How does Graduate Talent Pool work?

Creating an advert

To advertise your internship opportunity on Graduate Talent Pool, you’ll first need to create an account.

Once your account is activated, select ‘create new advert’. You’ll then be asked to complete an online form containing details of the vacancy. This includes:

  • a description of the role
  • a description of the type of candidates you are looking for, and any qualifications they should have
  • whether the internship is paid, unpaid, or expenses only
  • the start and finish dates of the internship
  • the dates you want your advert to appear
  • search criteria (from a list of options), so that the right graduates can find your internship
  • details of how candidates should apply for your internship.

Remember, you'll need to provide at least one way for graduates to contact you (such as an email, website or postal address) if you are to receive any applications.

You can also:

  • set up to 10 ‘key questions’ that graduates must answer correctly before they see details of how to apply for your vacancy
  • preview your advert before it appears on the site

Upon submission, your advert will be reviewed by a member of the Graduate Talent Pool team. This step of the process was introduced in October 2011 to improve the quality and consistency of adverts and to increase awareness among internship providers of how National Minimum Wage legislation applies to internships.

Once your vacancy has been approved and posted on the site, graduates will be able to search for it at http://www.direct.gov.uk/graduatetalentpool. Graduates must register on the site before they see details of how to apply. Once they’ve registered, graduates can also ask to receive email alerts when new internships are posted which interest them.

You can also remove your adverts at any time, see how many graduates have viewed your vacancies, or edit details of your organisation.

Please note, GTP only accepts advertisements for live internship vacancies. Any adverts found to be sign posting to external sites will be removed.

After your advert is posted

Graduate Talent Pool does not manage the application process or mediate in any way between the employer and the applicant. Applicants will apply straight to your organisation. From then on, you should liaise with them directly.

It’s also a good idea to put candidates through the same selection process as you would for any other prospective employee. This is especially true if there’s a chance that the intern may become a permanent member of your staff in the future.

Next steps

Department for Business, Innovation, & Skills