Emerging talent: Success stories of hiring students and apprentices

In this webinar, Enterprise Nation's Emma Jones hosts a discussion on how small businesses can attract and hire emerging talent, particularly students and apprentices.

The session covers how businesses can access young talent, what students and graduates look for in job opportunities, and how apprenticeships and emerging skills can benefit small businesses in the long run.

This event is part of Enterprise Nation's Talent Hub programme.

The speakers

• Chris Keenan (founder, Unibeez): Runs one of the fastest-growing networks for emerging talent in the UK.

• Peter Ashiagbor (founder, The Management Fest): Works with university students to prepare them for their careers and entrepreneurship.

Topics covered in this session

• Why emerging talent is a competitive advantage

• How Gen Z candidates bring digital skills, innovation and an entrepreneurial mindset

• The importance of using talent platforms like Unibeez to simplify hiring and access pre-vetted candidates

• Why, despite all the economic challenges, businesses that invest in talent will thrive

Key points from the webinar

Unibeez: A platform connecting students and businesses

Why Unibeez was founded

• The job market is fragmented, making it difficult for students to find work and employers to access skilled early-career professionals.

• Through research with school leavers, college students, university students and graduates, two main concerns emerged:

  1. Financial pressure – Students need opportunities to earn money.

  2. Employability – Students seek work experience to improve career prospects.

• The digital transformation (accelerated by COVID-19) has changed job structures, increasing the demand for digitally skilled workers.

How Unibeez works

• A free-to-use platform for businesses to post jobs and access talent.

• Uses AI-powered job matching to curate candidate lists based on skills.

• Businesses can choose from various hiring options:

  • Short-term projects (for example, data visualisation, content creation)

  • Internships and apprenticeships

  • Contract work (flexible, project-based)

  • Full-time employment for long-term roles

Benefits for employers

• Cost-effective – Businesses can test talent before committing to full-time employment.

• Access to digital-native candidates with specialised skills (like tech development, data analysis, social media and finance).

• Helps small businesses compete with larger firms by levelling the playing field.

Understanding what young talent wants in the workforce – insights from Peter Ashiagbor

Student motivations and career priorities

• Students prioritise financial stability in the short term but seek learning and career growth over time.

• Work experience during university is increasingly important, as students recognise the need to build their CVs before graduating.

The Management Fest and supporting student entrepreneurship

• Launched in 2023, The Management Fest bridges the gap between education and employment by:

  • offering students career readiness support

  • encouraging entrepreneurship (helping students set up side businesses)

  • providing networking opportunities with business professionals

• In 2024, The Management Fest launched a conference focused on entrepreneurship:

  • Students pitched business ideas to industry experts.

  • Workshops covered branding, team-building, marketing and automation.

• Future plans include tailored support frameworks for student ventures and business automation tools to help start-ups scale.

How small businesses can use emerging talent

In-demand skills and opportunities

• Students and apprentices bring fresh perspectives, innovation and adaptability.

• Top skills demanded by small businesses:

  • Social media and digital marketing

  • Data analysis and research

  • Tech development and IT support

  • Finance, accounting and HR assistance

  • Sales and customer service roles

• Small businesses can tap into a wide talent pool across industries, including finance, media, legal, property and recruitment.

Pay and hiring models

• Unibeez recommends a starting rate of £12 per hour (rising to £13 per hour from 2024).

• Higher pay rates apply for specialised skills (for example, master's or PhD-level work).

• Full-time entry-level salaries start from £25,500 per year.

• SMEs benefit from hiring emerging talent flexibly:

  • Freelance contract work for short-term projects

  • Apprenticeships and internships for structured development

  • Permanent roles for long-term hires

Overcoming hiring challenges

• Small businesses often struggle to find the right candidates and compete with large corporations.

• Using platforms like Unibeez enables "try before you buy" hiring, allowing businesses to test candidates before offering permanent roles.

• Apprenticeships are growing in popularity, especially for students who prefer on-the-job learning over traditional university degrees.

Apprenticeships and future workforce trends

The future of apprenticeships

• Apprenticeships are an alternative to university degrees, particularly for students wanting to avoid student debt.

• Changes to the Apprenticeship Levy make it easier for small businesses to access funding.

• Unibeez is expanding its learning resources and apprenticeship support, in partnership with Cisco.

AI and digital transformation in hiring

• AI is transforming how businesses find and assess candidates.

• AI-driven job matching helps reduce hiring time and improve the quality of candidates.

• Businesses must adapt to emerging tech trends (automation, AI recruitment, digital workspaces).

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