Surrey Research Park micro-job pilot delivers new work experience opportunities for University of Surrey students

With the cost of doing business in the UK soaring, hosting work placements can be challenging for some companies to justify, especially alongside other cost-saving measures.

However, real-world experience is critical; it can mean the difference between landing an interview or receiving a rejection.

This is why last month Surrey Research Park’s Engagement and Communications Team partnered with Surrey startup We Job Box to pilot an exciting new micro-job placement initiative at the Park, specifically to support students from under-represented communities and disadvantaged backgrounds to get experience of work at an SME.

This new model for placements was designed to strip out many of the obstacles associated with traditional internship programmes for businesses, helping to deliver greater value for all participants.

As a result of the pilot programme, 27 University of Surrey students – from a broad range of disciplines, ranging from Engineering to Psychology – were given opportunities to deliver real-world projects for nine Park-based SMEs.

Significantly, when surveyed all participating companies said they would be definitely or likely interested in participating in future micro-job programmes, paving the way for the pilot to be scaled up in the future.

As part of the micro-job approach, Park businesses had an opportunity be supported by an intern for three days to deliver a digital business project. However, unlike traditional placements this programme, which was a collaboration between Surrey Research Park and the Employability and Skills Team, drew on insights about and relationships with companies at the Park to deliver a bespoke, business-facing approach that met companies’ needs and contributed to the student experience.

Along with removing the biggest cost and resourcing barriers for SMEs, the micro-job initiative gave students the chance to experience both remote and office working practices.

Over the three days, participating students used a temporary co-working space in our flagship Surrey Technology Centre. This gave students and company representatives a private and neutral space to meet and work, removing the need for students to access company premises.

Students were also assisted throughout by We Job Box representatives, who remained in the co-working space throughout and provided IT hardware. This eliminated the need for students to access companies’ IT systems, further reducing risks and costs and making the time commitment more manageable for smaller companies to participate.

Occupational Health Assessment Ltd was one Park company to participate and received support from two students to review and refresh the company’s visual brand and development help with technical literature.

Claire McCusker from the company said: “Both students were very engaged, were very keen to support and were proactive… I viewed this as an opportunity for students to experience a work environment. I was pleased to be part of the programme as they were clearly bright, intelligent students looking to take advantage of opportunities to expand their skills.”

Caroline Fleming, Director of Surrey Innovation District ecosystem and innovation lead at Surrey Research Park, said:

“Demonstrating you have real-world work experience is essential to landing a job. We know many companies would like to offer placements to students to expand their talent pipelines, but the traditional placement model doesn’t work for all. This pilot gave us an opportunity to explore alternatives that could help more of the Park’s SMEs to get involved.

“Based on the feedback we’ve had, the micro-job model we’ve developed for Surrey in partnership with We Job Box creates an exciting opportunity for the Park to contribute to Surrey’s student experience, especially those who may not have the same opportunities as their peers, and for companies at the Park and potentially across the wider Surrey Innovation District, to connect with and realise the value of the top talent on their doorstep.”