The 24-year-old Spaniard Fina Mendez is clear about it: “While studying at the university I always thought I would have a job, provided I finished my degree. I just didn’t want to start thinking about the alarming unemployment figures among young people that kept appearing on TV. But in my fifth year, when I realised that my days as a student were coming to an end, I had to face the reality of what was happening in my country: after five years studying at university, linguists, engineers, journalists, in short, young graduates – our “better prepared generation” – were not able to find a job in Spain.
After applying to every company in the book, Fina waited for ages for a phone call that would hopefully give her some good news. But no one called. And then: “I started hearing from acquaintances who had just plucked up their courage and gone abroad”, she said. Short of money, “they took nothing but a small bag since, of course, they flew with a low-cost airline” and they did not even know how long they would be away. “As long as the money lasts,” they said. Looking on the bright side, said Fina, “at least they didn’t stay at home with their arms folded”.
Meanwhile, with the unemployment rate in Spain at 43.5 per cent, the highest in the EU, and those young people who currently have a job being under employed, considering their qualifications, this graduate in Tourism, Advertising and Public Relations decides to come to Malta, where she is now following an internship with a conference and incentive organisation, thanks to an exchange programme offered by the Assembly of European Regions.
On the other hand, Patricia Lopes, a native of Portugal, finished her degree in prosthodontistry three years ago. Patricia says: “It is extremely difficult to get a job if you lack experience, especially in Portugal, where at the moment there are no jobs for young people”. This is why she packed her suitcase two months ago and came to work in Malta as an intern under the European Leonardo da Vinci programme, which enables people to train in another EU country. As she says: “This challenge is a fantastic way of getting practical experience and improving your language skills by working in a real job in a real company”.
In this sense, Agata Derkowska from Poland is about to finish her studies. She arrived in Malta a month ago to do an internship as a librarian in the University library. She is on the European Erasmus Practical Trainer Programme, which enables her to begin getting experience in her field before finishing her degree. Taking the economical situation of Poland into account, she is sure that “having had an international placement” will make her “more attractive to future employers” in her country.
All these young people, and many more, are taking part in innovative and prestigious projects carefully designed by local companies. These are opportunities that present themselves to employers in their search for new talent among qualified graduates. In the words of Foundation of Human Resources Development (FHRD) CEO Joe Gerada: “it is vital to look for a person who fits in with the culture of the organisation”. That’s precisely the main characteristic required of both local students and graduate foreigners for them to be chosen to work as interns in FHRD. The Foundation expects the trainees “to be able to engage in practical work related to the events of the Foundation, willing to learn and the possibility to realise at least one project that the intern wishes to implement”. In short, initiative and entrepreneurship appear as the main factors to take advantage of this great opportunity.
In that respect, Mr Gerada warns that these internships “do not happen on their own”, but call for “thorough planning”. As far as he is concerned: “The company needs to identify the area that will accommodate an intern, then set the skills needed for that particular project, identify the institutions that may refer interns with the required skills and finally make the selection”. Likewise, he emphasises that “interns have to be managed”, and that organisations, on the other hand, “have a responsibility to ensure that their time in the organisation is well planned and used productively”.
Actually, it seems that youngsters from all over the world need a plan B. In these times of economic ups and downs, mobility internships appear to be an attractive solution to unemployment and a lack of job security that affects seriously well-prepared young people. In fact, in 2008 156 trainees from all over Europe chose Malta as their base for work experience and to develop their employability skills. This figure is expected to rise, and human resources professionals are destined to play an important role in this development.
Garcia Reche is a Spanish journalist at the Foundation for Human Resources Development