The following article was composed in response to EmployEase’s article ‘Can the system catch up with the likes of John Berry?’ found via the link; http://employease.wordpress.com/

‘Thank you both for your thought-provoking article. As a firm that specialises in placing people into work experience placements and internships, the significant majority of those that we place are students, undergraduates or recent graduates.

Our primary aim is to find the best candidate that meets the client's requirements and whom will make the most significant and positive impact upon their company. We market these positions upon our website and therefore open these positions to all. However, we have few applications from gentlemen or women aged around 54 years old, such as Mr. Berry, presumably because they have greater financial burdens than younger people and may feel that the skill set they have acquired through experience should be rewarded with full-time positions?

As the shift of power has moved from employee to employer with the recession, competition for vacancies has increased employers’ expectations of the abilities that their candidates should possess. As a result, it is rare to see any "white-collar" full-time position not requesting a degree. Those asking for 'recent graduates' are presumably looking to reduce the number of applicants, and thereby the associated administration, to the top-of-the-pile graduates and not those who have been rejected from numerous placements over the preceding two years. Nonetheless, Mr. Berry is wrong that 'recent graduates' are always young people. We have undergraduates who have applied for positions in excess of his 54 years within the last two months.

Thank you again for your thought-provoking post.

Kind regards,

Lewis Clark

Get Work Experience Ltd’