Work experience, sandwich year or subsidies for Graduates?

Digital Marketing is changing the playing field for marketers, and academia is struggling to keep up with the pace of the industry. Should the sandwich year be compulsorily or should the student loan be given for twelve months a year, so that the student could afford to work for free in the summer? A solution could be to subsidies the salary for graduates, and give them a bit more of a breathing space when they are entering the job market. I think the two last options would be a much better then the sandwich year, because it makes the student become more independent and establish in an earlier age.

This suggestion is less likely to be to any relevance if the Conservatives win the election, but it should be a reminder to the politician that the creative industry should be given more support and towns like Manchester need to show that local production is the essences for commercial and cultural growth. The city certainly has thestudents and the talents, but improvement needs to be done to keep the best students from moving down to London, or overseas.

For me it seems that the university experience is only 50% of your education, because it seems that networking and work experience is on the same level as the degree. This should be promoted stronger by the universities, and the fact that certain universities finish in early May, should give the students plenty of time to get some work experience.

Some big steps in the right direction are: Creative Manchester and Vision Media

I m only a undergraduate student and the suggestions and opinions above are only based on my personal observations, so if you have more knowledge about the subject or have other opinions please contribute with your comments.