WEXO: New year, new gear…
Happy New Year, One and All. 2012 might well be the Chinese Zodiac Year of The Dragon but (despite protests about a new stamp in China) I am told that the dragon is best known for its abilities to “exorcise evil spirits and offer blessings”. So perhaps we will see the back of Jeremy Clarkson (opinion is divided here as to his appeal) and a host of new employment options?
I wanted to take this opportunity to update you all on a few new things that are going on at WEXO Towers and seek your thoughts on some others. I’ll start by saying that at the end of last year, we welcomed Dominique Edmonds to the team. Dominique was brought up in Surrey before attending the Bristol Institute of Modern Music and will be working as my assistant both on WEXO and the other major project I am involved in – the management of Mano de Dios who release their debut album on 23rd January. Previously, Dom worked as an Events Coordinator at Sportsvision and in true WEXO tradition has also held down a number of other roles ranging from working as a snowboard guide to pulling pints! She will be a valuable member of a team which is set to grow in the next few months. We are hoping to announce the appointment of a Recruitment Director and Business Development Director in the coming weeks and we will likely be taking on a few paid interns once these shoes are comfortably filled…
With that in mind, perhaps the most exciting development last year (as well as hosting Marco Pierre White at one of our WEXO events, visiting No.10 and being asked to work with the Student Film Festival London) was being selected to front the graduate recruitment for Deputy Venue Logistics Managers with UPS at the London 2012 Olympics. Working with STEP, we have helped place 60 candidates but still have another 20-30 positions to fill so do please apply and we can all do our little bit to make 2012 a phenomenal success. There are plenty of other roles on the site which we are continuing to develop as larger opportunities in the recruitment world present themselves. In the meantime, we are helping prepare a paper on the issues surrounding work experience, internships and apprenticeships (together with NDotM / The Creative Society) and would value your feedback. All responses will be considered for a draw for 2 tickets to watch one of the Olympic events.
1. What do you consider to be the key distinctions between internships and apprenticeships?
2. Is it unfair that students are not allowed to collect Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) if doing work experience or unpaid internships?
3. Should the government be doing more to educate the nation about the distinctions between work experience internships and apprenticeships and to encourage or incentivise companies to offer more paid employment for young people?
We look forward to helping make a year of achievement for us all. More importantly though, here’s to a happy and healthy one.
Robin Kennedy, Co-founder and Managing Director
