Ulster graduate initiative launched - graduate jobs

Graduates in Northern Ireland who are struggling to find work are to be helped out by a new initiative offering a work placement in tandem with further study.

Unemployed graduates will be put on a work placement lasting as long as six months, while studying towards either the Graduate Certificate in Professional Practice with the University of Ulster or the Graduate Certificate in Organisation and Management with Queen's University Belfast.

Northern Ireland employment minister Sir Reg Empey said: "As a result of the economic downturn, Northern Ireland faces a situation whereby thousands of graduates now face considerable difficulty gaining employment.

"The Department is extremely supportive of this programme which will provide graduates with employability skills and the much needed experience that is often required to gain employment."

The Graduate Acceleration Programme (GAP) is designed to reduce the number of young people claiming unemployment benefit. Recent figures suggest that approximately one third of the 54,000 people claiming the benefit in Northern Ireland were under 25.