channelcentral Blog

Providing essential skills.

Student or youth unemployment has been a common headline in recent years and while some of this is largely due to the economy, it is well known that employers are looking for experienced staff and not just a degree. As such, providing graduates with a placement year is becoming increasingly important so they can develop skills in the work place and really stand out in a crowd of job candidates.

channelcentral is pleased to be working with the University of Gloucestershire, offering a Placement Programme for 2nd year Computing and Technology undergraduates. The University has a well-regarded computing faculty including Computer Science, Web Technologies, Web Design, Programming and Software disciplines, building skills which lend themselves to our Software as a Service business. channelcentral’s Undergraduate Programme provides up to two students with a valuable, paid, mentored, full-time role for up to 12 months, working with our multi-national customer organisations alongside our full time development team. Our placements provide essential work experience to give our students a vital head start in the IT Industry, working on & developing our flagship CPQ (Configure/ Price/ Quote) tools. Successful students will be well placed to secure permanent roles at channelcentral as they arise.

Don’t just take our word for it though. Rob Sanins is currently here at channelcentral on the Undergraduate Programme as a Web Developer. Let’s see what he has to say:

“I decided to apply for a placement to gain valuable experience in the work place. Being at channelcentral I believe, will help me develop my skill set and also gain a strong foothold in the job market. Placements are a great idea for students as there’s a chance of a firm offer of employment once you finish University. Also, the experience of teamwork and development of interpersonal skills. In addition, for me personally it’s given me great awareness of the current developments in the sector I study.”

channelcentral is a high growth company which is recruiting so we are delighted to be able to work with the University of Gloucestershire and support its students in this way. Graham Smith, CIO of channelcentral, commented:

“As a senior management team we’re committed to identifying and developing great talent to drive our business forward, and has enjoyed great success with post-graduate and apprenticeship schemes. Motivated by the proximity of the University of Gloucestershire’s very well-regarded Computing and Technology faculty, we approached the University with a proposal to create and support two 12-month Undergraduate placements for second-year Computer Science students.

The University proved an excellent partner, supporting us and their Student applicants through the process. We were very impressed with the quality of candidates – had we the scope and funding we would have been happy to offer placements to all four shortlisted applicants! We have high expectations of two students that we have selected for 2015/16, and look forward to seeing their skills and confidence grow over the year. I’d like to wish them all success in their time with us and for their future careers.”

Undergraduate placements also bring many benefits to the University. Simon Dove, Head of Placements at the University of Gloucestershire shared his thoughts:

“We are delighted to work with channelcentral this year on their placement programme and I am really pleased that they have selected our students and offer such a comprehensive support package.

At the University of Gloucestershire the School of Computing and Technology have been strong advocates of the 12 month placement scheme for undergraduates for many years and over the years we have seen a large number of students who have successfully completed their placement move onto excellent graduate roles or set up their own businesses. The impact of placement is really significant for both the employers and for the student.

For employers recruiting students this provides the opportunity to select and nurture talent into their organisations with the possibility of identifying talented graduates in the longer term.

For students the opportunity to work on live projects, to real deadlines usually within project teams has a significant impact on the technical and personal skills development. By the final year we see a significant enhancement in student’s confidence in their own abilities, drive and determination as well as increased commercial awareness and well-developed technical skills.”

To keep up to date with the latest news on our Undergraduate Programme or to look for career opportunities with channelcentral visit the Careers page on our website.