News From The AGR AGM at RBS!

Hello

Another productive week at GRB. We went along to the Association of Graduate Recruiters AGM kindly hosted by our friends at the Royal Bank of Scotland. Against the odds, membership is up and the mood was optimist for 2010 - although by no means a return to pre-2008 activity - which is positive news.

Yesterday I was at the Warwick AIESEC Careers Fair which was well attended and we spoke over 500 students who were very interested in our recruitment service. I think there is a realisation that 2010 may be slightly better but they will be competing much more with 2009 graduates for these jobs so getting an early-mover advantage is key. And that's were GRB come in!

Also we reported in our news section that many students believe that doing unpaid internships are legal when the opposite is the case. Unfortunately unscrupulous employers are taking advantage of the huge numbers of graduates entering the job market and breaking the law so look out and know your rights.

Finally, we have created an improvement to our job listings on http://www.grb.uk.com/ by placing them in closing date order so this should make it easier to see which jobs you need to apply for quickly!

Best regards

Dan Hawes

AGR Chief Exec Posts Video On GRB Site

Hello and welcome to this weeks happenings at GRB,

Despite the miserable weather affecting the UK we have a had few rays of sunshine to lift the nations graduate job seekers! I can report extremely positive news of many recruiters talking to us at the moment who are planning to recruit graduates next Summer. A high street bank, a City based IT firm, investment bank and several leading retailers plus an engineering firm - so stick with us and give yourself a fighting chance in the jobs market.

Carl Gilleard, Chief Exec of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, this week recorded an exclusive video for our website packed full of useful advice from our man-in-the-know. Plus, watch advice from three GRB experts about a suggested action plan of what you need to do in year one, year two and year three of your time at Uni to give yourself a head and shoulders advantage over other job seeking students.

Finally, for any budding Marketers amongst you, The Chartered Institute of Marketing Sussex division is hosting a seminar entitled "Back to the Future" about what successful companies are planning for their marketing in 2010.

Speak next week. Have a great weekend.

Best regards

Dan Hawes

GRB In The Media

Hi


We spoke to thousands of graduates in the last few weeks keen to register their CV with our consultants to start applying for jobs for them. This has created a huge backlog so please bear with us if your CV is waiting to go onto our database. In the meantime if you see any jobs you like the look of then you can visit the site http://www.grb.uk.com/, call in and discuss the next steps with a consultant. We are still busy with recruiters looking for graduates, not necessarily on graduate schemes which have been affected by the recession, but many, many direct-entry roles.


GRB have had some excellent press coverage of late. I was interviewed for the BBC World Service, FT and recently Brookson where I commented on the Government's latest initiative to get more young people getting qualifications and apprenticeships.



Finally one of my recruitment buddies, Tanya, has passed on some really useful advice so take a moment to check it out (and her book if you are interested!)

I am off to see some friends and visit Cheddar Gorge and see why they put the super in Weston Super Mare! Please let there be sunshine...

Best regards

Dan Hawes

GRB Attend Careers Fairs Across The Country

Hello

GRB were out and about this week at various careers fairs across the UK. The Yorkshire Graduate Fair at Sheffield Uni; Sussex Uni GradFair and then Brighton Uni Career Fair to mention a few. Loads of students came up to our stand and signed up and were really pleased to discover we existed! Judging from the number of other recruiters at these fairs I would say the recession is definitely not stopping them seek top graduates to join their firms. The only noticeable abscence of course are investment banks but even these are starting to make enquiries at GRB about their 2010 programmes so I think we have turned a corner.

We have been reinforcing the value of hiring graduates with news like this Recruitment At Firms Gathers Pace and surveys like this It pays to recruit graduates on our website newsfeed. I also got the chance to advise two graduates on air for the BBC World Service yesterday. It was broadcast from the lawns of SOAS in London and can be listened to here > http://www.grb.uk.com/grb_in_the_press.0.html

We have a new recruitment consultant starting on Monday who will be specialising in helping language graduates find work so today we have been making room for her in the office and getting her induction ready. Watch this space for a lots of new opportunities for language graduates!

All the best and enjoy any firework displays. Yesterdays Lewes Bonfire was well attended by GRB staff so have fun.

Best regards

Dan Hawes