Our partners

TalentScotland is a joint venture aimed at promoting Scotland as an outstanding place to live and work for talented professionals. It also supports Scottish companies in attracting the best international talent from around the world.

Our partners are

In addition to this, we are assisted by the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) on the delivery of our Graduate Placement Programme.

Find out more about our partners below 

The Scottish Government

The Scottish Government is the Executive arm of devolved government in Scotland.

The Scottish Government, known as the Scottish Executive prior to 2007, is responsible in Scotland for all issues that are not explicitly reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament at Westminster by Schedule Five of the Scotland Act 1998.

Matters devolved to Scotland include:

  • Health
  • Education
  • Justice
  • Home affairs
  • Rural affairs
  • Economic development
  • Transport

The Scottish Government is led by the First Minister, nominated by the Scottish Parliament and by the Queen, who then appoints a Ministerial team from the elected MSPs, with the approval of Parliament.

The First Minister, the Cabinet Secretaries and the Scottish Law Officers are the Members of the Scottish Government. They are collectively known as the 'Scottish Ministers'.

Parliamentary elections in Scotland, initiated in 1999 when the Scottish Parliament was re-convened after a gap of almost 300 years, are held every four years. Of 129 MSPs 73 are elected from first-past-the-post constituencies with a further 56 are returned from eight regions, each of which elect seven MSPs as a form of mixed member proportional representation.

New administrations are appointed after each election. Previous Administration have served for the periods 1999-2003 and 2003-2007

The Scottish Government have set for themselves the following overall purpose

"To focus Government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth."

This overall purpose is supported by five Strategic Objectives:

  • Wealthier and Fairer: Enable businesses and people to increase their wealth and more people to share fairly in that wealth
  • Healthier: Help people to sustain and improve their health, especially in disadvantaged communities, ensuring better, local and faster access to health care
  • Safer and Stronger: Help local communities to flourish, becoming stronger, safer place to live, offering improved opportunities and a better quality of life
  • Smarter: Expand opportunities for Scots to succeed from nurture through to life long learning ensuring higher and more widely shared achievements
  • Greener: Improve Scotland's natural and built environment and sustainable use and enjoyment of it

Attracting people to live in Scotland

Population growth contributes to achieving the overall purpose of the Scottish Government. They have set a target to match the average European (EU15) population growth rate over the period 2007 to 2017. In order to meet this target, the Scottish Government works hard to create the right conditions for talented people to live, learn, visit, work and remain in Scotland.

This is achieved through a variety of ways including:

  • Highlighting opportunities and providing support for graduates to stay in Scotland after completion of their studies
  • Promoting Scotland and highlighting opportunities for study and work offered to talented people
  • Through the TalentScotland Relocation Advisory Service
  • Working with the UK Government to consider how UK immigration policy can better take account of Scotland’s demographic needs and has lobbied for flexibilities within the system.

Scottish Government website

Scottish Enterprise

Funded by the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise is Scotland's main economic development agency and seeks to boost Scotland’s business potential and create a booming and competitive set of industries within the country.

Scottish Enterprise aims to provide a range of high-quality services in order to:

  • Help new businesses get underway
  • Support and develop existing businesses
  • Help people gain the knowledge and skills they need for jobs
  • Help Scottish businesses develop a strong presence in the global economy

Scottish Enterprise also works with universities, colleges, local authorities and other public sector bodies.

Scottish Enterprise website

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is the Scottish Government’s economic and community development agency for a largely rural region which covers half of Scotland.

HIE aims to deliver sustainable economic growth by helping ambitious businesses and social enterprises with growth potential, and working to strengthen communities, particularly in the region’s fragile areas.

HIE also invests in long-term transformational projects to make the Highlands and Islands a more competitive and attractive place to live, work, study and grow.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise website 

Scottish Development International

Scottish Development International (SDI) aims to assist in the growth of the Scottish economy, by encouraging inward investment and helping Scottish-based companies develop international trade.

SDI can help your company or project benefit from the business and research opportunities available in Scotland and provide you with information on the wide range of business grant schemes available in Scotland.

To date, around 1,500 leading global companies, including Amazon, 02 and Dell, have invested in Scotland.

Scottish Development International website

AGCAS

AGCAS Scotland is a part of AGCAS which is the professional association for higher education (HE) careers practitioners.  It uses the expertise and resources of its membership for the collective benefit of its members, HE careers services, their clients and customers, and the sector overall.

The AGCAS Scotland mission is to lead, and support the delivery of the highest quality career education, information and guidance for students and graduates, in collaboration with key stakeholders.

AGCAS website

Our Graduate Placement Programme is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.