Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett right this moment introduced sturdy outcomes from the Tourism Enhancement Fund’s (TEF) Summer season Internship Program, with 12,000 younger Jamaicans making use of for profession alternatives this 12 months.
The Minister made this announcement throughout this system’s inaugural profession webinar, “Navigating Internships and Profession Progress,” which attracted over 3,000 reside individuals. The webinar launched this 12 months’s staging of the initiative that can ship greater than 1,000 paid internship placements throughout all 14 parishes, supported by 112 confirmed employers.
“Once I take a look at the quantity 12,000—the younger Jamaicans who utilized to this program this 12 months—I don’t simply see statistics, I see 12,000 goals,” stated Minister Bartlett. “You aren’t simply individuals in a webinar. You’re pioneers in your individual proper.”
Focusing on college students aged 17-25, this system instantly addresses the important abilities hole between training and employment in Jamaica‘s more and more aggressive job market.
Working below the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation (JCTI), a division inside TEF, this system supplies individuals with internationally acknowledged {qualifications} via the American Lodge and Lodging Instructional Institute (AHLEI). This partnership elevates this system past conventional summer time employment.
“We don’t simply provide you with a summer time job; we provide you with skilled {qualifications} that can open doorways all through your profession.”
Minister Bartlett emphasised, “Each intern who completes our program leaves with the AHLEI Licensed Visitor Service Skilled designation—a credential acknowledged globally.”
The webinar featured three distinguished business consultants who offered strategic profession steerage to individuals – Naomi Garrick, Tobia James and Kalilah Reynolds.
Private branding knowledgeable Naomi Garrick challenged individuals to distinguish themselves past conventional educational credentials and technical abilities.
“Generally we neglect to incorporate in our résumé these delicate abilities—the issues that make us who we’re,” Garrick noticed. “It’s possible you’ll come throughout individuals with the identical credentials. However what else will you say in that interview to provide the edge?” She urged individuals to strategically place and promote their distinctive private manufacturers with confidence.
Profession Improvement Officer Tobia James delivered sensible recommendation on software optimization {and professional} resilience. “Life is like a pc—you all the time need to be troubleshooting. There’s by no means a cut-off date to surrender. Hold going and preserve enhancing,” James suggested. She emphasised the important significance of aligning résumés with particular job descriptions whereas successfully showcasing transferable problem-solving talents.
Cash Issues Ltd CEO Kalilah Reynolds challenged individuals to rethink typical approaches to wealth constructing and monetary planning. “Saving is just addition. Investing is the place we get to multiplication. You may by no means save your solution to wealth, and it’s also possible to by no means work your solution to wealth,” Reynolds defined. She launched her strategic “wealth equation” incorporating actual property funding, entrepreneurship, and inventory market participation as pathways to long-term monetary success.
Since launching in 2007, the TEF Summer season Internship Program has advanced dramatically from a fundamental work expertise initiative into a classy profession improvement platform. This 12 months’s excessive degree of curiosity demonstrates each this system’s enhanced popularity and the tourism sector’s increasing alternatives for rising younger professionals.
“Be current. Be engaged. Be prepared to rework not simply your summer time, however your future,” Minister Bartlett concluded, reinforcing this system’s dedication to creating lasting profession affect somewhat than momentary employment options.
