The FaceFacts Intern Chronicles | Dogs doing market research?

10:00am After brewing the day's first, and by no means the last, cup of coffee, I was assigned my first capsule project: researching opportunities to promote the Face Facts Grad School.

The Grad School was set up to address the needs of various groups:

• graduates struggling to find jobs due to lack of work experience
• undergraduates looking for on-the-side learning within the real working world
• anyone curious about working in market research

After talking to my fellow interns at the FF HQ, along with other recent grads during my time in University, it would seem that many students often don't realise the importance of work experience until they've graduated. While we can debate over whether a Masters degree gives students 'an edge' to secure a guaranteed high-ranking job straight out the bat (and I am not suggesting this will always be a bum deal for all graduates) many employer testimonials would contest that, at the end of the day, work experience is the name of the game. And to add further fodder to the fire, a recent careers talk I attended presented a series of scary statistics indicating how a staggering 2/3rds of employers wouldn't even consider hiring someone without any prior work experience.

However, an extra proponent must be stressed and that is relevant work experience. Having been part of the legions of students that have fallen into the glamourous lure of part-time bar work, the applicable skills that can be gained are limited; plus the working conditions aren't worth the minimum wage. Let's be real. No matter how you look at it, earning 6 pounds an hour as a degree holder is just pitiful. Sure, regular pay may seem like the more attractive route in the present, but wouldn't it be more worthwhile investing in practical skills to land a better job for the future?

This is the premise for the Grad School.

So the question I'm faced with is this: how do you market a training program to students?

• Viral videos have proven to be an effective marketing technique when it comes to capturing the fickle attention spans of our millennial generation. Running on this, one of my fellow interns comes up with the motherlode of grand concepts. Dogs doing market research was one. Quite brilliant in its simplicity but obviously suffers from issues of practicality. Still, such out-of-the-box thinking emphasizes how fresh ideas are what's needed to reach this demographic.
• Narrow down the scope and focus on those who are most likely to have an interest in the following: 
• 1) Work Experience: A LinkedIn group was set up to share employment tips and opportunities with graduates. The aim was not to hound them with promotional messages but to simply leave the FF Grad School in their line of sight.
• 2) Working in Market Research
• 3) Doing something productive over the term break: While Leeds is a ghost town during the holidays, some International students don't have the luxury nor, in a lot of cases, the choice to return back home.
• Stress the part-time option. Most people are caught up with their campus lives and feel as if they can't possibly juggle their work load with other commitments. However, that is the wrong approach to take when looking at the Grad school. Rather than seeing it as a separate entity, it should be regarded like an extra course module, that's both free and doesn't require any assessment. It's a learning opportunity that has the added benefit of adding something tangible to that all important CV.

This is just me throwing some thoughts out there, but over the next few weeks I'm on a mission to scour the web for groups and avenues where the Grad School can be placed so that it's value can be recognized.