By Chris Lee

The Isle of Man, nestled in the Irish Sea, has a population of just over 80,000 people. With its main town of Douglas home to just 26,000 the island has traditionally struggled to retain its young talent to help stay and further build its economy, despite favourable tax conditions.

In December 2008, the Manx Graduates website was founded to help introduce local employers to a pool of local talent. NMK caught up with Chris Gledhill, managing director of PDMS Ltd, the company behind the platform, to see how it was performing.

Briefly describe Manx Graduates to us

Manx Graduates was launched December 2008 as a one-stop central resource sponsored by the Isle of Man Government's Department of Trade and Industry with the support of the Department of Education to match and introduce Manx students, graduates and professionals with Isle of Man employers who are actively recruiting.

The site has grown progressively and to date has 944 candidates registered, predominately between 18-29 years old, and 71 employers are registered users.

What was the inspiration behind the site?

Many graduates from the Isle of Man choose to stay in the UK after completing their degrees. It seems a shame when there might have been a fantastic job opportunity on the island that they didn't even know about. Equally, Manx employers may be reluctant to advertise new posts, because they're not sure how to reach the very best candidates off island. Manx Graduates aims to bring together these disparate individuals into one cohesive online community.
The Isle of Man provides financial support for residents wishing to attend university or college in the UK or further afield. The Manx Graduates initiative is part of the government's economic strategy to encourage young people to bring their skills and qualifications back to the island. With the UK's current economic climate, many Manx graduates could be attracted to consider opportunities at home and it's important that these individuals can access up-to-date information about career opportunities.

How are you promoting the site within the Isle of Man and to Manx people in the UK and around the world?

PR is the main driver in promoting the site. We've had massive media coverage within the Isle of Man as well as in the UK national recruitment trade media.

In addition, we are starting to use other online social networks.  You have to fish where the fish are, so we've established Manx Graduates profiles on Facebook and LinkedIn, to help reach graduates that have travelled further afield.  In addition there is a small number of Manx ex-pat bloggers throughout the world who we have targeted with news releases to gain coverage in the blogosphere.

We have done some very limited advertising - running banners on such sites as the Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce website and on the Isle of Man Chartered Management Institute's website.

What is the typical challenge for the Isle of Man when retaining or recruiting graduates?

Despite the current global economic downturn, the Isle of Man labour market remains very tight, at almost 100 per cent employment. So competition for skilled candidates can be fierce, especially in the finance industry. It can be difficult to recruit from UK or further afield. Candidates with no family or other ties to the island are often reticent to up stakes for island life.  That's why it makes so much sense to ensure that young professionals who have friends, family and history here are kept abreast of all the career opportunity the Isle of Man holds.

What’s your success rate so far?

Manx Graduates's role is to act as an introducer and to be a communications channel amongst the site’s users.  We have not been made aware of how many conversations taking place have ended up with placements. However, it's a question we've been getting often lately and so we are going to implement an automatic update to our messaging feature that will help employers keep us informed in future.  This is currently in development.

What features are particularly useful for students and employers alike?

The site borrows some of the interactive social features that made Facebook so popular and is user-friendly to make looking and applying for a job fast and easy. An applicant's CV can be in the hands of relevant employers in an instant. Vacancies are matched to individual profiles and notification lands in the Manx Graduates' inbox as well as whichever personal email the user prefers so this information can be viewed on-the-go. Manx Graduates is completely free to use for recruiters and graduates alike.

Users can search profiles to find friends or fellow students they may have lost touch with, and employers are free to browse profiles to engage in pro-active head-hunting.
People can register online to provide details such as their skills, experience and the type of job they are seeking. Isle of Man employers and recruitment companies can provide a company profile, details of general opportunities and specific vacancies.

But it's important to remember that ManxGraduates is primarily a social network; not a job board.  It's a place where conversations take place and relationships are formed.