Internship is more than making coffee and running errands, says DoLE

Posted at 5:12 pm September 08, 2011

Tags: Labor and Employment

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By Anna Valmero

QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA— Are available internship programs in the country living up to the objective of preparing students for work after graduation?

Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) chief Rosalinda Baldoz cited the importance of a better internship program for university graduates through effective partnerships between the academe, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and private sector.

About 51 percent (or 1.5 million) of the 2.9 million unemployed individuals in the country are young workers aged 15 to 24 years old.

“Within the group of young workers aged 15 to 24 years old, and considered part of the labor force, some 18 percent are unemployed. We have a huge educated unemployed sector since two in every five unemployed workers have college or higher education,” Baldoz said.

Baldoz also urges the youth to be responsible for their careers by acquiring proper skills and making correct educational choices, and engaging in dedicated skills training.

Aside from gaining school credits, internships enable students to gain experience in their field, determine their interest in a particular career and create a network of contacts, said Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) executive director Cynthia Cruz.

“We need to develop clear and consolidated guidelines on internship, apprenticeship and one-the-job training (OJT) programs that will help our young jobseekers maximize these opportunities to gain needed experience for work,” Cruz said.

In an ILS study, “Alternative Pathways: Toward charting an Actionable Framework for Youth Employment & Migration,” it was found that many young jobseekers have difficulties entering the job market due to the ambiguity of “learnership”, apprenticeship, internship and OJT programs.

In the same study, it was noted that internships have often been described where students serve coffee and run errands for intern supervisors, defeating its purpose to allow students to transition from school to work.

During consultations held last year by the ILS and the National Youth Commission for the Labor and Employment Plan 2016, youth leaders raised the issue of varying lengths of service and the unclear tasks and skills to be developed in internship programs.

OJT programs are not being taken seriously by some students, according to the consultations. Most OJT programs were found to be “too short and not aligned with courses taken up by students.” Youth leaders also said that companies did not seem to trust the trainees’ competence.

The Philippine experience in terms of mismatch in skills of students and the market was similar to other countries, Baldoz said.

According to a survey of Manpower Inc. involving 35,000 employers in 36 countries, one-third or 31 percent of employers worldwide have difficulty filling up positions due to lack of suitable talents.

Quoting the study, Baldoz said the labor market needs “not just technical capabilities, but skills in combination with critical thinking skills that will help drive the company forward.”

Job applicants must be “job-ready” in terms of employers’ perception by having both hard and soft skills, according to a study entitled Global Talent Index 2011-2015.

To be ready for work, students should have verbal, writing, computing and analytical thinking or reasoning skills as well as English proficiency, practical knowledge and previous work experience, Baldoz said.