FOR each of the past five years, more university-leavers have applied for jobs in the media than any other career destination. This year an estimated 35,000 new graduates tried for vacancies at UK newspapers, broadcasters, advertising agencies or PR companies despite the scarcity of entry-level positions or formal graduate training programmes.
So it’s hardly surprising that Reuters — one of only six media organisations featured in the latest edition of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers — received more than 750 applications for the eight graduate places on its 2006 journalism programme. What is most remarkable, though, is that all those applicants were required to be fluent in Arabic, Chinese, Russian or German as well as English, and have a first or 2:1 degree plus a proven passion for journalism.
“We had very strict language requirements for the 2006 programme because of the specific needs of our business,” says Jennifer Oakley, the graduate recruitment manager at Reuters. “For 2007 we have opened it up to include applicants with other languages but we still have a key requirement for graduates who speak Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Turkish or Farsi.”
The focus on languages is a clue to the nature of the roles on offer. “Graduates who join the journalism programme will be reporting predominantly on business and financial news, rotating round different finance desks such as commodities or companies. But once they’ve completed their training they are sent on assignment, literally anywhere in the world,” she says.
The strong international emphasis extends to other entry- level schemes too. The company’s business graduate programme has graduates recruited from more than 20 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The scheme also requires fluency in at least two languages and typically offers two or three overseas placements in different parts of the company.
“The finance programme includes at least one nine-month international placement as part of the training. So at the moment we have graduates in Hong Kong, Singapore, New York, Frankfurt and Geneva,” Oakley says. “We’ve had technology graduates working in our data centres as far away as Bangkok and will be sending graduates to Beijing and Bangalore next year.”
Each of Reuters’ four graduate schemes lasts between two and three years and competition for the limited number of places available is predictably fierce. “Our recruitment programmes may be small in comparison with some of our competitors but this means that we can offer our graduates highly personalised training. As soon as you start work you’ll be involved in real project teams, not just be stuck on a helpdesk,” she says.
Martin Birchall is editor of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers. Find out more about the best places to work in The Times Top 100 interactive table — www.timesonline.co.uk/top100grad
No 69: REUTERS
What is it? Established more than 150 years ago, Reuters is a global information company that provides news and information for the financial services, media and corporate markets. Among its 15,000 employees is an editorial team of 2,300 working from 196 bureaux worldwide.
What graduate jobs are on offer? Reuters expects to hire 40 graduates across its four graduate programmes next year. Two thirds of these vacancies will be in business or technology; the remainder are journalism or finance roles.
Where are the jobs? The majority of new graduates start work at Reuters’ headquarters in Canary Wharf but the company has operations in more than 90 countries.
What’s the pay like? Starting salaries in 2007 will be between £25,000 and £27,500, depending on the graduate programme.
What’s the competition like? Reuters typically receives 40-50 applications per vacancy but had twice that level of interest for last year’s journalism programme.
How do you apply? Applications for next year’s graduate programmes should be made online at www.reuters.com/ careers/graduate before December 31.
How has Reuters done in the Top 100?
2002: 23
2003: 49
2004: 50
2005: 68
2006: 69