Forward thinking businesses invest in dozens of University Graduates through the Humber Internships Programme.

Businesses across the Humber region have created exciting and career-enhancing opportunities by providing internships to degree-level talent.

Over 80% of employers offered permanent contracts to their intern following the 12 week internship.

The Humber Internships Programme provides the region’s SME’s with funding and free support to connect them with a wide range of Graduate skills, from Engineering and Digital Marketing to Data Analysis and Business Development.

Award-winning technology business, Spectrum has taken on two interns through the Humber Internships Programme since 2021. The company, based at Bridgehead Business Park in Hessle have now permanently employed one former intern as an Automation Engineer.

Spectrum’s second intern started in August this year and if successful, will progress to a full-time Software Support Analyst.

Sally Evans, Spectrum’s Director of People, said: “We wanted to find people that were new to the world of work, specifically Data Science Graduates. The Humber Internships Programme helped us cast our net wider to look for people that might fit the bill.

A major challenge at the time was COVID and the pandemic. Sales were growing and therefore the team needed to grow but recruitment was really hard for us. HIP [The Humber Internships Programme] gave us a massive advantage and helped us in our search to find the right fit.”

Air conditioning and refrigeration firm, Airco were able to move towards their Net Zero plans with the help of intern Sophia Bella-Pinnock.

Tim Davison, Commercial Manager at Airco, said: “We wanted to bring in fresh talent with a rare, complementary analytical skill set to progress theirs, and their clients, NetZero ambitions further.

“Our intern’s knowledge in renewable technologies is absolutely first class, to which she has applied into the business and accelerated a variety of projects, bringing Airco, and its UK wide clients closer to their sustainability goals.”

Sophia provided energy evaluations to Airco clients and offered expert advice to increase energy efficiency.

Peak Earth works with businesses across the UK to help reduce their energy expenditure.  Based in C4Di, the company wanted to find marketing expertise to help them expand and broaden their horizons.

In summer 2022, Peak Earth interviewed and selected Moradeke Okupe, a Marketing and Advertising Masters Graduate to apply her expertise into the business over 12 weeks. Moradeke’s marketing skills have increased external B2B opportunities, increasing sales by 10%.

Bob Barnes, Founder of Peak Earth commented:

“Deke has got us on board with using Canva for marketing materials. She helped to set up our company’s LinkedIn profile and to create and post content, as well as setting up a posting schedule. Deke also tested out task management software as we move towards hybrid management techniques. It’s been a great experience to have Deke around.”

Hull city centre marketing agency have ‘always aspired to bring emerging talent into the team’. Umber Creative were keen to work with the Humber Internships Programme team at the University of Hull – especially as two of their directors are Hull Graduates.

The Humber Internships Programme team found candidates that matched the skills Umber Creative were looking for and they hired first-class Computer Science Graduate, Eleanor Brown as a Web Developer intern in 2022.

Web Director, Luke Foster said:

“Eleanor was able to complete the core project in good time, she adapted to the challenge really quickly and sought out the learning she needed to be successful – we were happy to be able to offer her a permanent position at the end of her internship.

“The Humber Internships Programme team genuinely care about matching the right candidates to the right positions and it is a really good time to engage with internships.”

Launched in 2021, the aim of the Humber Internships Programme is to support small and medium sized businesses looking to invest in talent straight out of University.

A 40% contribution to intern costs and free support means that the internships scheme provides a cost-effective way of finding resource for short-term project work or trialling graduates for permanent roles.

It gives students and graduates the opportunity to put theory into practice, working in a real business and providing valuable support to organisations in a range of areas from strategic operations and brand development to digital marketing, social media strategy, logistics and IT.

The internship scheme will run until August 2023 to support 100 additional internships.

Programme Manager, Pauline Mitchell said:  “We’re incredibly proud of our track record of supporting graduates to secure meaningful experiences that will shape their futures careers.

“Internships are a powerful tool in empowering and supporting graduates to hone their skills, they benefit the companies who offer them and they help us to support the region’s economy my through talent retention.

“Thank you to our team and employer partners for their continued support and opening up so many meaningful internships and first job experiences.”

If you would like to talk to the team about bringing an intern into your business in 2023, please contact the team today.