Many businesses partner with Entrepreneurial Scotland each year to help them bring the best talent from Scottish universities into their organisation
Time and time again, Host companies find that hosting a Scholar offers real benefits to their organisation, including:
At Entrepreneurial Scotland, we understand that for those who haven’t hosted a Scholar before it can sometimes be a challenge to understand the exact role a Saltire Scholar can play within your business.
Today, we’re joined by our Business Engagement Manager, Gillian McGill, to offer some insight into some of the key functions Saltire Scholars have performed for their Host businesses in recent years, with lasting impact.
One of the most requested skill sets that companies come to us for is digital marketing and social media support. For businesses that don’t have a full-time marketing function or agency support in place, a Saltire Scholar can help develop marketing strategies and use their digitally-focused mindset to suggest new tools and techniques — helping their host company meet their goals. Our Scholars have even helped support dedicated marketing projects such as website development, CRM set-up, and dedicated support to ensure projects hit key milestones and deadlines.
We hear time and time again from Hosts that using a Saltire Scholar in this capacity can offer cost benefits too — as engaging with an external marketing agency, even on a part time basis, can be expensive.
[Our Intern] not only completed it impeccably but did so with very little supervision… The Intranet project would not have been successful without her help. She not only saved me hours of time, she also set up lists and processes to help me further down the road
Across all industry sectors, Saltire Scholars can support data science and reporting to help you understand what your data means and what stories it tells within your organisation. A Scholar can help you build and manage a database or cleanse existing systems to help you uncover patterns and you to draw informed insights in a structured manner.
You can read more from our previous Saltire Scholar Eleanor here, as she shares her experience as a Performance Analyst at Network Rail in Glasgow.
Market research can be a costly exercise for both time and expense, and many of our previous Hosts haven’t had that skill set available in-house. Saltire Scholars can provide outstanding market research support, helping their Host companies assess opportunities like new income streams, products and markets.
We can help Host companies find a Scholar that can help with an in-depth market research piece or competitor analysis project — helping you scope out the challenges and opportunities, and assessing what it may take to make this a reality.
With the race to net zero and carbon neutrality on the agenda for many companies, we are increasingly helping Hosts access Scholar talent to help support their environmental and sustainability strategies.
Whether it’s market research and analysis, project management or environmental engineering — our dedicated talent team works closely with our Host partners to connect them with the right talent from our candidate pool, helping put more organisations on the right path for their environmental goals.
A common misconception is that we only offer Scholars from a managerial/ business background, but we have a huge candidate pool across all degree disciplines, skill sets and industries, such as life sciences, finance, social sciences, engineering, mathematics and arts. As a result, we can really partner with our Hosts to understand the skills they need in their business today.
One thing I encourage all new Hosts to consider is the wider benefits an entrepreneurially-minded Scholar with a fresh outlook can bring into their organisation, regardless of role. It’s a fantastic way for Hosts to fill their organisation's skills gaps by engaging with capable and committed individuals.
Both [Scholars] arrived and felt full of energy & enthusiasm. Across 200 partners our average age is 48 and these two young bright individuals stood out from day 1 and made a real positive impact. Lulu and Craig leave with glowing references from a wide range of partners who they interacted with. I think if we could afford it we would take 10 Interns next year. Such has been the level of enthusiasm around their impact!
If you want to welcome top entrepreneurial student talent from Scottish universities into your business this summer — find out more here: https://bit.ly/3xzJ3l6 or email Gillian McGill (gillian.mcgill@entrepreneurialscotland.com)
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