Stanbic opens opportunities for university students

A TOTAL of 20 university students are set to benefit in the 2019/2020 cycle of Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe’s exclusive internship programme.

The programme is strategically structured to prepare budding young professionals for the workplace after university.

The annual internship programme aimed at equipping students with robust all-round work experience recently opened for 2019/2020 hopefuls who are expected to send their applications via the financial institution’s website before the end of August 2019.

The bank’s internship programme has been running for over five years offering students from different fields of study an opportunity to gain experience from the regional bank.

Stanbic Bank’s head of human capital, Mrs Audrey Mlambo, indicated that the institution raised the number of beneficiaries by 100 percent from only 10 students in 2018 in line with their focus on sustainable contributions towards the growth and development of the company’s employees as well as the nation at large.

“We do not equip these students for our own benefit, but we give them this opportunity to acquire skills for the benefit of our country and that of Africa as a whole because Africa is our home and we are here to drive its growth.

“These students are transformed into enthusiastic young professionals with great skills and talent, which is why we are delighted when they get hired by different employers or start their own businesses. It is for the benefit of our economy”, she added.

Mrs Mlambo said the programme offers internship opportunity to students in fields such as Banking and Finance, Investment Management, International Finance, Accounting, Real Estate, Management Economics, Risk Management & Insurance, Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Analytics Data Science, Marketing, Records and Archives Management and Bachelor of Laws.

“Our programme aims at equipping students with robust all-round work experience which gives them an advantage in the sight of future employers as well as their entrepreneurial journey”, said Mrs Mlambo.

She added that after the programme, some of the students get absorbed into the Stanbic Bank workforce while others get opportunities with other employers soon after the one-year training session.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, approximately 30 000 students graduate annually from the country’s institutions of higher learning and only a small percentage are able to acquire employment in the formal sector.