Employers today are not only looking for workers with strong academic background, but a combination of tangible and intangible skills which can be combined with academic knowledge to positively impact the bottom line. Ideally, workers who also have practical work experience which demonstrates their abilities. For young graduates this practical exposure comes in the form of internships, especially if it’s offered in a competitive framework.
Participation in applied learning experiences such as internships not only enable youth to build-upon their academic education but also provides opportunities to develop a network of contacts, which becomes invaluable in the job search process leading to early employability and eventual success in their careers. At the same time, opportunities which offer a holistic approach to the demands of the corporate world are far and few between which lessens the chances of success for the youth.
To cater to this need, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) came up with a specially tailored internship programme in 2012, which grooms the youth based on the company’s triple ideology of engagement, encouragement and evolution.
The opportunity enables 500 university graduates to build their capacity by working on various real life business challenges in engineering, finance, marketing, customer care, Information Technology (IT) and Human Resource (HR) domains of PTCL.
Internship like the once presented by PTCL progressively enhance the career development of participants and enable students to test their career interests, gain transferable skills that are sought by employers, and increase their networking opportunities.
Based on the success of the first batch – which resulted in job offers to 50 top performers at PTCL and hiring of 100 interns by other employers upon completion and further 283 getting jobs during the continuity of this programme – another group of 500 interns have joined the programme at an increased stipend of Rs. 15,000 per month.
All this was done to ensure that these educated youngsters who found it hard to gain an access to such a unique development and learning opportunity, got a chance to acquire essential skill set and knowledge base that gives them distinctive edge in local as well as overseas job market.
Highlighting the importance of the programme, President & Chief Executive Officer of PTCL, Walid Irshaid said the organisation is cognizant of its social responsibilities and keeping this tradition, it targeted unemployed youth.
He said he is confident this programme would play an important role in capacity building of human capital in larger interest of the country.
Walid said this programme is designed to develop and enhance capacity of the youth as the organisation plans to explore more such innovative approaches which serve the society in future as well.
In his comments, Chief Human Resource Officer of PTCL, Syed Mazhar Hussain the organisation would continue exploring innovative ways like this to serve the society.
He hoped besides furthering their professional careers, these young professionals would contribute a lot toward well-being of their families and national economy as well.
Students who engage in such several career related work experiences at an earlier stage, are able to secure employment more quickly, are more likely to be employed within their field of study, and are generally more satisfied in their current work positions than graduates with no career related experience.
With rapidly changing business environments and advances in technology, demand for individuals who are team players, proactive and can solve problems is growing. To this end, the internship program of PTCL maximizes the strengths of each individual by providing a chance to work on state-of-the-art technological platforms and exposure to best business practices under tutelage of industry gurus.
