Results Day 2014 July 2014 | Page 21

The Importance of Internships & How it Helps Firms with Employee Retention Internships can last from 4 – 12 weeks and tend to take place at the end of first and second years at University. They offer an opportunity for undergraduates to gain experience, apply their degree subjects and build networks with business professionals. Previously, graduating with a 2:1 degree was seen as a good result and employers accepted this when students applied for graduate schemes. However recruiters are now looking for students who have gone that extra mile and gained experience whilst at University. Greg Thompson @Greg_LThompson At Aberdeen AM their internship programme is a fundamental part of ensuring ROI, 100% of graduates come through internships at the organisation or are existing employees. This demonstrates the importance In the latest edition of AGR’s of internships and how they can graduate recruiter magazine, make the difference when trying Aberdeen Asset Management to get on the career ladder after spoke about their graduate University. As it stands, Aberdeen retention and ROI, saying that a low staff turnover is important so AM have a 85% retention rate for that there are experienced people staff that began as graduates. This percentage figure demonstrates to offer advice and guidance to the real ROI of their programmes. new starters.