At its heart we are an organisation for graduates, by graduates.

The Skills and Experience Exchange is an organisation -that is in the processes to become a charity- specialising in career furthering volunteer placements for university graduates. Without experience we graduates struggle to gain employment, however, paradoxically we cannot gain this experience because no one is giving us jobs, regardless of our skills. Graduates are caught in an impossible trend, forced into undertaking unpaid internships in order to gain this experience. In all working sectors graduates are seen as cheap or in some cases free labour and graduates take the jobs, despite their already existing debt, simply because they have no other choice.

The Skills and Experience Exchange puts graduates in career furthering placements in India rather than internships in the UK (i.e. they have a job title and will be given a lot of responsibility for the running of the organisation). The charity meets the short fall in the job market for graduates by making them stand out, giving them placements to gain work experience (that cost a fraction of the cost of doing an internship in the UK) and aiding them in their careers, through advice and training.

The placements consist of 4 days working in a place of work suited to their degree and work aspirations. On the 5th they have a day filled with seminars and training; e.g. CV improvements, interview skills, numeracy test help, careers advice, etc. We are also hosting webinars with business leaders back in the UK and some in India. There will be one on one workshops as well as group classes. We are also currently in talks with the careers advisors in a university to work for free to aid the candidates in their career choices and development processes. We offer graduates the opportunity to undertake teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) course at a reduced rate, to enhance their CV and confidence further prior to their placement.

We are brand new and still getting on our feet so if you could offer any help please do get in touch, it would be hugely welcomed.

For more information visit our webpage on what SEE is all about.

James Dunn is the founder of The Skills and Experience Exchange. He is also a recent graduate, an avid blogger and a freelance writer and photographer.

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