Congrats Catriona – project scores a big result for one graduate

We’re delighted to hear the news that one of our first placement holders Catriona, who took part in the Samaritans placement, has just secured a full-time job at British Lung Foundation as their new Membership and Publications Assistant. According to Catriona her experience on her SHEEN Placement “almost certainly got me the job”.

We’re delighted for Catriona, and of course for the ringing endorsement this result brings to the pilot placement project.

Remember folks there are two placements open for applications right now until the end of this week (Dec 4th). See the earlier post for details.

Two new placements launched

Our next two placements are now going to advertisement – both of them paid internships. We are looking for one student/recent graduate for a development role in event fundraising at Highland Hospice, in Inverness. The other placement is one we already advertised earlier in the year, but not as a paid internship. We think the timing and the lack of payment were probably the main factors in us not getting applications from suitable candidates, so are trying it again! That placement is the role investigating the Investors in Volunteering ‘kite-mark’ for the North Ayrshire Citizens Advice Service (NACAS), and is based in Saltcoats.

Closing date on both is December 4th with interviews the following week and a start date intended to be right after the New Year. Read further for application details.

New request put out for placement hosts

Previously we have set up placements based on picking specific target organisations and contacting them directly, based on likely prospects for high quality placements that could be set up quickly and effectively. With the latest two having at least a delay, and time moving ever swiftly on, we are now taking a broader approach. An email has gone out today to a list of contacts who have expressed interest (or been indicated as interested) in potentially hosting a placement.

If you didn’t get the email and are reading this and think this may apply to you, please read further!

Text of the message follows below the ‘fold’ (click for more).

Poor response for recent pair of placements

After a hugely positive response to our Samaritans placements, we’ve been somewhat disappointed and surprised at a very low response to our recent pair of CAB-based placements. we suspect this may be party due to their locations, but also due to them not being initially offered as paid placements. While not ideal for the placements, this is still good stuff for the project as we can reflect on this outcome for our report and future recommendations, and we are currently trying to see what feedback we can gather from the process that went into advertising these placements. With the additional funding that has been secured, we may have another go at advertising these placements, perhaps modified somewhat and with an internship salary attached. That way we can see how much (if any) of a better response we get with that difference. Given the financial constraints many students and recent graduates are likely to be under it would not be surprising to learn that affordability of taking on the commitment of a placement was a key factor, to say the least!

Back from a short hiatus

The project has been somewhat on hold over the last month as I’ve been on my honeymoon! However I’m back now and things are moving on. An appeal is going out shortly for new vol orgs to come forward with ideas for pilot placements as part of the project. With some recent good news that we have secured additional funding for payment of placement holders, we are now in a position to make more of these placements ‘compensated’ – which should make them more accessible for students facing harsh economic realities.

Two new CAB placements now open for applications

As promised here are the next two placements. Both are based within Citizens Advice Bureaux, but are quite different in focus.

At CAB Ross & Cromarty, they are looking for someone on a part-time voluntary basis (with possibility of full-time subject to funding and suitability, potentially with an internship payment) to look mainly at their strategy for outreach to and recruitment of young people.

At the North Ayrshire Citizens Advice Service (a group of CABx in that area) they are looking for someone part-time voluntary to investigate the Investing in Volunteers (IIV) standard, and produce an assessment of what would be involved for NACAS in working towards accreditation.

Both are great opportunities for the right students/very recent graduates.

Applications are open now, and close at noon on Monday 12th October – so you have plenty of time to apply this time! I’d like to highlight the following to applicants:

• Read the role specification and details carefully
• Pay attention to what we ask for in the application
• Make sure you give us the info we need about you in a clear and easy format – the easier it is for us to tick the boxes, the more likely you are to be shortlisted!

Adverts should be going round the network shortly via Careers Services, and in the case of the Ross & Cromarty placement through the UHI network, as well as on Goodmoves.

You can also download the application packs here:

NACAS IiV Student Placement Final details and spec

Ross and Cromarty CAB spec and details – Final

Preparing for next placements

Things have been a little slow and quiet lately due to the usual August issues of people being off on holidays and so on, but we are about ready to proceed with our next two placements, both of which are proposed to be within Citizens Advice Bureaux – one in North Ayrshire and one all the way up at Ross & Cromarty. The first will deliver essentially a ‘pre-assessment’ for CAB North Ayrshire on its readiness to undergo Investing in Volunteers (IIV) accreditation. The placement holder will learn about the standard and what is involved in going through the process, and will then assess what the CAB already has in place, and therefore how much work is likely to be involved in taking forward the IIV standard. The second will focus on development of a new approach for the CAB to engage with younger people, promote their services to that group and recruit volunteers from among them.

Both are ambitious and challenging placements that should provide excellent experiences for suitable candidates. We hope to begin advertising next week with a lot more notice this time – aiming for an Oct 12th closing date.

Samaritans Placement holders appointed

The interviews that took place last Friday were all of an extremely high standard. In the end it was so difficult to choose between the two best candidates, who were both each in their own ways ‘the best choice’ that an unexpected decision resulted – we altered the placement to accomodate both of them on a part-time basis. This allows both flexibility to accomodate other commitments, and to have someone to work with on the project, which should be of numerous benefits given the ambitious scale of the work that needs to be carried out.

We look forward to Catriona and Thomas starting at Samaritans this Wednesday!

If you’d like to follow their progress, they will have their own placement blogs, which can now be found on our new Placement Blogs page.

Applications close on first placement with a very high response rate

We have now shortlisted for the first placement and will be interviewing on Friday. 31 applications were accepted in total, which is a very high response rate given the short timescale that was available in which to apply!

We had some really strong applications and it was difficult to narrow it down, but the result is that we are confident of being able to select a good candidate on Friday.

We’ve also got a draft profile for our second placement now with the project Steering Group so hopefully more on that soon!

First student placement announced – Samaritans

The first of our pilot placements is now open for applications. This placement will be one of the few that offer a full-time paid internship style placement. The role is a Policy / Research role working with the national Development Manager for Samaritans in Scotland, based in Dundee. The placement holder can work on a distance basis from anywhere in Scotland, but would need to be willing to travel to Dundee occasionally. Alternatively, if possible, they would be very welcome to work at the Samaritans office.

Full details of the role profile and placement details can be found in this document:

Samaritans Student Placement Spec and details

The deadline for applications is FRIDAY 24th JULY so there isn’t a lot of time for you to get your application in if you are interested! If successful, the placement would start at the earliest opportunity, so expect to be asked to begin in very early August if selected.