But what about the benefits to employers? Why should you – with all the day-to-day concerns of running your business as well as the many longer-term challenges you face – spend valuable time and resources on a student placement?

The answer is there are arguably just as many, if not more, benefits to you as an employer as there are for the student themselves.

Students bring with them fresh ideas and new perspectives. With the best will in the world, long-standing staff can settle into established ways of thinking and so having someone new asking questions you may not have thought of can bring a new energy to your workplace.

In many cases, hosting a student placement can also strengthen your existing workforce by offering them opportunities to work on their own management and communication skills. Being asked to mentor a student while on placement can empower someone and make them feel valued.

Thinking more widely, taking on a student can benefit your company’s reputation within your industry. What’s more, many companies make public commitments to being a part of their local community and so this can help them meet these objectives.

Many employers also see the benefits of placements to their future talent pipelines: taking a student allows you to mould the professionals of the future as you have the unique opportunity to impart skills and knowledge from which you will benefit further down the line.

If your student placement enjoys and benefits from their time with you as an employer, it stands to reason they will be far more likely to return a graduate and to spread the word about you as a potential destination.

Finally, taking on graduate placements has wider benefits to your industry, beyond just promoting your own company. When we consider the skills shortages facing many industries, it’s clear how important it is that we all collaborate in attracting the best and brightest talent – and graduate placements are a tried and test way of doing just that.

Director of Talent Acquisition, Global R&D and New Market Entry at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Tej Grewal, said:

Placements are an effective way for our business to nurture and create top talent which will be integral to our growth as we strive to serve the un-met needs of more patients all over the world.

Placements and other early talent schemes bring new ideas, fresh perspectives and new energy to our business and help us to address the biggest healthcare challenges that patients face now and in the future.

To find out more about taking on a graduate placement, click here