"To beef up our recruitment efforts on behalf of local employers, we have been talking at length to our members, many of whom employ a lot of younger people - graduates and postgrads. And while there is a great sense of belonging in those organisations where there are larger numbers of graduate recruits, some of those in the smaller and medium-sized companies say they would welcome the opportunity to connect with their peers in other Cambridge firms," explains Cambridge Network's COO Hilary Laing.
"We are trying to foster these connections, and our starting point has been to post a blog written by graduate recruits in Cambridge companies, now hosted on the Recruitment Gateway pages of our site. We would like to hear from others and will gladly post your views** about your training, your job or your experiences of living and working in the region. We're really trying to show prospective applicants what it's like to be here, and the collaboration that happens at so many levels," she says.
"Once we are back from the careers fairs, next steps will include getting new and recent graduate recruits at our member companies together to kick off a graduate group and later on, an event for those joining next year so they have the connections before they start work."
Alongside the blog, quotes from a variety of graduate recruits have also been posted in the graduate section of the site, together with comments about the importance of graduates to local employers, written by the CEOs of Cambridge Network member companies. Despite the obvious economic downturn in other parts of the country, the Cambridge region continues to thrive – and companies are keen to fill a wide range of vacancies for intern, trainee and permanent positions.
Students and graduates currently at institutions around the country - who may have missed Cambridge Network at their local careers fair - will have the opportunity to find out what's on offer from employers in the city when they return to Cambridge for the Christmas break.
A special event for returning students is planned by Cambridge Network for December - further details are in the event calendar on the site. Any member companies who would like to promote their vacancies are asked to contact recruitmentgateway@cambridgenetwork.co.uk to find out how to participate.
**If you would like to contribute to the graduate blog pages of the Recruitment Gateway, please contact Hilary.Laing@cambridgenetwork.co.uk
Meet Cambridge Network at university careers fairs
See the graduate section of the Recruitment Gateway
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