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To help students enhance their employability and earn extra cash without compromising their studies, The University of Nottingham is looking to further expand its student recruitment company, Unitemps Nottingham.
The agency has already exceeded expectations, after Nottingham became the first university in the UK to buy a franchise in the Unitemps employment agency. Established in March 2010, the agency has already broken even having supplied candidates for more than 400 jobs.
Students, recent graduates and alumni have all benefited from the service, which is on hand to fill any vacancies at the University and a growing number of external clients, including some roles for Nottingham City Council.
Now the company is hoping to encourage more companies situated near each of the University’s campuses to make use of the highly educated and flexible workforce on offer. All profits from these placements will then be reinvested in improving student employability and careers development.
Extra employers will also be of benefit to job seekers, who can use their employment to help fund their studies and build their CV. Current students can also use the experience to work towards the Nottingham Advantage Award.
Unitemps Nottingham manager and University of Nottingham graduate, Ilze Skujina, explained that Unitemps has been set up with students in mind. “The work is either on campus or in the local area so it is easy to fit it around lectures and there is a variety of opportunities giving students complete flexibility to choose how much or little they work,” she explained. “The rates of pay are fair and always offer holiday pay entitlements.”
Ilze also believes that a student focused agency is of benefit to employers. She continued: “By working with Unitemps, employers will benefit from intelligent and highly motivated temporary staff, getting their vacancies filled promptly via our unique online system and an excellent service tailored to their needs. Staff here do not work on commission and therefore we really care about delivering the best service possible.”
Both students and employers have provided extremely positive feedback on the service’s ability to match candidates and vacancies, as well as the ease of completing the administration process.
Madeline Pope, a fifth year architecture student, is one of those to have found work with the agency, already having secured two positions through Unitemps, the first of which begun within a week of her registering with the company.
After completing a full-time placement as a Sales Co-ordinator for Nottingham Conferences, Madeline explained: “While the process of job hunting can often be both slow and arduous, I found Nottingham’s Unitemps service to be a welcome relief. The online application process was straightforward and the Unitemps’ staff themselves were encouraging and always on hand to answer any queries I had.”
Vicky Mann, Nottingham Advantage Award Project Co-ordinator, used the agency to fill student helper and photographer vacancies. She added: “On both occasions, given very short notice, Unitemps have managed to advertise, shortlist and have staff with the relevant skills at work 48 hours later.
“As Unitemps are used to recruiting student assistants for a range of roles, they were able to take my quick and broad description of the role requirements and identify the key areas to create a person specification — a much needed time saver. Our student assistant has been working with us since just after the start of term and is a fantastic asset to our team.