Like a seasoned Glastonbury-goer, a good adman never misses out on the perfect pitch.
So it was, in the week when Whitehall once again waved with as many flags as the Pyramid Stage (only these ones protesting the Coalition’s proposed fee increases and funding cuts to higher education), that Trevor Beattie, the man behind those traffic-stopping campaigns for Wonderbra and French Connection, announced his most arresting idea yet.
The ‘Non-Graduate, Graduate Recruitment Programme’ invites applications to Beattie’s advertising agency from candidates who do not have a degree but feel that they can “demonstrate their suitability for the job via other means”.
Just because the nation’s top universities may soon become closed shops to those with talent but without sufficient funds, argues Beattie, does not mean the working world should shut them out too. Industries such as advertising, he suggests, have been biased toward graduates at the expense of school-leavers for too long.
Which raises an interesting question. With tuition fee hikes on the horizon and employers such as Beattie on the look out for candidates without degrees, are you considering a career without a university qualification?
Share your thoughts and experiences on our very first open thread.
