how you present yourself. According to the Wiki-fountain of on-line knowledge, those born in the year of the Dragon are described as follows;

Dragon – 龍 / 龙 (辰) (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Magnanimous, stately, vigorous, strong, self-assured, proud, noble, direct, dignified, eccentric, intellectual, fiery, passionate, decisive, pioneering, artistic, generous, loyal. Can be tactless, arrogant, imperious, tyrannical, demanding, intolerant, dogmatic, violent, impetuous, brash.

Seemingly, quite the split personality.

Amber’s advice of the week….

Tick things off your bucket list.

Drink champagne.

Raise your game.

Order a takeout and get a free calendar.

We are delighted to announce the Winners of the 2012 National Placement & Internship Awards!

The Awards, sponsored by PwC, took place yesterday at City University, London, and were attended by over 350 representatives from both the corporate and higher education world.

The event kicked off with the unveiling of the results from our recent First-Year Student Survey by our On-Campus Promotions team, followed by an incredibly inspiring and motivational key note speech from Olympian and former World Record Holder Steve Backley.

The Awards were then presented by RMP co-founders Oliver Sidwell and Chris Wickson, closing with the announcement of the 2012 ‘Best Placement & Internship Employer’. Congratulations go to Barclays Capital.

For a full overview of the day and to find out which employers, universities and students picked up the prizes, visit our Awards website via the link below.

Check back next week for photos and videos from the day too!

The RMP Team

*Order of Awards presented are as follow:

University Awards:

Best University placement / Careers Service: Brunel University (Highly Commended: University of Dundee). Most Improved Commitment to Employability: University of Birmingham Careers & Employability Centre University Personality of the Year: Jim Wood, Newcastle University (Highly Commended: Graham Kaye-Taylor, Brunel University)

Student Awards:

Best Placement student: Lillian Hiscox, Microsoft Best Intern: Sophie Petrie, HSBC Best Student Contribution to a Small to Medium-sized Enterprise: Michael Daniel McAllister, Buzzlines Travel Best University Society: University of Warwick History Society Best On-Campus Promotions Brand Manager: Amelia Marchant, University of Surrey

Employer Awards:

Best New Provider of Work Experience: Cooper Industries Best Short-term Insight Scheme: Linklaters (Highly Commended: Simmons & Simmons LLP) Best Diversity in Work Experience: Civil Service Fast Stream Best On-campus Marketing Campaign: The Royal Bank of Scotland Group/ThirtyThree (Highly Commended: Ernst & Young/SAS and PwC/ThirtyThree) Best Small or Medium-sized Enterprise: ProspectSoft Distinctive Contribution to Work Experience (Special Judges’ Award): Champions Life Academy Best Medium-sized Employer: SAP Best Placement & internship Employer (Headline Award): Barclays Capital

*Note – the last two Awards were based on student-written reviews from RateMyPlacement who have completed placements and internships

www.rmpawards.co.uk

Thanks to all our sponsors for supporting the National Placement & Internship Awards 2012

Hello! and welcome back to our blog, we’ve been off the radar recently due to the Christmas holidays and our highly successful NPIA’s that were held on the 18th of this month (January), but we are back now and all have more than enough juice to supply you with an eclectic mix of blog related banter, so buckle up and welcome to 2012 with RateMyPlacement.co.uk.

About now is make or break time for all those that wanted to get fit and haven’t done so as they have petered out of steam or lost interest. Much of the time people set unachievable goals which dis-heartens them and they then give up. Below, I’ve put together a couple of brief tips that may help you promote a healthier life style. I want to give your brain a work out too with a few educational app’s and lets not forget to reward our selves in the Leisure section.

Health

Running is the goto exercise to get slim, not necessarily. You can burn calories from lifting weights and that involves no running what so ever! The larger the muscles you use the more energy your body consumes ipso-facto more calories are burned, using a legpress is a great way to expend some calories and better yet, your sitting down!!

Metabolism is key when exercising, as a good metabolism means your body can burn the food that you put in it more efficiently. If you have 3 large meals a deal, your body struggles to process all that it consumes, much in the way a shredder jams if you stick too much paper in it. Don’t skip breakfast, instead, grab some scrambled egg and spinach on a slice of wholemeal toast, this is a really quick meal and gives your bodies furnace a kick start to the day to begin processing food. Don’t forget to drink plenty of water too (2 litres) and get that veg & fruit in side of you, try substituting carbs such as potatoes for more veg like broccoli or carrots. Click here for 8 ways to speed up your metabolism.

Sleep is an often over looked part of being healthy. Its important to get a good nights sleep (8 hours is real good), it gives your body a chance to repair after exercising and your mind to rest so you are less stressed. Those that sleep less tend to consume a lot more food as they need the energy to operate while awake. Try not to use your bed for anything other than sleep & sex, this way you only associate your bed with these two activities. If you watch TV in bed a lot your mind struggles to get to sleep as you begin to associate your bed with other activities that won’t allow you to rest properly – I discovered these facts when I was having trouble sleeping myself.

If you want to set your self goals and monitor your results, NIKE have released the Nike+ FuelBand. It is essentially a device that measures your activity, with the aid of a computer or your smart phone you can connect to the wristband to set your self goals. The band gives you your calories burned, steps taken and the Nike fuel score… oh theres also a watch on it too. Its due to launch in the UK in may and will cost around the £100 mark, if your serious about exercise and logging your results this maybe a good motivator.. not too sure how it works with less cardio based activities though.

Education

Many of us have smart phones and seldom time to educate ourselves but we have plenty of time to play games while sitting on the train into work or at the back of the classroom. Check out these two apps:

Night Sky £0.69 link Allows you to point the app towards the “Night Sky” (also works in the day) and identifies constallations for you, you can also identify planets with your naked eye and go satalite spotting. How is this eduction? I dare people not to be impressed when your busting out constellations and they can barely point out the big dipper.. and “no thats not the north star, it’s Jupiter”.

The Crystal Maze £0.69 link This is an absolute classic. The app itself comes packed full of everyones favourite zones including Aztec, Science and Medieval zones, along with a Richard O’Brian sond pack!!!! There are various games that will test your lateral thinking as well as some basic puzzle solving. All crystals are cashed in at the end of the game for extra time in the Crystal dome!!!

Heres a bonus video of the 90′s classic game show that is a favourite in the office;

Leisure

And finally, my favourite part of the blog, when I suggest movies I’ve seen and/or want to see. Theres been a few movie releases recently that have been massive, one of which being:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 7.3/10 Now I’m a big fan of reading but have never felt compeled to read this series of books. I’m not too sure why, regardless, I was unsure as to what to expect but enjoyed it nonetheless. The main character is interesting and you do jump on her side even though she is insane for what ever reasons. Pretty tense in places and un-funny throughout but I guess its meant to be a thriller. DC is good and refreshing when not playing the smarmy James Bond. 7.3/10

War Horse 6.8/10 Spielberg loves a war time epic and this doesn’t disappoint. Quite a romantic storey of a boy and his horse getting separated during WW1 and re-united over the course of the film, its kind of like Saving Private Ryan meets Black Beauty with an essence of Forest Gump sprinkled on, in the way the main protagonist infiltrates so many stories. Defiantly worth a watch and I’d like to hear from anyone that has seen both the theater production and the movie and how they compare.

Im still itching to watch Goon with Sean William-Scott who I always find hilarious and looking forward to Wes Andersons, Moonrise Kingdom, which if on par with the Life Aquatic is going to be pure gold.

until next time people..