Internships can transform business environment

Allan Brian Ssenyonga Rwanda, like all her neighbours, is grappling with a huge youth population that urgently needs employment. A country where energetic youth are idle is bound to find itself in a tricky situation. A youthful population ought to be exploited before old age kicks in. Youth unemployment is something that policymakers, and pretty much everyone, need to think about more and seek solutions. We need exhaustive answers to all the questions related to this issue as soon as possible. It is important to note that though there is a shortage of jobs for the youth, some sectors of the economy lack skilled personnel. Attitude is also another key issue to look into. While some adults argue that the youth do not like to work, the youth will also point to employers who are not willing to give them a chance to work. Others have told the young graduates to be job-creators and not job seekers, something that is often met with answers like “but we have no capital to start anything tangible”. We seem to have arrived here because a lot of growth in the East African Community is experiencing is in the services industry, which employ few people compared to the manufacturing industry. In other words, we are experiencing growth that cannot absorb the numbers of youth coming from tertiary institutions. Young entrepreneurs wait to pitch their business ideas at a recent business competition. (File) In schools, entrepreneurship has been introduced as a core subject expected to equip students with the necessary skills to venture out on their own and enterprises instead of photocopying and distributing their CVs all town in search of jobs. However, a lot can be achieved if businesses embraced the idea of internships. Much as we want the youth to be job-creators, they need to learn from the best. They need mentorship, and an internship placement might just be the thing that changes the attitudes of young graduates about work and also change the attitudes of employers towards the unemployed youth. Imagine if companies were required by law to offer internship to students, maybe in exchange for, say a tax exemption however small. What firms should understand is that interns are an extra hand that does not necessarily affect the the wage bill. More importantly, an intern can learn a lot from time spent at a company even if their duty is to serve tea and run errands. This experience can teach them about how to dress for work, figuring out office politics and getting inspiration from the company heads. They get a chance to see what the world of work is all about; which experience can go a long way in turning them from mere unemployed youth to employable ones. During the internship, the company’s full-time staff can teach the intern particular skills, like bookkeeping, which they can apply in future employment. One particular staff member can be a mentor, teaching them the ropes and laddles of the workplace, and requisite hands-on skills. When this (employing interns) is embraced, we can slowly but sure create a generation of youth with a better attitude towards work, the inspiration and hands-on experience to easily transform into job-creators. Otherwise, we cannot expect job-creators to just emerge from nowhere without the slightest idea of responsibility that comes with a job or running an enterprise. Internship can also be a good learning opportunity for employers as they interact with the young people. An employer can learn more about the expectations and attitudes of young people. Therefore, instead of just dismissing them as unemployable, employers could listen to them and advise them accordingly. One can then even carryout research, asking the employers and interns what needs to be changed as regards to the education system to fit with the trends and realities out there. The cries about unemployment and lack of employable graduates needs to pave way for a genuine learning process that transforms the business environment. Employers should also start picking top brains straight from school. Nothing will motivate students better if, for example ,the best marketing student at university is assured of a well-paying job at a big firm in town. I know a secondary school in Kigali whose deputy head-teacher endeavours to find placements for her students during the holidays to work in different places and learn whatever they can learn about learning. This is the way to go for any firm. Email: ssenyonga@gmail.com Blog: www.ssenyonga.wordpress.com

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Internships can transform business environment