Do an internship

The Pledge aims to encourage firms to offer internships and advertise them (for free) on government website the Graduate Talent Pool.

The idea is to create work placements of varying lengths of time for unemployed graduates. The employer can pay your expenses only or, in many cases, a full salary, and in the first couple of months you can continue claiming unemployment benefit. It’s not as good as a permanent job, but it could give you valuable work experience that will help getting one later or you might even eventually be taken on by your internship provider.

This has happened at John Rowan & Partners, the consultant that launched The Pledge. Manager partner Stephen Gee says an internship can act as an “extended job interview”. His current intern QS Kingston University graduate Matt Stafford hopes to be offered a full-time role at the end of his three–month placement. But even if this doesn’t happen, he says the experience he’s gained has “really boosted my confidence”.

Why not visit Graduate Talent Pool and see if any of the internships on offer appeal.