Internship Assistance Program (IAP)

Internship Assistance Program (IAP)

Update 1/1/2003

PalTrade has started its new program "the Internship assistance Program". The overall objective of this program is the matching of recent graduates and private sector organizations. The program is both supply and demand driven. Providing a database recording the capabilities and availability of young graduates in the business, economic, and applied science academic backgrounds stimulates the supply side. From the demand-driven side, companies benefit from the subsidies to the cost of training. Although the six-month pilot program is of short-term duration and impact, it has the potential of contributing durably to economic sustainability by bridging the gap between academic studies and private sector demand.

Benefits to participating interns:

Instills self-confidence
Provides on-the-job experience
Marries practical training with academic knowledge
Targets private sector needs
Assists the graduate in finding a full-time job
Updates graduate's skills and helps him/her to discover new skills

Benefits to participating companies

Creates potential full-time trained employees
Provides service by trainees
Safeguards against 'brain drain'
Increases organization's training capacity
Enhances the company's image and sense of corporate responsibility.

Since the program was announced to the public, more than 2850 applications have been filled by interns from 45 different specializations. Around 110 applications were filled by potential companies from all sectors willing to hire about258 interns. Approximately, 48% of the applications were from Gaza Strip and the rest from the West Bank.

Paltrade is negotiating the USAID and other donors to allocate more money to serve more interns to make it as a national program for the long run.

For further information contact PalTrade, Tel.: 02-2408383, Fax:02-2408370
e-mail: intern@paltrade.org

Update: 1/1/2003

The Pilot phase of this project has come to an end, this project was commenced with a 10-day media campaign which was designed to attract graduates and businesses in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 2500 graduates and 115 firms applied to utilize program services. In order to match the graduates with the firms, Paltrade created a database which was categorized by location, company needs and academic backgrounds of the graduates. The candidates were then screened and sent to interviews. When a company decided to hire a candidate, contracts were signed and sent back to Paltrade for authorization. Paltrade created a subsidy system to share the cost of the intern's salaries, paying 50% of each intern's income.

90 interns, 24 of whom were female, were accepted into the internship program. 73% of the firms in the West Bank and 65% of the firms in the Gaza Strip hired the interns for full-time positions within their companies at the completion of the internship program. A total of 78% of the interns had secured full-time employment within the private sector by the end of the program.

Currently, PalTrade has submitted a final full-scale plan for the expansion of the success created during the pilot phase to USAID and is looking forward to the rebirth of IAP.

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