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A collaboration between the British Council and one of India’s largest companies will combine practical training with client-specific digital projects to provide a unique opportunity for new UK graduates, offering them a paid internship in India to kick-start their career.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) – one of the world’s largest IT services firms with more than 340,000 employees in 46 countries worldwide, and 11,000 in the UK alone – announced the scheme late last year, and is now seeking UK-based students with a passion for technology and a taste for different cultures to apply by the end of March.

Between now and 2020, the programme will see 1,000 UK graduates live and work in India over a 12-month period. The scheme has been specially designed as part of the British Council’s Generation UK-India programme, the aim of which is to build a firm business and cultural network between the UK and India.

Increased demand for IT and digital skills

With an estimated annual shortfall of over 40,000 STEM graduates in the UK alone, IT and digital skills are in high demand among employers, both within the UK and globally. The TCS internship programme has been created to address the shortage of qualified IT professionals, instilling a generation of UK graduates with the necessary digital skills to excel in today’s fast-paced global economy.

The programme’s successful applicants will be working in areas like software development, global consulting, business process management and human resources. Throughout the 12-month internship, participants will receive training in the technical and commercial skills needed to build a successful career in any of these disciplines, and will also get the opportunity to work on client projects – all while learning about Indian culture, living in a new city and working with one of the globe’s leading digital businesses.

The world’s fastest growing economy

On top of being one of the world’s most diverse countries, India boasts one of the fastest growing economies, with development rates of more than seven percent, outpacing China and the rest of the developed world. Last year, UK Prime Minister David Cameron stated that “India invests more in the UK than in the rest of the EU combined, creating almost 8,000 new jobs here last year.” The Indian IT sector is a major reason for this growth, adding US$29bn to the Indian economy since 2013.

The programme’s successful applicants will need to be able to travel to India from mid-August 2016 and will be based in one of nine major cities in India, where they will stay for 12-months.

By the end of the internship, participants will have gained invaluable digital and business skills, on top of gaining international experience and working for a major multi-national corporation. The aim is to make participants highly employable in the UK and elsewhere in the world.

Depending on performance, participants may be offered the chance to continue working with TCS beyond the initial internship period. TCS currently creates 500 jobs in the UK annually, and the shortage of trained IT professionals within the UK means the company often has 200 or more open vacancies at a time.

Click here if you are interested in applying for one of the TCS-British Council internships. Applications close 31st March, 2016.

Image via Shutterstock.

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