Deciding to embark on a postgraduate qualification can be a big decision. However, a postgraduate qualification helps you stand out in the jobs market, gives additional skills and knowledge, and can help you move forward confidently in your career.
We caught up with Michael Ditchburn from Mint Interactive Solutions to talk about the benefits of employing postgraduate students. As a graduate of the University of Sunderland himself, Michael has employed several postgraduate students and tells us about the benefits they bring to his organisation.
Tell us a bit about your company and its history of employing postgraduate students
I’m the Chief Operating Officer of Mint Interactive Solutions. We consult with global and local businesses to deliver digital learning solutions (predominantly in the form of eLearning and animation). We’re dual-located in Sunderland and Brighton.
We have quite a few examples of employing postgraduate students at Mint. Three of our current team were found via roles advertised through the Graduate Recruitment Scheme, and two of them are former students from the University of Sunderland. We subsequently employed a postgraduate student after they completed a 100-hour work placement too! Keeping up with tradition, we have our next placement student starting with us for another 100 hours early in 2025 for six weeks.
Have you provided support to employees studying for a postgraduate qualification?
In line with our own values and mission, we actively encourage our team to keep learning while working and have had two of the team complete a Level 3 NVQ qualification in Team Leader/Supervisor through Access Training (who were recently acquired by the University of Sunderland). We currently have one team member studying for the same qualification too.
In addition, we’ve helped our team gain qualifications across other areas, such as learning in digital accessibility, software tools (such as the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, which we use extensively in our work), and NLP (neurolinguistic programming).
Many of the team had postgraduate qualifications when they came to us, and our highest qualification within the team is a PhD, but we’ve not yet had the experience of supporting someone through their master’s or doctorate. It's certainly something we’d be open to though.
"We’re huge advocates for postgraduate students and the benefits they bring to our organisation. The skills and experience that such qualifications bring can be invaluable if they relate to the sector the business is in. Someone with an academic qualification may bring new ideas into your business, so make sure you explore their thoughts and ideas as part of the recruitment process."
Michael Ditchburn
Chief Operating Officer, Mint Interactive Solutions
What are the benefits to the company of employing a member of staff studying for or having a postgraduate qualification?
The skills and experience that postgraduate qualifications bring can be invaluable if they relate to the sector the business is in. As well as being able to perform their role to a higher level, an employee's experience and learning can be utilised to support a wider team of people too.
The people who have joined us as part of a Graduate Recruitment Scheme have gone on to become key members of the team, with two of the three being promoted to heads of their department.
What are the opportunities for postgraduate students at Mint Interactive?
We’re huge advocates for postgraduate students and the benefits they bring to our organisation. We have close ties with the University of Sunderland and will continue to support them. Our business is quite technical and requires several specific skills that can come from a number of courses and areas of study, meaning there are many opportunities for people to join us when vacancies arise.
What advice would you give to a company that's considering employing postgraduate students or staff with a postgraduate qualification?
Our advice would be the same for any organisation looking to employ someone – any decision needs to be a combination of understanding the relevant skills and experience someone will bring, combined with the fit of the person to the role. Someone with an academic qualification may bring new ideas into your business too, so make sure you explore their thoughts and ideas as part of the recruitment process.
If you’re interested in studying for a postgraduate qualification with the University of Sunderland, take a look at our postgraduate study page.
Published: 2 January 2025