- The Marketing Academy, ITN, Capgemini, MediaCom, ZenithMedia, and Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen are amongst businesses agreeing to place all their work experience and internship opportunities on GoThinkBig.co.uk
- Initiative aims to bridge skills gap for 460,000 young people who haven’t been able to secure relevant work experience
- Move will create hundreds of work experience opportunities available to all and will join the almost 2,000 opportunities already on offer as a “gateway to employment” for young people
Eight leading UK and international companies have signed up to GoThinkBig.co.uk, the youth work experience and internship portal launched by O2 and Bauer Media in October 2012.
The companies, which include ITN, Capgemini, Viacom, ZenithMedia, Fifteen, ReedSmith, MediaCom and The Marketing Academy, have all agreed that they will place all future work experience and skills development opportunities on GoThinkBig.co.uk, making access open to anyone with an internet connection.
According to research by GoThinkBig, over 460,000 16-25 year olds say they have not been able to gain work experience relevant to the career path they want to follow. The biggest barrier to this is access to relevant opportunities – as over two thirds of businesses (69%) say they don’t formally publicise work experience opportunities.*
GoThinkBig.co.uk addresses this by making thousands of opportunities open to all young people, enabling them to access these opportunities through a single website – as well as providing information about how young people can best place themselves to succeed in securing them. The eight new partners will provide a variety of relevant opportunities including skills days, internships, apprenticeships, work placements, graduate entry schemes and full time employment posts.
Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, Head of GoThinkBig said:
“GoThinkBig exists to help support young people into the world of work – delivering relevant opportunities to gain experience and a foot in the door. Employers tell us that they will always look at experience first and foremost – so bridging the existing skills gap for the almost half a million young people who have yet to gain relevant skills is vital if we’re to address youth unemployment. We are thrilled that these businesses want to join the Go Think Big platform and hope that other companies will follow.”
The scheme was set up by O2 and Bauer Media in October 2012 with £5 million in funding and a commitment that the two businesses would make 30,000 experience and skills opportunities available to 14-25 year olds over its first three years.
In its first five months, GoThinkBig has already offered over 2,000 skills development and work experience opportunities from O2 and Bauer Media, the founding partners of the initiative. The eight new partners join Spotify, Channel 4 and Chime Communications which have also signed up to the scheme.
Ann Brown, Senior VP in Capgemini, said: “Capgemini can see the potential of the GoThinkBig aspiration to link young people with the world of employment. The site provides a creative environment in which to demonstrate the exciting entry career opportunities we have in the IT services sector.”
Robin Elias, Managing Editor of ITV News, said: “We’re always interested in bright young talent from backgrounds that are under-represented in our Newsroom. GoThinkBig is a dynamic organisation that helps put us in touch with this untapped resource.”
Carolyn E Pepper, Partner at Reed Smith, said: “Reed Smith will partner with GoThinkBig to help support and encourage young people in developing the skills that they need for the work place. All businesses need young talent, energy and creativity to grow. We want to help young people realise their potential.”
Georgia Arnold, SVP of Social Responsibility for VIMN said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Go Think Big around the recruitment for our Apprenticeship placements. They’re the perfect platform to help us reach the young people we’re trying to engage with for this initiative.”
Sherilyn Shackell, Founder of The Marketing Academy commented: “The Marketing Academy is going to be able to work with GoThinkBig to help inspire and develop young people, especially in the areas of marketing and leadership. We believe that the opportunities and support that GoThinkBig offers will make a huge impact on their future and careers.”
Vicky Wordie at ZenithOptimedia said: “ZenithOptimedia is always looking for new ways to offer opportunities to find diverse talent. Partnering with GoThinkBig allows us to increase awareness of the variety of opportunities this dynamic industry has to offer and give people the chance to gain valuable insight, and develop their skills in a top media agency.”
Karen Blackett, MediaCom CEO said: “Our recent work with apprentices and local schools has taught us that without the right connections, young people feel the Media industry can be hard to break into. As an agency that actively wants to recruit young talent with a fresh and diverse way of thinking, we jumped at the chance of being involved with GoThinkBig.”
