joankarungu wrote:I do not understand why it is that most of the companies in Kenya do not view interns/interships as valuble or even necessary!!Many times you need a "connection" to get one and in the end one only gains experience in KYM(kazi ya mkono).
Comapnies shouls step up and create opportunities for those in University or even staright out of HIgh School. A company can decline to take you while you are in first year and advice you to apply in third year and upon application and acceptance into that same company,what you are "trained" to do you realise could have been done even by a high school student. It is very frustrating!!
I challenge comapnies to come up with internship programs that will nurture students and provide the necessary support to them throughout their university life. Such internships should be capable of enabling students who are to choose majors etc to make better choices based on the experience they have gained.
So many students have untapped potential and i beleive interships can be one of the major avenues for exploiting this potential.
The problem is a combination of lack of understanding and security/insurance considerations.
Many HR practitioners do not realise that internships are a good [and cheap] hunting ground for future employees. Imagine this: you get to try out many new employees for peanuts and you can later choose some of the for permanent jobs in the future.
In some cases, insurers will reject claims where the employee who incurred the loss was an untrained intern. Thus the company has to bear the risk.
Imagine getting an attachment at a high risk industry, like petroleum. The company might be willing to give you 5k pm pocket money. Then you might be required to pay you additional risk insurance of 30k for the 3 months attachment. In short, you have to pay them 15k!
Many companies simply choose not to bother with internships.
About being given KYM that "can be done by a high school leaver"; have you ever thought about the life of a graduate teacher? I teacher of English will be taught all the intricacies of linguistic analysis, but when they are finally posted, they end up teaching "just high school level English".... argh!
That's the way of life. You are always taught to a much higher level than what you need for operational [read, "job'] purposes. If you want to apply you full knowledge of your subject, then I suggest you get a career in research.
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