The B-Hive Initiative
At Pitch, we don’t just provide the obvious recruitment services; we like to innovate too. So when feedback from some of our Midlands based clients raised concerns about the availability of new talent and student awareness of what the region had to offer, we set about addressing the issue head on.
We wanted to apply our expertise to develop an innovative program that provided a recruitment based solution to a regional problem.
The result was 'B-Hive' – a not for profit scheme to identify the best emerging marketing, PR, digital and creative students in the region, and to showcase the outstanding agencies and brands in the area.
It works like this:
- Students respond to a set brief.
- Entries are shortlisted, students are then invited to pitch their responses to the judging panels.
- Every judge commits to give winning students paid work placements.
The story so far:
- In 2009 we awarded 50 weeks paid work experience across two sectors to the cream of the crop.
- In 2010 we doubled the amount of sectors and awarded over 100 weeks of paid placements, along with bespoke training courses, an interactive website, new brand collateral and more.
- In 2011 we added another category (making 5 in total: Marketing, PR, Advertising (creative), Graphic Design and Web Design). And we awarded 120 weeks of paid placements.
- At last count 12 students have gone on to secure permanent employment as a direct result of their participation.
Is it worth it?
“There is no other competition that offers you a foot in the door quite so easily. Winning B-Hive and getting the chance to work and network at real agencies is a fantastic experience. In many ways, I believe it could prove more beneficial to a student or graduate than winning a more prestigious design or advertising award. It really does create a lot of opportunities.”
B-Hive 2009 Creative Winner
“After 2 years of really struggling to get on the career ladder it was the B-Hive scheme that really helped me get where I wanted to be. I am eternally grateful to you for coming up with the genius idea and think it’s an extremely important scheme for the region.”
B-Hive 2010 Marketing Winner
“It's been a mad few months but an amazing experience that I have gained so much from, not only gaining skills and experience working alongside some super talented people, but I have also had some amazing offers from several of the companies, including sponsorship through university, as well as permanent job offers... B-Hive has set me on the path for my dream career!”
B-Hive 2010 Digital Winner
