How do local businesses establish ties with universities?
Look local
All of the businesses we spoke with had worked in some capacity – whether formally or informally – with their local universities and, in some cases, those further afield too. “As a company, we try to build strong links with our local educational institutions. We’re based over the road from Loughborough University (and Loughborough College, which offers foundation degree courses), but we have also offered internship opportunities to students at other East Midlands Universities, e.g. Leicester, De Montfort, and Nottingham,” says Darren.
Attend careers fairs
“With so many local businesses jostling for the best new talent on the market, it’s crucial to be visible to students and recent graduates at every opportunity. We attend job fairs at both universities, and offer student placements and traineeships in order to provide that much-needed experience that helps young professionals get onto the career ladder,” says James.
Utilise alumni
“Our employees also attend university careers fairs and talks as often as they can. For example, a member of our marketing team is due to attend a lunchtime workshop at Loughborough University in a couple of weeks. She is an alumni at the institution and has always kept in contact with their alumni-relations team. The talk itself is aimed at students from Arts, English, Drama and Design related courses and is to discuss creative career paths. Obviously, as a creative business, this is something we’re keen to support,” says Darren.
Offer tours
“Jules B also run an annual tour for photography students at Newcastle College to give them an insight into how everything works in the studio, and work experience is on offer for students who express an interest after the trip,” says Tom.
Excellent customer service
A less obvious but potentially valuable idea is to focus on excellent customer service throughout the business as sometimes customers may develop into contacts.
“One project came to fruition because Helen Chaffey, the course lead at Lancaster, is a frequent customer at the store and has met Julian in the past. Helen was looking for local businesses that would be a good fit for the Brand Research and Consultancy module. She emailed Julian with further details about the project and it went from there. She thought Jules B would be a great brand for her students to work with as,” says Tom.
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