As part of their commitment to supporting the human development pillar of the Qatar National Vision 2030, INJAZ Qatar, a non-profit organization and member of Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide and Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development held a graduation ceremony for their Youth Job Readiness Program students on Tuesday 8 October, 2013 at Katara.
The Youth Job Readiness Program successfully engaged 400 students in 2013 and is targeted at providing undergraduates with practical work experience, business networking and potential employment opportunities. Participating students received certificates of achievement for the program, which is sponsored by Boeing.
Saleh Al-Khulaifi, Bedaya Center General Manager during his opening speech at the graduation ceremony highlighted the importance of Job Shadowing. “Through this experience, we tried to solve a very important issue among youth in Qatar; Job shadowing has never been recognized. Now students are made aware of the many different career options that are available to them, and how important it is to choose based on their particular preferences, strengths and weaknesses in order to find the career path that suits them best.” Said Mr.Al-Khulaifi
INJAZ Qatar’s Executive Director Aysha Al Mudahka commented, “It is extremely fulfilling to see this new generation of students motivated to grow and develop into Qatar’s future business leaders. One of our Work Readiness pillars is to inspire and motivate Qatar’s youth by giving them the opportunity to be part of major companies in the country and see what it takes to run a successful business first-hand. We are proud to celebrate this major accomplishment forged through partnership between academia and the business community.”
The Youth Job Readiness Program featured three phases. Participants firstly attended a series of career-building training workshops including a Junior Achievement work readiness program, followed by job shadowing of professionals in a Qatar-based company and a month-long summer internship. INJAZ Qatar and Bedaya Center kicked off their Job Shadow Day initiative and internships as part of the Youth Job Readiness Program earlier this year.
Ikhlas Shamieh, student from Qatar University said, “I am extremely thankful to INJAZ Qatar and Bedaya Center for giving me this great opportunity to gain experience and diversify my skill-set through the ‘Youth Job Readiness Program’. The job shadowing day at Al Jazeera was highly productive and a very rewarding experience in terms of understanding the overall international business environment.”
This year’s program was supported by 12 companies including Nasser Bin Khaled & Sons, Michelin Tires, Qatar Shell Research & Technology Center, Msheireb Properties, Vodafone, Barwa Bank, Al Jazeera Network, Qatar Development Bank, Abu Issa Holding, ExxonMobil, Mannai Corporation and Deloitte Qatar. As a result of the internships, one of the students of the program was offered a full time position at Nasser Bin Khaled & Sons.
As part of their role in the Program, Bedaya Center was a major player in managing many aspects of the project implementation including developing the job shadow curriculum and liaising with students, as well as recruiting and allocating volunteers.
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