Friday Nov 29, 2024
Friday Nov 29, 2024
Thursday, 18 September 2014 00:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
NEXT Campus Program Director Kumudu Abeywardene who was busy planning the next intake of just 30 students for the program speaking about what this unique new program is all about said: “We worked towards this for the last three years. We studied the market, spoke to young graduates and their parents and spoke to companies and their HR directors. There was one thing in common we found; most of the graduates couldn’t find suitable employment after they completed their degrees and companies repeatedly complained that the skill sets of fresh graduates were not what they wanted. So we thought we will close that gap in the market.”
Speaking of the current competition for jobs for fresh graduates, she stated that whilst most wanted to join a reputed company as a ‘management trainee, many companies tended to not advertise but go by references or personal contacts to recruit fresh graduates.
She said that companies were also particular about the quality of the graduates they employed as management trainees as many companies planned to invest a few million rupees over a few years to develop them to become directors or heads of function in 10-15 years. This meant that graduates had to possess a sound knowledge of theory across broad management areas. They also need to have practical knowledge and soft skills like working in teams, communication and negotiation skills and personal confidence, just to name a few. Outlining the program, Abeywardene said that it comprised of a total package that included a business degree from Teesside University in UK. She explained that this modern up-to-date syllabus is directly from the university and that there was no difference in studying it here or in the UK.
They have also signed up with many leading companies to provide much needed short internship programs for the students few times per year, plus some industry visits. This would enable students to see what they learn and allow them to get their ‘hands dirty’ a little bit and bring some wonderful experiences to class when they return.
NEXT Campus also has a pool of top managers and CEOs to coach these students in groups and on a one-to-one basis, so that they start learning what they need in real corporate life. The result would be that it would produce some top management trainees that companies will want to hire. Some of the students will also go back as management trainees to the companies they did internships for, which means no interviews. “We will make this happen for lucky 30 students,” affirmed Abeywardene.
Explaining why each class will only have 30 students, Abeywardene said that it required a dedicated approach for almost three long years to get the students to meet the standards expected of them. In order to do this, they could only accommodate a limited amount of students per class.
“Our personal challenge is, after three years and the completion of their degree, they will all secure top management trainee positions. In addition we offer free Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM UK) for these students if they wish to get a professional qualification, as today is all about dual qualifications!”
Abeywardene concluded: “We believe that is program will transform school leavers to become the future leaders of the corporate world and we invite students to make use of this opportunity.”
