I told you we had trouble recruiting enough decent graduates...

[philmophlegm]

The latest plan is to pay their university tuition fees and their accommodation costs while at university.

Quite an offer. Hopefully it will be expanded to other offices after the first year.

My only concern (and it's a big one) is that it will narrow the skills possessed by JOLF employees because most of them will do the same degree course (in Accountancy).

http://rd.kpmg.co.uk/24661.htm

Comments

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

That is impressive.

[clarienne.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's a pretty impressive offer.

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

Hmm, sounds a bit like something the Army did (and may still do), whereby a friend's cousin got her law degree and then was supposed to join up and yet somehow managed not to.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

I thought they still did that.

Also, I think my Great Uncle Cliff, formerly of Merton College, Oxford and at one time the youngest captain in the British Army, was in that scheme (or something like it).

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

They do. My nephew is hoping they still do it in five years' time, when he turns eighteen.

ETA: Although in his case it's the RAF.

[sigisgrim.livejournal.com]

That sounds a really good scheme for both KPMG and the students, and good for the university too. There seem to be some similarities to apprenticeships and sandwich courses. I think I agree with you over your (big) concern; though there should be no reason why the scheme shouldn't be expanded in the future to involve other universities and other degree courses.

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

The plan is certainly to involve 'leading universities' but I haven't heard anything about widening the study. Since the offer involves two years of paid accountancy training after university, it would have to be a relevant (i.e. accountancy) degree - the normal training contract for graduates is three years. But I agree that there should in theory be nothing to stop an expansion of the scheme to other courses.

[chris-maslen.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a great scheme.

Can I sign up Polly now? :-)

[chainmailmaiden]

Seems like a sensible idea. Pretty much what Bacchus and I think businesses should be doing if they're going to insist on graduates rather than school leavers. So many jobs that require graduates really don't need them.