On Air Greatest Hits Chris Kinley | 6:30pm - 9:00pm

Manx Graduates endorsed

A website set up to encourage Manx students and graduates to apply for work in the Isle of Man was the subject of a presentation by PDMS at the Claremont Hotel in Douglas.

manxgraduates.im is a Freedom to Flourish initiative created by PDMS to attract Manx graduates back to the Isle of Man to work.

It links students and graduates looking for job opportunities in the Island with local employers wishing to recruit graduates and professionals.

The event was sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry and opened by DTI Minister David Cretney who said Manx Graduates was ‘a great way’ to build the Island’s skills base.

In his presentation, PDMS managing director Chris Gledhill said the site had ‘exceeded expectations’ since it went live in January 2009, generating 944 registered individual users and 69 registered employers as of February 18 this year.

He added the wide user profile rendered the site’s name ‘something of a misnomer’ as more Manx professionals than graduates were registered.

The system is based on social networking principles, geared towards the Manx employment market and responds to the Island’s business priorities.

‘Manx Graduates is software as a service - a “neutral” environment built on a secure platform that can be used to build lasting relationships. A place, as it were, to start a conversation,’ he said.

From an Isle of Man Champion perspective Manx Graduates embodied Freedom to Flourish as it was about ‘building something collectively.’ Manx Graduates was, said Mr Gledhill, ‘a great demonstration of “Isle of Man PLC”.’

Guest speaker and Junior Achievement Isle of Man chief executive Sue Cook declared herself a keen proponent of Manx Graduates. ‘I’m a champion of Manx Graduates and from the outset I could see its value.’

Drawing on her experience as former chief executive of recruitment agency Hamblin, she said students often had ‘no idea’ what job opportunities existed in the Isle of Man.

She said the site represented ‘a return on investment’ and offered advantages to the Manx economy by ‘addressing skills shortages and keeping graduates here.’

In closing the presentation, DTI chief executive Chris Corlett said Manx Graduates complemented the DTI’s graduate internship programme, which had been developed with support from the Isle of Man International Business School and local employers and was designed to provide an entry into careers in the Island for Manx graduates.

The site was, he said, helping find ‘the young managers of tomorrow’ and meeting the Manx economy’s demand for ‘a breadth and depth of expertise.’

manxgraduates.im

More from Isle of Man Business