Chess Master, Tunde Onakoya, together with Akintunde Sultan, Co-founder of AltSchool Africa, and Samuel Otigba of Vendy, have launched SIWES-connect, an initiative designed to link students and graduates in need of internship opportunities with companies in demand.
Sultan, in a conversation with Technext, explained that the initiative is simply a movement meant by the trio to bridge the gap between internship needs and opportunities, leveraging the founders’ social networks.
In addition, he noted that the initiative isn’t a grand plan or a company with a platform to credit. The plan is to attract as many companies as possible into a pool.
“It’s something that we’re just starting. We don’t have it all figured out yet. At the moment, we’re using our networks to actually share and make sure it gets to as many companies as possible. We’ve not built out the whole strategy. It’s not a company, but a social initiative,” Sultan said.
Announcing the project via his LinkedIn account, Tunde Onakoya explained that the trio’s collaboration will solve the difficulties faced by young Nigerians in getting opportunities to project their talents and improve their lives.
“We all know that talent is universal, but opportunity isn’t, which is why we are calling on all corporates, institutions, businesses and organisations to please partner with us to help us find placement for these young, brilliant minds and let them add value to your business,” Tunde Onakoya said.
To collate a comprehensive list of businesses, organisations, and companies that are in demand for interns and SIWES students, a Google form has been designed. In this form, organisations are required to state the role they are hiring for and the structure of engagement.
Also Read: AltSchool Africa is building a tech learning platform for teenagers.
Connecting interns to internship opportunities
While explaining the structure, Sultan noted that the project isn’t a product but a means to fill a gap. According to him, the concern, at this point, is to extend the pool through social media campaigns and pair students with opportunities.
“Some people are out there in need of an internship, and there is no specific place to pair them together. What we are doing is to raise awareness, get these openings and share with the interns.”
To make the application process easier, a LinkedIn post was created where applicants are required to comment ‘SIWES’ or ‘Internship’ in the comment section. Subsequently, the details of the companies will be shared in their DMs.
The trio acknowledged that the movement is still in its early stages. It will gain structure and be improved as more companies show interest. Similarly, they haven’t yet included plans to monitor the interns’ performance.
On whether there are incentive provisions for applicants residing far away from their organisation, Sultan noted that the decision resides with these companies.
“We’re not the companies, so this is just a social good. It’s not a subscription, and nobody is paying for this. The interns are not paying us, and the companies are not paying us for this. It’s something that we are test running and we’re going to keep trying to find ways to streamline, make it better,” he added.
Being at its nascent stage, the initiative does not yet offer the luxury of vetting all the organisations and opportunities. This, Sultan says, is to optimise for seamlessness, ease and speed.
To date, the initiative has received submissions from over 200 companies, and more are expected in the coming days.
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