The project responds to the new skill needs of working life and the problem areas of the joint phase between education and working life by creating a trainee program concept that encourages the hiring of university students and recent graduates. The concept combines on-the-job learning, skills-supplementary training, and supported orientation and peer support. The operating concept to be built in the project is based on the idea of apprenticeship training. The concept offers students nearing the end of their university studies and recent graduates the opportunity to increase the relevance of their own skills profile to work life. The other party to the concept is the region's SMEs, which have a need for academic competence, but whose needs are not met by the competence of a recent graduate. In addition, the trainings built in the trainee program are also offered to a wider group of students, thus strengthening their skills and employability. With these measures, the project lowers the threshold for hiring university students who are about to graduate to companies in the Turku area. The project responds to the widely recognized mismatch problem between the skills of university graduates and the needs of companies in the SME sector in particular. Those who graduate from university do not always have sufficient experience or know-how that can be applied in a targeted manner to the company's needs, but an academic degree provides the skills to learn and develop at work as an expert in a certain field. Larger companies have typically responded to this challenge by building their own Trainee programs that combine work and training. Small and medium-sized companies do not have the resources for this. The aim of the project is: - improves the working life relevance of the skills of graduating students - to increase the placement of university students in small and medium-sized companies - increase students' understanding of the requirements and possibilities of different positions already at the application stage and smooth the transition to working life - support the conditions for the growth of companies in the region by lowering the threshold for hiring a university student - promote long-term forecasting and management of companies' skills needs. The goal of the project is not to offer education leading to a degree, but to produce the applied skills needed in the labor market for those graduating from the university, making use of their basic degree. In addition, the goal of the project is to increase the capacity of SMEs to identify their skills needs and to develop recruitment and orientation processes. Actions: 1. The current recruitment needs of the participating companies are mapped. 2. Create a tool for mapping the skills of students and recent graduates. 3. Build a customizable model of the trainee program and pilot the program with companies in different industries. 4. The information obtained from the trainee program will be utilized and competency surveys and trainings will be offered to students outside the trainee program. 5. A nationally applicable university-led trainee model will be created. The main target groups of the project are students of the Master's phase of the University of Turku, alumni who graduated no more than two years earlier, and small and medium-sized companies in the area. With the project, the employability of students and recent graduates will improve and they will get opportunities to work in a wider group of companies. A more accurate description of companies' competence needs, combined with additional training, improves mutual understanding and increases students' competence. The entire region of Varsinais-Suomi benefits from the fact that the skills and employment of highly educated people in the region are developed and that the operating conditions of companies are supported by increasing the availability of skilled labor.