Why social enterprises should work with students

With ever-increasing interest from students in pursuing meaningful careers that have a positive impact on the world around us, it seems that there has never been a better time for social enterprises to invest in and collaborate with a student workforce.

However, with unemployment among young people and students continuing to rise, should the social sector be doing more to nurture the talent of the next generation of students? What value do students bring to social enterprises? And how can social enterprises benefit from working with students?

Despite a time of increasing austerity and social challenges, the social economy is reported to be rising strongly, with the people's business report documenting social enterprises to be creating more jobs and greater turnover in comparison with private-sector small and medium businesses. But can the success of the social economy have a positive impact on employment and work opportunities for students?

With research from Aldi revealing that only 25% of UK students think they will get a job related to their degree, and two in five graduates prepared to start at the very bottom of the ladder, it seems that there are seriously under-utilised skills in our student population. So why should social enterprises work with students?

They are highly skilled: most students leave education with relevant and transferable skills for the workplace, skills which can be applied directly to the challenges faced when growing a social venture. They can help whether you're in need of creative talent to develop that global brand, digital skills for managing and promoting your social enterprise online via social media, social science skills which can help you better understand your customer's behaviour, or research and analytic skills to help you scope out that next big opportunity for growth.

  They are a positive investment: because of their high levels of competency, skills and abilities, students typically offer a good return on investment for social enterprises. Most students would thrive on the opportunity to work in a challenging environment, which further develops their experience on a purposeful career path, providing you with loyal, hard-working talent that will yield a good return on your investment.

  They bring innovative approaches: students can bring fresh thinking and a unique perspective to your social venture. Having technology-savvy students who are familiar with the latest social innovations can add tremendous value to your organisation, whether this relates to developing new products or services, or taking innovative approaches to your internal systems and external communications and relationship management.

Collaborate with talented student social entrepreneurs: there is a surge of talented students starting their own social ventures to address social challenges and pursuing social entrepreneurship as a viable career option. This presents an exciting opportunity for established social enterprises to work in collaboration with student start-ups.

A good example of this is Joel Barlow, a 22-year-old student and UnLtd award winner from Sheffield Hallam University, who had an idea for creating a solution to reducing the impact on the environment of certain farming practices. Through the support of his student union,Joel was put in touch with a local, Sheffield-based company leading the way in agricultural innovation which is now providing a platform to test Joel's idea for its viability and is in discussions with the Environment Agency to explore the concept further.

Another UnLtd award winner, Sepehr Eslahi from Aston University, has established the Apprentice Challenge, a competition for the best creative and entrepreneurial students and young leaders from 40 top universities across the UK. The purpose of the programme is to help the participants decide what career they want to pursue by offering them the chance to experience practically all the stages of running a business, as well as working in a globally renowned corporation.

It's not just university students providing the pool of social entrepreneurial talent. Our recent endeavours into schools and colleges through FE Pioneers and Social Spark has highlighted the extraordinary talent in our students with ideas to change the world. So the challenge to the sector is: are you ready for them and how will you harness the energy of students to enable more social impact?

Karl Belizaire is policy manager at UnLtd

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