Partner Article

Graduate hotseat: working for MyMoneyPA.com

It’s Graduate Week on Bdaily, and we want to take a closer look at the relationship between SMEs and graduates. We spoke to Dominic Harriott-Thompson, a graduate who has joined SME, MyMoneyPA.com.

1. How visible are SMEs to graduates who are looking for work? Do you think it iseasy to investigate and educate yourself about SMEs, or do the bigger corporategrad schemes crowd out these opportunities?

Unfortunately, I think a lot needs to be done to increase SME exposure to graduates.There is an inherent expectation, perhaps even arrogance, from larger universities that graduates will go straight into these corporate grad schemes. With this expectation, inevitably, we tend to focus our attention on those firms and ignoreother opportunities. I think if there was more publicity about graduate opportunities with SMEs it would generate a great deal of interest. Not only are you likely to be more hands-on, but it can enable you to put more of what you learnt at university into practice.

2. How did you get into the position you currently have?

I found the position through the Graduate Apprentices scheme being run through Newcastle University, where I graduated with a 1st in Marketing and Managementthis summer. The scheme aims to improve SME performance by providing them with recent university graduates from all disciplines on a 12 week, paid placement. With it still in its infancy, it was not publicised as well as it could have been, and had I not manually searched for roles on the university careers site, I wouldn’t have known it existed!

3. What do you think you have brought to the table in this position?

A different perspective on marketing. With MyMoneyPA being a completely online service, I think I have been able to bring a sound understanding of social media andonline marketing practices brought about not only through my university studies butalso through personal use.

MyMoneyPA’s strong consumer first focus and emphasis on the ethical responsibility businesses have has enabled me to buy into the business vision straight away. Paydaylenders have adversely affected friends of mine at university; this is therefore anissue I have strong feelings about. With MyMoneyPA being vehemently opposed tosuch firms, I intend to reflect this shared passion in my work for the firm.

4. What attracted you to working in a small business?

I was most attracted by the prospect of seeing the bigger picture of a business.Having heard friends’ accounts of working on grad schemes with bigger firms,several remarked on how they were placed in a particular area of the firm and that’s where they built their expertise; they did not, however, develop the more rounded knowledge of a business that I’m hoping to achieve. Although my primary area of work at the moment is in marketing, I am exposed to other business functions, giving me a far greater understanding of the business as whole.

5. How do you think graduates can benefit SMEs?

Just a different view on things. Coming straight from university, a lot of what waslearned on a degree course is still fresh in the memory; if harnessed correctly, this should deliver a marriage between the theory learned by the graduate and the experiential knowledge acquired by those already working in SMEs. For graduates looking to working in an SME as a stepping stone for larger firms, it can certainly provide them with invaluable experience that competing candidates maynot be able to match. Conversely, for those looking to stay with SMEs, it could offera much quicker route to the top of a business than would be likely at a much larger organisation.

Remember to check out our graduate week articles: If you want to see more articles from Graduate Week, take a look at these links: Clegg makes a visit to a Teesside graduate business; Bringing graduates into a small business; Don’t play job market odds, change the game; Graduate X: The truth behind the graduate scheme; Mike Hill talks graduate careers; Having a graduate on board; and Bdaily speaks to CIHE chief David Docherty.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .