A GRADUATE is hoping her subtle arts of persuasion will impress her first boss - a North-East hypnotist.

Rachel Evans, 23, of Sunderland, has landed a job promoting Whitley Bay comedy hypnotist Stuart Ashing, known as the Dreamweaver.

It is a dream job for Miss Evans, who graduated from University of Sunderland with an honours degree in media and marketing earlier this year.

Her first task was to promote 41-year-old Stuart's show at the Empire Theatre, in Sunderland, last weekend, which will be followed by publicising his national tour. She said: "I thought it would be great fun promoting such a different type of performance - and it has been.

"The work is so varied. It was a bit daunting working for such a high-profile person but the marketing skills I learned at Sunderland gave me the know-how and confidence to help raise Stuart's profile even further."

Rachel found the job thanks to the university's Business Bridge North-East, which links students to small and medium-sized companies. For information about Business Bridge, contact Julie Worthington on 0191-515 2666.