Sanlam’s internship programme boosts skills development

SANLAM recently awarded seven students with internship opportunities. They are all currently studying in different fields, and are required by their respective universities to do a work- integrated programme or internship programme in order to graduate.

Responding to the call by students and the universities to have students placed for internships, Sanlam introduced its formalised internship programme in 2019 to ensure that as many students as possible are afforded the opportunity to acquire real life work experiences, which will help them graduate and prepare them for working life.

The objective of the internship programme is to cultivate and nurture skills’ development to assist students to acquire the necessary work experience, thereby supplementing their theoretical knowledge with practical work experience.

In a media statement, Sanlam’s Marketing and Communications Manager Hilaria Graig said “Sanlam has taken cognisance of the critical shortage of skills in the country, and also its quest to prepare students for the job market, and designed a two-pronged approach to skills development.

First by providing financial support to students in the form of bursaries, and secondly by offering them an opportunity to acquire real life work experiences through the internship programme”.

Graig added that as a responsible corporate citizen, Sanlam recognises its social obligations towards community development, and is committed to broader sustainable social and economic development. She said the Sanlam internship programme was different from other programmes offered by other institutions because theirs is aimed at supporting both the universities and the students.

“A few years ago, we were contacted by the universities about the struggle they experience with finding enough placements for their students, and that this often resulted in students not graduating. As a company, we committed to assist the institutions by introducing a formalised internship programme that responds directly to this need, and we are happy to see that our programme is highly sought-after by the students”, she said. This year, Sanlam received over 200 applications for internships.

The seven students who will tackle their internship programme for the next three months are Angel Tjijombo (Bachelor of Communication – NUST), Phillipine Iyambo (Bachelor of Science: Applied Mathematics and Statistics – NUST), Dylan Mouton (Bachelor of Business Management – NUST), Natangwe Hamunyela (Bachelor of Business Administration – IUM), Dominique Prinz (Bachelor of Human Resources – NUST), Nguvitjita Hambeka (Bachelor of Law – UNAM) and Ester Vaendanawa (Bachelor of Economics – UNAM).

The students will be placed in different departments, including Actuarial, Marketing, Legal and Compliance, Human Resources, Investments and the Distribution (Sales) Environment. Here, the students will be exposed to the intricacies of these respective departments, and acquire the muchneeded on-the-job training.

Graig encouraged the new interns to make full use of the opportunity afforded to them, and implored on them to learn as much as they can because an internship is often the start of one’s career.

Since its introduction, a few students have found permanent employment within Sanlam as a result of the internship programme.

The next call for interns is expected to be announced in August.