Three summer placement opportunities

Frances Rowan, the Careers Service's International Work Experience Co-ordinator has been busy finding 20-hour a week summer placements which would be suitable for international students. See below for details of three more such placements...

Scottish Training Foundation summer placements
For over 20 years the Scottish Training Foundation (STF) has been providing innovative employment and learning opportunities to help people in the West of Scotland reach their full potential.

STF is primarily involved in the delivery of training programmes to customers who are unemployed and looking for work. We have successfully secured contracts with Jobcentre Plus to provide New Deal programmes and with Scottish Enterprise to deliver Get Ready for Work. Through these contracts, STF also works in partnership with local businesses providing work experience for people of all ages.

Our commercial arm offers a payroll and billing service in addition to environmental and landscaping services. But it doesn't stop there. We are passionate about what we do and are constantly exploring and developing new ways to reach people who are experiencing significant disadvantages.

Please see our website for further information: http://www.stf2.co.uk/

Placement Opportunity 1 - Funding Research and Application Placement Opportunity
STF are looking for a Postgraduate with an interest in the voluntary sector and social enterprise to research possible funding sources for a several new projects that we are currently considering. These range from pilot projects within local schools in Ayrshire to new social enterprise ventures offering landscaping services and a site where we will grow plants and food for resale. In addition to identifying potential funders, the student will also be expected to complete funding applications. We are therefore looking for someone with good written communication skills who can prepare outline business cases and effectively state the expected outcomes resulting from each project. The successful candidate may also contribute to detailed business plans for these ventures.

The opportunity is for an unpaid summer placement of up to 20 hours a week. The student will be expected to attend the head office in Ardrossan one day week. Travelling expenses will be reimbursed.

Required Year of Study: You must be an International student (Non EEA excluding Romania and Bulgaria) studying and taught masters programme.

Required Degree Subject: Taught Postgraduate in a Business related discipline with a specific knowledge of creating business plans.


Person Specification:
The Scottish Training Foundation are looking for anyone who is passionate, forward thinking and committed to working on a project for the overall good of the charity.

In particular someone who has the following skills:

· Excellent written communication skills
· Good research skills
· The ability to effectively time manage their own work load.
· The ability to work as part of a team.
· The ability to comprehensively report current progress back to the team.
· Previous knowledge of developing Business Plans
· Possibly previous experience of writing funding applications.




Placement Opportunity 2 - IT Placement Opportunity
The Scottish Training Foundation are looking for a Postgraduate student to work on developing an Intranet site for use by all staff at our five locations in the West of Scotland. This site will enable the organisation to have better internal communication, share information and operate more effectively. We may also look for some improvement work to be undertaken on our organisation’s main website.

The opportunity is for an unpaid summer placement of up to 20 hours a week. The student will be expected to attend the head office in Ardrossan one day week. Travelling expenses will be reimbursed.

Required Year of Study: You must be an International student (Non EEA excluding Romania and Bulgaria) studying and taught masters programme.

Required Degree Subject: Taught Postgraduate in a Computing Science discipline.

Person Specification:
STF are looking for anyone who is passionate, forward thinking and committed to working on a project for the overall good of the charity.

In particular someone who has the following skills:

· The ability to effectively time manage their own work load.
· The ability to work as part of a team.
· The ability to comprehensively report current progress back to the team.
· Good problem solving skills
· Broad knowledge of systems and application development



Placement Opportunity 3 - Marketing Placement Opportunity
STF are looking for a Postgraduate student to produce detailed marketing plans for the promotion of our payroll and landscaping services. If time allows we would also like the student to provide input into the marketing strategy of the organisation as a whole. We have very unique marketing base covering a wide variety of client needs. The Scottish Training Foundation engages with clients aged 16-65 looking to access a range of skills. We also interact with businesses across the West of Scotland who engage in the provision of work based support to meet their recruitment needs. We are looking for someone who can understand our services and successfully brand them to create relevant marketing tools.

The opportunity is for an unpaid summer placement of up to 20 hours a week. The student will be expected to attend the head office in Ardrossan one day week. Travelling expenses will be reimbursed.

Required Year of Study: You must be an International student (Non EEA excluding Romania and Bulgaria) studying and taught masters programme.

Required Degree Subject: Taught Postgraduate in a Business related discipline with a specific knowledge of marketing.

Person Specification:
The Scottish Training Foundation are looking for anyone who is passionate, forward thinking and committed to working on a project for the overall good of the charity.

In particular someone who has the following skills:

· The ability to effectively time manage their own work load.
· The ability to work as part of a team.
· The ability to comprehensively report current progress back to the team.
· The ability to think creatively
· Knowledge and experience of creating marketing plans
· Good written communication skills
· Knowledge and experience of different marketing methods
· Experience of writing a marketing strategy.


To apply:
If you are interested in applying for any of these placements with The Scottish Training Foundation:
Please request an application form from Frances.Rowan@admin.gla.ac.uk .
Please ensure that you indicate which placement you are interested in by marking The Scottish Training Foundation – Business Plan Placement at the top of your application.

The closing date for the receipt of applications is 12 noon on Friday 1st May 2009. Late applications will not be considered.