The great graduate hunt… We hate ads… Mobile TV plans in HK… Female-friendly taxis…

Where to find your rising stars

As the war for young talent hots up, employers are turning to university graduate fairs to try and attract talents to their ranks. The Australian Association of Graduate Employers says graduate job vacancies are 14% higher this year than in 2006.

The University of Queensland has a waiting list of employers wanting to participate in its fair on March 21 after a 50% increase in bookings, according to Monday’s Australian Financial Review.

RMIT University has had a 50% increase in employer exhibitors in the last two years while the University of NSW has 30 new employers.

The skills shortage is also prompting employers to widen their net and consider graduates from different courses. For example the ANZ Bank now considers arts and history graduates.

We are advertising-averse

A US study has found that 10% to 15% of people between the ages of 17 to 35 hate advertising and go out of their way to avoid it.

They see ads as annoying and irritating and watch little free-to-air TV, avoid radio and are not big readers of magazines. Instead they use the internet, mobile phones, CDs and occasionally watch pay-TV programs.

The study by Lifestyles of the Ad Averse says marketers need to represent themselves as guests, not gate crashers, and ensure ads are relevant, low key and entertaining, says a report in the Australian Financial Review on Monday.

The ad avoiders accept online banners as OK, as are opt-in emails and product placement in TV programs. They dislike pop-up ads, text messages, videos sent to mobiles and distracting internet content like animation.

Mobile TV rules in Hong Kong

Phone company PCCW plans to take mobile TV to the people of Hong Kong by setting up 3000 Wi-Fi hotspots around the island city, Fortune reports.

PCCW subscribers within the hotspots, to be placed in cafés, train stations, parks and other public places, will be able to access online TV through their mobile phones, laptops, PDAs — anything with wireless connectivity.

The content is delivered in IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) format — essentially, TV signals converted to an internet-friendly form — and includes big ticket items such as the 2008 EUFA cup.

Given that Hong Kong that isn’t that big a place, by the time all 3000 hotspots are rolled out, subscribers will never have far to go for a quick bit of TV.

Cabs for, and by, women

Women-only taxis are a growing global trend. They have been seen in Moscow, Dubai and Teheran, reports Springwise.com.

Moscow’s Pink Taxi, launched in August 2006, initially consisted of two cars and two drivers. Six months later the fleet is 20 strong, with 27 drivers, and the owners are considering more luxurious vehicles.

A year ago in Britain, Pink Ladies, a women-only private car franchise, sprang up. In Dubai, taxis for women started operating in January 2007.

The initiative was launched by Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority, which trained 100 female drivers and has a fleet of 50 vehicles. The goal is to provide a secure mode of transport for women and children, and the city’s sand-coloured taxis with pink roofs will mainly pick up passengers at hospitals and shopping malls, according to the Gulf News.

It’s all motivated by safety concerns — for cab drivers as well as their passengers.