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The hard truth about soft skills and their implications for the future workforce: Findings from interns on the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative Internship Programme
Presentation
The South African government is introducing several interventions to manage the high unemployment rate. Most affected by this high unemployment are youths and graduates. One such intervention to manage the high unemployment rate are internships. Saliently, the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative Internship Programme (PYEIIP). Borrowing from gaps in the internship and skills development literature some gaps can be noted.
First, calls exist to ascertain the new roles and skills needed within the context of the future of work. Second, there is also a need to ascertain how these new roles and skills assist in developing not just organisations but also the workforce of the future. Within the context of internship programmes, a need also exists to evaluate the efficacy of such interventions. An interpretivist paradigm with a qualitative research approach was utilised, involving a sample of 22 interns over a six-month period against their experience on the PYEIIP. Narrative analysis was conducted, drawing on the stories of experience shared by the participants. The three levels of meaning-making used in previous international and South African organisational behaviour research was used to analyse the data.
Three main findings can be drawn from the study. First, the interns expressed the internship experience to be consisting of routine and mundane administrative activities. Second, from such activities, a range of skills were attributed to feature. These included: time management, persistence, writing, communication and problem solving. Third, participants to the study narrated how these acquired skills would come handy post the internship. The appreciation was how such skills enhanced readiness for the workplace. Based on the findings, strategies can be developed to assist to enhance the work experience of interns. This includes aspects related to the promotion of skills needed for the labour market. The study magnifies especially the need to continually enhance soft skills acquisition especially within internship interventions.
How will the delegates be able to apply your session content back on their job?
The session will identify the skills needed to enhance internship interventions. This can help improve current workplace practices.
What type of tip/tool (e.g., a template, framework, etc.) will you leave the delegates with?
Ideas will be shared how enhance internship programmes.
What do you want your audience to know at the end of your presentation and what will the three main points be?
The types of skills emanating from the internship experience.
How such skills are used for the present and future world of work.
Inferences on how to improve internship interventions.
