Students pick up experience as government interns

(CNS): Civil service bosses said that 90 young people who worked in more than a dozen government departments this summer picked up valuable experience which will help them in their future careers in the private sector as well as the public. With the civil servicefacing an uncertain future and a reduction in headcount it remains to be seen if there will be any jobs waiting for the young people when they finished their studies. However, Franz Manderson the civil service boss said what they learned in the myriad posts they undertook this summer will be useful regardless of where their careers take them.

“The work experience will have provided these young people with a meaningful insight into government services and the requirements of a dynamic public administration,” the Deputy Governor, Franz Manderson, said adding that what they learned in the few weeks they spent in government, “should provide invaluable knowledge and skills that will come in handy whether employed in the public or private sectors in the future.”

The programme which provided summer jobs to Caymanian students, who worked anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months, ran from 20 May and will end on 1 September

The young people were provided temporary jobs ranging from receptionist to office support assistant and computer technician. Others offered support services in public administration, engineering, medical and environmental health, as well as legal and child day care services, or shadowed senior officers at work.

Ranging in age from 16-25 years, the interns are studying a wide variety of subjects at overseas universities, local schools and colleges. One was also enrolled in the Passport2Success programme an employment ministry initiative which helps to better prepare unemployed persons for the job market and workplace. The group included scholarship and non-scholarship students.

Immigration, Computer Services, Education, Judicial Administration, Government Information Services, Legal and Public Works, as well as the Deputy Governor’s Office, Cabinet Office, Portfolio of the Civil Service, Ministry of Education, Employment and Gender Affairs and the Ministry of Health, Sports, Youth and Culture provided posts for the interns.

Gloria McField-Nixon, the portfolio of the civil service’s chief officer explained that for the  employers, the work experience provided human resources personnel with an idea of students’ potential employability should jobs become available.

Care was taken, she said, to ensure that the interns derived the most benefit possible from the programme, including slotting students into jobs that matched their areas of study. The aim was to build up their competencies and so boost their confidence, knowledge and skill levels, which would better translate into future job opportunities with government, the private sector or self-employment, McField-Nixon added.