Byw A Bod Digidol

What was the result of the project?

Businesses were invited to participate through an open call process.  The Open call encouraged interest from 7 Growth businesses, that were then matched with 9 high calibre candidates studying STEM subjects, to take part in the 10-week pilot.

Students were encouraged to apply following an advert placed on lleol.net and the link was widely shared on social media, within local colleges, and universities pan wales.

The recruitment of both businesses and students took place during April 2017 with the starting date of placements to commence on the 26th June. 
Life Experience – The students participated in several activities, to show how great, the area is to live in.  These activities included a walk-up Snowdon, Paddle boarding at Llanddwyn, and Farming.

Work Experience - They also worked with their employers, to identify the recruitment opportunities that they envisaged over the next 5 years, what opportunities the areas would be welcoming, what the employers were looking for when recruiting, and what skills they were looking for when recruiting. 
Group Work – Arloesi appointed Geraint Hughes as a mentor for the group throughout the 10 weeks.  The group met every Monday afternoon, to share their experiences and plan for the closing event.   The challenge set to the groups was

"ICT Companies in Gwynedd and on Anglesey are finding it hard to recruiting local skills, Young people with ITC qualifications claim that there are little or no opportunities in Gwynedd and Anglesey.  How can both be better aware of each other?"

Information Sharing and Promotion

• An information sharing event was arranged and held at Bangor University’s new arts and Innovation Centre, Pontio on September 1st between 10am and 1pm. 
• The event was facilitated by the group, and they had the opportunities to share their experiences and lessons learnt with other businesses and organisations in the locality.
• The event bright link saw 60 register / With 46 attendees signing in on the day.
• The event was steamed live on AM and AGW FB. 
• Social Media followed the stories of the individuals throughout the 10-week placement
• Several short films were also created to raise the profile and convey the message.
• The project was also promoted via PRs in local newspapers and vlogs.

What worked well?

• 2 full time positions were created as a direct result of the project.  One of the students based there accepted but the other secured an apprenticeship with Horizon therefore the 2nd job was recruited externally. 
• 1 student secured a full-time position as an engineer at Denis Ferranti in Bangor. 
• The number of responses in terms of follows, likes, and shares on social media 
• The promotion of Anglesey and Gwynedd being an attractive place to live and work.
• The networks and contacts the students gained over the 10 weeks
• Frequency of videos shared
• The mentoring the students received over the 10 weeks.
• The link between the growth sector and students was made stronger. 
• Directory of growth businesses created and showed that potentially between them a possible 25 high paid jobs could be created in Gwynedd and Anglesey over the next 5 years.  

Lessons Learned

• Too much focus on the ICT sector when Growth Sectors in general found the same issues when it came to recruitment.
• The opportunity for the digital group and the performing group to work together during the 10 weeks. 
• Businesses meeting together and with the group