Press Releases

SHORT TERM JOBS WITH LONG TERM OPPORTUNITIES

For students and graduates, finding a job is never easy – let alone one that combines flexibility with long term prospects.

But that is exactly what Nottingham firm Protocol National offers each summer, as the company gets ready for its busiest time of year. From July to October, Protocol National, which provides staff education services to the Further Education sector, takes on a number of extra people to deal with a significant increase in calls from colleges and lecturers preparing for the start of the new academic year.

It is these temporary positions, full and part time, that have been both popular and rewarding for graduates and students – for a variety of reasons.

Vikash Kanani (24) started as a temporary worker at Protocol National in 2007 when he ran out of money after returning from travelling. Initially a ten-week post, the flexible hours appealed as they allowed him to continue to apply and attend interviews for what he considered to be ‘proper graduate jobs’.

At the end of the ten weeks, having not found an alternative, Vikash agreed to extend his contract for a further month and moved departments. Having recognised his potential, he was then given the opportunity to lead a three month project in client development. The success of this resulted in the creation of a new department within the company, headed up by Vikash. It was during this time that he realised that he no longer needed to search for a ‘proper graduate job’ as he already had one.   Vikash was recently promoted to the post of College Development Manager.

Mahwish Imtiaz (23) started at Protocol National in June 2008, immediately after finishing her Politics degree. Unsure about her next step career-wise, Mahwish wanted a job that would be fulfilling, but with more flexibility than a graduate placement scheme and found the full time position on offer fitted the bill.

When she decided to embark upon a Masters degree, Protocol National offered her the opportunity to move departments and reduce her hours to fit around her studies. This meant that Mahwish was able to keep the job she enjoyed and continue to gain experience in the workplace. As her timetable changed each semester so did her working hours, with Protocol National even giving her extra time off to complete exams and coursework. Now Mahwish is working towards her dissertation she has had her hours increased once more and is looking forward to continuing to work at Protocol National.

Who is Protocol National?

• Protocol National and its sister company Protocol Assessors provide part time and full time staff to the Further Education sector in the UK.
• Different departments deal with senior and middle management recruitment, conference, payroll and college recovery, as well as placing lecturers, assessors and support workers in part time roles across the country.
• Based on Castle Marina with a turnover of more than £50 million.

What are the jobs?

Temporary workers start in one of several different teams with full training provided performing general admin tasks, data entry and taking phone calls.