YORKSHIRE Water has stepped in to help jobless IT graduates shake off that “geek” tag and develop the “soft” skills required by employers.
Research by the BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, showed there was still a feeling among major employers that IT graduates – while professionally competent – still lack skills in areas such as personal leadership, communication, presentation and teamwork.
This comes at a time when figures from Graduate Yorkshire show that unemployment among IT graduates stands at 16.3%.
Now Yorkshire Water is partnering the BCS to run an initiative, called The Graduate, to develop soft skills among IT graduates to ensure that when it comes to having an interview, their communication and presentation skills don't let them down.
The Graduate 2013 is made up of two stages – an application period, which is open until the end of this month, and an assessment day on March 18, which will be followed by an awards ceremony.
The assessment centre will be held at Yorkshire Water’s learning centre at Esholt Hall, Shipley, where candidates will have their professional and personal skills tested through a series of individual and team exercises before receiving one-to-one feedback on their performance.
A host of companies supporting the initiative will also be present – giving candidates the ideal opportunity to put themselves in the shop window.
The Graduate is open to all current and soon-to-be IT graduates. For an application form, to go www.thegraduate.bcs.org
