I’m reluctant to begin with another drawn out proclamation summarising the current state of affairs that plague the graduate job market, so how about a concise one instead.

Amidst a cloud of continued economic folly, unpaid internships and the shock horror of GCSEs grades falling for the first time in the exam’s 24-year history – one would assume the tough route is not to everyone’s taste. Unsurprisingly. Whichever side of the mobile political fence you pitch your tent, most would not argue that a healthy, competitive environment uncovers those most suitable for a career in their chosen field.

Countless articles dictate (or advise) which “buzz words” the ideal interviewee must utilise to impress, whilst evenings are elongated by carefully considered multiple-choice personality test answers. I find the importance of a candidate’s life-attitude and ambitions is often lost in the panic of being represented in the “perfect” light. Everyone is eventually bracketed into one jumbled mess. Granted this is by no means the sole fault of the employer, but a circumstance that has arisen from political and social failings over the past years.

I believe it is actually in the hands of the modern graduate to alter this saturated work environment. Take every opportunity to further yourself through being pro-active, and fervently express that desire and ambition to anyone you converse with. Much success I have so far had in my admittedly restricted career has occurred through such discussion. I am currently writing this from WEXO towers due to Robin and I connecting on musical ambition and his intrigue in how I have structured the next year for myself (naturally open to change). Another interview turned into an expressive and fruitful debate, which led to me receiving a number of useful contacts, and advise, despite not wanting to fully commit to the particular career path.

Hindsight is a wonderfully tortuous thing

I am a great believer in the notion of not beating around the bush – being direct with someone always goes a long way. On the back of that I am a 23 year-old graduate from the University of Leeds with a First in World & Popular Music. I often struggle when conjuring the drive within myself to proceed; yet I do not feel I lack ambition and my passion for Southeast Asian culture is leading me closer and closer to a move to Cambodia in order to pursue my love of journalism, music and social development. Hindsight is a wonderfully tortuous thing, thus I cannot stress enough the importance of expressing a genuine interest in your career choice and never being caught up in gaining ‘required’ experience for experience’s sake.

One anecdote I would like to conclude this blog with is how I came about my internship at Songlines music magazine, and why it is a prime example of what I have so far stated.

Songlines, Glastonbury & Persistence

I had interviewed the Cambodian-American group Dengue Fever over Skype for my dissertation in early 2011, and naturally decided to go and meet them at Glastonbury that year in the Songlines tent (West Holts stage). One thing led to another and with a beer in hand I got talking to the publisher of the magazine about who I was and why an internship at the magazine would be a fantastic opportunity.

Left at that, I went on a rather extended post-graduation holiday and returned in September to get stuck into the rest of my life. I was then based in Somerset, and emails to the magazine fell largely on disinterested eyes to my great disappointment. Unaware of the unstoppable flood of emails magazines have to deal with at the time, yet determined that this magazine was the perfect environment for me and a reason to move back to London, I decided to get archaic and send a letter. Behold! Two days and a phone call later and I was on my way to London to meet the assistant editor. I was explicitly told that this was the best move I could have ever made and immediately demonstrated my pro-active nature that is so desired within the media industry.

Networking

Nine months later and I continue to reap the rewards from the placement. Networking is a terribly over-used term, but still means so much in this industry. Expressing your related interests or perhaps even more importantly convincing someone of something new is your ticket to another opportunity. I continue to work at festivals, gigs, artist signings and events where I am able to connect with members of the public and music press. Nothing is more invigorating than going into work everyday to something you enjoy. Through working at Songlines and the opportunities that have occurred since (record labels and artist management), I have become very apt with InDesign, Photoshop, CRM/SEO management, website and social media development – none of this I would have forced myself to learn at home alone over such a short period of time. From a music perspective, the amount of new musical treats I have been introduced to is already uncountable.

I have not said anything that could be classed as a euphoric and game-changing statement, perhaps this blog even verges on common sense, but the opportunities do exist. Granted necessity dictates and money does not allow everyone to do exactly what one desires at that specific time, but this should not ever hinder ambition.

Ed Craggs

Summer finally seems to be taking shape, Europe’s on holiday, the Olympics having kicked off and we sense finding a vocation has taken a back seat for some. And why not? Britain’s festival season is in full swing… And with this in mind, we’d like to congratulate Emma who won the latest WEXO Competition on Facebook for 2 tickets to Bestival. We look forward to seeing you there Emma. Lets hope the weather Gods are kinder this time and that Bestivalarians of 2012 don’t get a repeat of The Isle of Wight fest back in June, when the heavens opened, unleashing a month’s worth of rain in the space of 24 hours.

We asked 2 WEXO hires on the music sync team at Platinum Rye Entertainment (whose offices we share) what the 4 best festivals coming up are. With Latitude, Field Day, The Secret Garden Party and Hideout having already been, they suggested the following:

End of the Road (31st August – 2nd September, 2012)
The Independent described it as, “Simply one of the most magical, inspiring and intimate festivals of the summer” and we couldn’t agree more! Started in 2006, the organisers’ aim is to “organise an intimate festival with our favourite artists, and with a friendly and relaxed feel”. They only book artists they personally like, which makes the line-up on offer far more interesting than many other festivals. The favourite bands of ours on the line-up are Midlake, First Aid Kit, Anna Calvi, Beachhouse and Alt J.

Wilderness (10th – 12th August 2012)
Seven years in the making, Wilderness is the brainchild of the people behind Secret Garden Party and Lovebox. Set in the ancient parkland of the Cornbury Estate, it has something of the feel of a pint-sized Latitude, without the endless queues and hordes of teenagers. And finally, we can’t mention Wilderness without talking about the wood fired hot tubs. Enough said? We thought so.

Standon Calling (3rd – 5th August, 2012)
The independent music festival slash themed summer party, Standon Calling, returns to the grounds of a 16th Century Hertfordshire manor house and promises a unique chance to see some hotly tipped acts, in an intimate festival setting. This year is promising a different format to the weekend. Whatever is it, we know it’s going to be good. We also understand that it’s the only UK festival with a swimming pool!

Bestival (6th – 9th September, 2012)
With Glastonbury taking a sabbatical, the main event on everyone’s festival calendar is Bestival and with it’s eclectic line up including New Order, the xx, Azealia Banks and Stevie Wonder, we can’t say we’re surprised! The festival has since grown steadily year-on-year and it’s now reached its current capacity of 50,000! The double economic dip has seen some popular festivals struggle to draw in the crowds this season but Bestival’s A-class offering has succeeded in attracting it’s enthusiastic audience, as keen as ever to be a part of it. If you’re going to go to one festival this summer, make it this one. We’ll be there with Mano de Dios (who Robin manages) and we look forward to seeing Emma and anyone else who’s going on location.

Blog courtesy of Charlotte at The Eleven

I had previously been working in an office job in Slough and was looking for a new challenge. I wanted a role which involved lots of interaction with different people and allowed me to move about rather than being stuck in an office all day. My friend saw the Olympics DVLM role on the WEXO website and advised this would be right up my street. I have currently only been in the role for 2 weeks but have already had some great experiences.

I am based in the Olympic village in Stratford which is currently still a building site as the village looks to be completed in early April. However the buildings are already erected and thus the site already looks very impressive. Finishing touches are being put on the surrounding land as trees are installed and rooms are being furnished and decorated. It is a refreshing change to travel into Stratford everyday, an area completely rejuvenated by the Olympics, soaking up the atmosphere of Westfield and the buzz of the Olympic spirit at the athletes’ village. This is enough to get me motivated for work every day on its own!

The role itself has currently involved overseeing operations of the site. The main challenge of this so far has been to motivate and gain the respect of workers who are the same age as me or older and more experienced. I have found the best way to do this is to lead by example and muck in, as well as showing them respect by asking them for the best advice on how to complete a task.

The UPS Olympics team is based in Canary Wharf and I have also had the chance to visit the offices here and partake in training. The highlight of this was the staff meeting held recently. This was a chance to meet really important people responsible at the highest level for logistics at the Olympics. Even though many people are employed by different companies, there is a real sense of one team spirit as everyone is excited to pull together and deliver the best Olympics possible for London! Everyone is really down to earth and a lot of fun, interested in you and your story, no matter how high a level they operate at! We all went out afterwards around Canary Wharf for a couple of drinks and to exchange stories.

I envisage my role evolving a lot in the coming months as the building on the site is completed and athletes start to arrive, which is really exciting as I am not sure what challenges and surprises will be around the corner. However it is great to know that whatever happens there is a whole team of people behind me willing to help any way they can!

Matthew Hill

After graduating from Newcastle University in the summer, I was unsure of what route to go down. After a few months of job hunting, where unimaginative and mundane jobs appeared to be my only option and numerous rejections were coming my way, I was starting to lose motivation and feel very disheartened. Thankfully I came across Wexo and I was immediately attracted to the fact that the internships they offered were with small, unique and quirky companies. These are the type I aspire to but are often overlooked when huge graduate schemes are thrown at you. Wexo really tried to get at insight into my strengths and preferences in order to focus on what I would be most suited to, so that I would end up doing something I really enjoyed. Unlike many other recruitment companies they really care and focus on you, giving you a lot of time and thought.

Wexo found me a month long internship in travel PR working at a small, exciting and unconventional company called Wedge and Wildlife. As I was living in Oxfordshire at the time, I was able to work from home, allowing me to save money. I spent my time writing spiels for their website about a number of locations across Africa. I had around 30 locations to describe, consisting of beach, safari, wine land, battlefield and fly/drive trips. Not only did this allow me to dream about going to incredible five star lodges, but also improved my writing, vocabulary, research skills and allowed me to get an idea of what a job in travel PR would be like. It also improved my time management and organisational skills and gave me more experience at working to a deadline. Originally I had never considered working in travel PR; however the internship helped me realise that it is something to think seriously about. I could not have enjoyed the internship more and my time there would not have been possible without Wexo!

Chekkie

WEXO placements using the STEP schemes don’t just work for people who are entering the working world. Andy Stafford had already worked in the music industry and decided to go back to university. His account here shows how someone with significant experience managed to finance an internship that then turned into a full time role:

“After working at an independent record label for two years I decided to take a short hiatus from the music industry to complete my post-graduate studies. Initially I was apprehensive about the prospect leaving paid work to re-enter academia but thanks to WEXO I can safely say it was a decision that’s paid off. Upon completing my course WEXO helped me fit back into the music business seamlessly. I was lucky enough to be given a role within the music division of Platinum Rye Entertainment, a company that facilitates music licencing as well as sourcing tracks for use in TV, Radio and Online advertising. It is an arena that I’ve always wanted a role in, where my duties include providing music searches, negotiating music licences and liaising with advertising producers and creatives.

After my internship period ended I am very pleased to say that I am now a full time member of staff at Platinum Rye Entertainment.

Thank you WEXO.”

The world of premium spirits is a vast, hissing and simmering cauldron of flavour. Every drink aims to push the boundaries on the senses, to breach the comforting brackets of familiarity – transforming that sip of gin into synaesthesia, where taste, smell and the feel of liquid on the tongue are each carefully crafted components of an overall EXPERIENCE. Hundreds of Pop-up drink fairs and conventions are erected across the country – thousands across the globe – to compare, contrast and blend new experiences from around the world. The company I would work with for three months straight after I left University was a drinks company, but their product was non-alcoholic. It was a mixer – something to blend these weird and wonderful flavours with. The twist: they were all-natural mixers, with an ethos hell-bent on exposing and toppling a tonic market saturated with artificially sweetened, flavoured and branded products.

My internship began with a tip-off from WEXO’s Robin who notified me that a new, exciting opportunity had appeared and that it may be of interest to me. After having a quick look over the internship details, I decided that this was exactly the something that I had been looking for –the chance to try something new.,to throw myself into an area that I was interested in, but knew little about and to dabble in something that would seriously benefit my critically experience-malnourished CV…

After an interview and a weekend excursion to the unfamiliar realm of London, I was called by Tom – Fever-Tree’s Sales Manager – who alerted me that I had been accepted and my internship would begin immediately. I was to be working with him in what the drinks industry refers to as the ‘On-Trade’, meaning individual or collective premises that worked outside of main grocery channels, such as bars, pubs, clubs and hotels. I would be visiting these venues alone, garnering specific information on each ‘account’, gathering feedback and finding out the best ways in which the product could grow in conjunction with the account’s consumer-base, geographical region and, if applicable, its group.

An ‘account’, I soon learned, very rarely existed as an individually licensed, autonomous entity. A pub would tend to belong to a ‘group’ or even a large, multinational brewer. My three months, Tom announced, would predominantly consist of travelling to and visiting a colossal amount of groups and businesses, while he constantly assessed me. The path to Sales-Mecca would, I soon learned, consist of episodic, enriching periods of guidance and confidence-nurturing from my mentor, but more often than not would involve hurling me repeatedly into volatile situations and watching how I dealt with it, possibly with a very small morsel of sadistic satisfaction.

Although horrifically nerve-wracking during the first few weeks this method allowed me to develop a certain skill-set desperately necessary in a Sales role: thinking on your toes and making the most of the resources available to you. It was initially a terrifying experience; I’d be walking into a pub or restaurant, asking for the bar manager above the hubbub (this would instantly turn a few heads in my direction – the man feeding his dog cold chips at the table closest would look up and grimace at me as I stood there shivering in my salesperson shirt and chinos), waiting a good five minutes whilst sweat began to ooze out of my hands and armpits until they came over and grasped my clammy palm, ready hear my delivery. “Hello!”, I would say, “I’m Will from Fever-Tree”. That was my planned opening, the rest would hopefully follow.

Yet grudgingly I began to revel in this method of learning and within two weeks I was allowed to set out alone “in the field” with a suitcase full of products, botanicals and a Salesman swagger. Within three weeks I was comfortably “cold-calling” – the method of entering an alien premises, attempting with your Fever-Tree chat and a favourable spread of the product in an ancient cocktail magazine to strum the apathetic strings of the Manager’s heart until Tonic-induced ecstasy is splayed upon his business plan. All this while trying to retain that rehearsed, comforting and assuring, “I’m-totally-in-charge-look-into-my-dark-confident-pupils”, rock-steady, if a tad unnerving, Sales-stare. Tom, my boss, did it on cue. He’d walk proudly into premises and come out the same upbeat, down to earth fellow as if all he had received inside was a gut-warming pat on the back. Inside the pub or restaurant his demeanour would quickly change and a clearly researched and idealistic figure emerged, at once comforting the client and finding ways to push buttons and tap into an interest he or she didn’t realise they had in a product they’d never heard about. It took me a few months of repeatedly cold-calling venues to really get the gist of it.

Sales is all about communication. Once you have this fundamental nailed down, skills can be embedded and your persona can be polished. What I took away from Fever-Tree was a confidence I know I wouldn’t have developed unless I had been thrown headfirst into the deep-end, and I desperately urge anyone who hasn’t to do so immediately. In the end I chose not to continue on at my internship because it was ultimately an area of expertise that wasn’t me. That said, it has genuinely been one of the most fulfilling, eye-opening and fun experiences that I have ever had. I would recommend the company to anyone who genuinely has a passion for the drinks industry and communicating to the ocan of people within it. The people were immense, and I’d like to thank everyone at Fever-Tree for the chance to work at one of the most professional and inspiring workplaces in the UK. In particular I’d like to thank Tom Armstrong who was a genuine mentor to me, who I looked up to a great deal and who made the experience just that bit more special. I also learned a lot I’m sure!

William Martin

After graduating from Durham, I was set on finding a small, fast-paced company to work for, and one which would provide me with some valuable hands-on business experience. WEXO provided the perfect platform from which to search for appropriate vacancies and, after registering my details on the website and subsequently organising an interview with the WEXO boss, I was soon put in contact with Alibi Drink who were advertising an eight week sales internship.

Alibi Drink, a small ‘PRETOX’ functional health drinks company based in Notting Hill, was looking to take on four interns in order to help grow the brand’s presence in convenience stores, cafes, and delis in London. Each intern was delegated a quarter of London and, right from day one, was responsible for opening, merchandising and managing as many accounts in the capital as possible. The internship provided invaluable field sales experience and a quantifiable business development opportunity. It also provided one of the interns, potentially, with a full-time position on the back of the internship, which I was fortunate enough to secure at the beginning of October.

Alibi is a hugely exciting company to work for and one which is growing rapidly within the FMCG industry. The team behind it are all young, fun, and determined to make the Alibi brand succeed internationally. I was also lucky enough to be invited on the company weekend away in Paris just before I started which was simply incredible yet somewhat mired my productivity on the first Monday morning back in the office! Being such a small business I have been given a lot of responsibility already. My job now entails opening and managing accounts with food-on-the-go outlets and health stores across the UK whilst also managing the sales interns who are in control of all convenience store and cafe/deli accounts in London.

I am so fortunate to have been pushed in Alibi’s direction by WEXO and cannot think of a better place to learn how small businesses operate and the hurdles they face when expanding.

Archie Vey

By Tom Clark

I never know what to expect of our evenings. Last night’s talks with WEXO about “Recipes for Success” were no exception: four passionate professionals from different corners of the food world gathered in a Palladian church by Centre Point, on the first true autumn evening of the year.

Marco Pierre White, in particular, subverted our expectations. It began when we met him for lunch at his new pub, The Hansom Cab. He held up his hand to illustrate opportunism. ‘See this hand’ he had said, ‘You see it one way, but there are many ways to see it. You see a palm, I see four knuckles. You need awareness of mind to recognise your luck.’

Marco knows how to tell a story. He leant in close to the microphone and spoke as if a mariner over a table in a pub, with deliberate, authoritative pauses; he took us from his dream of achieving three Michelin stars and five red knives and forks to the realisation of that dream, presenting his path as the upshot of many good twists of fate. He told of how, by pure chance, he had come across Le Gavroche as he wandered through London after missing his bus. The next day, he walked in and asked for an interview. Albert Roux took him on.

The moral? Recognise your luck, then strive for perfection and be gutsy as hell.

Niamh Shield’s Eat Like a Girl blog, with its vivid photography and affable tone, gives such a strong impression of her character that I felt I had met her before. She was every bit as affable in the flesh, totally at ease with the ad-hoc format and chatting willingly in her gentle Irish lilt.

She began her blog after a foul day at work, and soon realised it was a natural progression: ‘I’d always loved cooking food for friends, and sharing my recipes with them (too forcefully sometimes!), so with my blog, I just carried on doing that, except now I was sharing with an online community.’ The spirit of the blog is to make recipes simple and accessible.

So why don’t more people cook at home, I asked. It is partly a matter of education: ‘Children aren’t taught to cook in school any more’ she complained. ‘They’re taught English and Maths and History, but not how to prepare food.’

We need to re-acquaint ourselves with the joy of preparation, she argues. I suggest Eat Like a Girl as a first port of call.

Daren Spence, the co-founder of We Are Tea, ‘really, really, really LOVES tea’. He hardly had to say it, such was his dynamic delivery. Would-be entrepreneurs are often advised to begin with a problem, and Spence had delineated his very clearly:

‘Tea had been forgotten. There was an influx – well, I mean an invasion – of the American-style coffee shop. My colleagues were returning to the office with more and more vulgar coffee-based drinks, with sprinkles on top and cream on the top – it was like watching someone going to the cinema with a pop-corn bucket. And all I could get was a tepid cup of crumby tea in a polystyrene cup. I felt left out. I wanted to be part of their gang […] And I was frustrated that the tea industry was just sitting there, resting on its 350-year-old laurels, not doing anything about it.’

Well, Spence isn’t sitting around, and We Are Tea are fighting the tea battle, winning Great Taste Awards (‘The Oscars of fine food’) and supplying such humble outfits as Harrods and Harvey Nichols.

Simon Prockter has just launched one of the most innovative things in food. He is co-founder of Housebites, ‘gourmet take-away, delivered to your door, cooked by a local, top chef.’ (an alternative to pizzas which taste like the boxes they came in). So, which niggling frustrations engendered this great idea?

‘When you think of take-away, do you think of it as a great experience? Do you know who is cooking your meal? [...] Wouldn’t it be great if you could see your chef on the high street, and say “Hey, that’s my chef, you cooked me a great meal the other day!” And that really doesn’t happen.’ Well, for what it’s worth a big thank you to the Housebites chef Andy Oliver (Masterchef finalist), who prepared those delicious nibbles for the interval.

Simon brought speed-dating into Europe with his company SpeedDater; fingers-crossed the matchmaking will continue in the world of food.

For the full story and more inspiring events visit: www.tomaxtalks.com

From my first day at Sipsmith I could never have imagined that I would be involved in so many different roles and responsibilities in such a relatively short period of time. From consumer samplings in Selfridges, to travelling the length and breadth of the country promoting the brand and training staff, to watching the Kooks at a festival in Suffolk, there was never a dull moment in the three months I spent at Sipsmith.
Working for a small company could not have been more beneficial to me as an intern as it allowed to gain a huge amount of experience in a variety of different areas, and exposed me to the excitements of being part of a relatively new, independent venture. There really were far too many roles within Sipsmith to cover in this space, but here are just a few of the more important and enjoyable ones:

• Consumer samplings in stores across London to increase sales and increase consumer awareness of Sipsmith
• Visiting on-trade accounts at hotels, pubs and cocktail bars, and new venues to try and increase on-trade sales
• Researching foreign drinks markets to help Sipsmith make more informed decisions when exporting its products
• Delivering stock to accounts in London
• Visiting industry trade shows and festivals across the country

The energy and passion of the Sipsmith founders is infectious and unavoidable, and their genuine love for producing the finest hand-crafted spirits rubs off, not just on the other members of the team, but also on anyone who visits the distillery or is a guest on one of the legendary tours. Throughout my time at Sipsmith I really felt as though I was part of something, that the work I did was of some importance and that I was not there just to make the tea! It was hard work but incredibly rewarding, and I certainly have a lot to show for the three months I worked at the first copper distillery in London for almost 200 years.

This was a paid role and throughout this process WEXO were incredibly helpful, both at finding internship opportunities that suited my needs and interests, and also supporting me during the period I was actually working. I would certainly recommend them to anyone looking to find employment opportunities.

Ed Gillespie

It’s hard enough leaving university and finding a job, let alone not having a clue what you want to do in life. At least I’ve got a year to decide but with a long 3 month summer ahead of me I was beginning to panic about what I was going to do to fill my time. Having done various money earning jobs in the past I wanted to invest a little time into my future and do some work experience. Having exhausted my own contacts, I discovered WEXO thanks to my sister and it opened up a whole host of options, not to mention the time it saved trawling through the internet sending hundreds of applications to millions of companies. I can honestly say WEXO bent over backwards to help me – after a couple things fell through, WEXO made sure they were on the case and looking for other alternatives. Through one of their targeted alerts, WEXO informed me of a placement for work experience available in a small bespoke travel company run by Laura Jeffrey and I was put me in touch with her.

I have now done 2 weeks work experience at Passepartout Travel and have thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. It was exactly what I was looking for, a small company where I could be really involved with the day to day running of the business, and involved in decision making. I knew from the beginning I didn’t want to be one of a million in a huge company and this experience has suited me perfectly. I have taken on real responsibility in the form of creating Passepartout’s monthly newsletter, working alongside Laura and learning how to create the right ‘look and feel’, be concise and help set apart Passepartout from other companies. It has been a fascinating experience and made me realise how much hard work goes into some of the smallest tasks. Another benefit of working for a small company was the opportunity to get out and about, going to meetings with contacts in other industries and not necessarily working 9 to 5; I worked until what I was doing was done. But probably the most valuable thing I have learnt has been how much hard work it takes setting up your own company and but how great the rewards can be, and I can safely say this would not have been possible without the brilliant help of WEXO who made it all possible.

Huge thanks WEXO!

Tessa Robinson