Kathleen Edie
Kathleen Edie, Blue Ventures
Blue Ventures researches marine expeditions to promote tropical areas.
There are 6 UK based employees and 20-30 employees based worldwide. Blue Ventures has previously taken on work placement staff in terms of a Science Intern. They decided to take on a Future Jobs Fund employee due to needing a junior member of staff.
They have found the process with the Future Jobs Fund quick and helpful. They had qualified candidates referred to them and the timing of the scheme suited them well.
The job role created at Blue Ventures was for an Expeditions Assistant. This job was given to Priya Patel due to her being a very good match for the specific role. Priya has so far progressed well in her role.
Kathleen Edie of Blue Ventures believes that this job role is going to help the business expand into Central America and will increase the impact in North America.
Blue Ventures are highly impressed with the Future Jobs Fund scheme. They believe they have found a great young person who fits in well to their company.
"Blue Ventures experience with Striding Out and the Future Jobs Fund has been very positive. Striding Out quickly found us a qualified and enthusiastic candidate who has already made a positive impact on our business. The process was straight forward and we could start the placement straight away, which was what our business needed at the time. We hope we can give a varied and valuable experience to Priya and give her a good start in this competitive industry."
Priya Patel is a 23 year old Expeditions Assistant for Blue Ventures.
She has a BA in Geography as well as a Post-Graduate qualification. Priya’s ideal job would be in Environmental Consulting.
Priya found it difficult to find graduate entry jobs when job seeking. She found that the one that do exist are highly competitive. Also, her lack of work experience highly affected her ability to find a job.
She decided to take up the position at Blue Ventures as the 6 month contract works well for her and the area is relative to what she is interested in. Priya’s job role entails assisting the Expeditions Coordinator with day to day running of the office and also with larger long term projects.
Priya hopes to learn how to use various computer software programmes and gain additional IT skills during her time at Blue Ventures.
Her job is going great, and she is learning lots at a good pace. Priya says that the people are lovely. There is an extremely small team and fairly informal office environment. Her colleagues are really helpful and friendly.
“I was looking for a job in vain for 6 months. As a recent graduate I was feeling pretty low but then I was advised by my job adviser to look through Future Jobs Fund. A couple of days later I had my first interview with a coach from Future Jobs Fund and less than a week later I was employed! They took on board everything I had told them about what I wanted to do career-wise and directed me to the most relative jobs I could never have found by myself - I'm just gutted I didn't know about them sooner!”
About the Future Jobs Fund
The Future Jobs Fund provides employers with a grant to employ an unemployed young person for a 6mth period.
FInd out more about the Future Jobs Fund Programme here
