It’s coming to the end of the year and between the month’s of early November 2023 to late January 2024 graduates will be undergoing Graduate Development Programs (GDP), seeking internships and on-job-trainings during the festive period.
Not sure what the requirements are these days for obtaining internships/OJTs with organisations but I am aware of a couple GDPs that require interested applicants to have a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.5 and above.
That would mean only the cream of PNG’s Universities will have a chance at entering GDP’s for those organisations offering it, which are arguably some of the best organisations to work for, in terms of benefits and salary packages on offer, career development and progression and so on.
So what happens to those who didn’t rise to the top to be with those who scored 3.5 and above GPAs? Where does the kid with a GPA of 2 go to since obviously they won’t be considered for any of the GDP’s out there now?
Compared to the fair number of kids who’ve scored the required GPA’s to be considered for GDP’s, I bet you there is an even higher number of university graduates who haven’t achieved that GPA. So what happens to these huge number of Graduates that meet this category?
To be frank, I was never a top scoring pupil in university. I always lined up all the Credits, Passes and Conceded Passes. And by the time I was able to graduate, I did with a GPA of 2. That made my experience as a recent university graduate one of the most toughest experiences in my life, as no employer wanted to hire a kid with what is considered “below average grades”.
It took 12 months before I could nail a job and that was through a friend from university who needed a temp to fill in for a staff who was going for their maternity leave. If I hadn’t established good contacts in university, I believe it would have taken a bit longer to have a found employment. Eventually I was made permanent, made the most of my chances and the rest is history. My story is just an example of an untapped pool of talent that’s been shunned by the system that’s ready and rearing for an opportunity to work: graduates who haven’t met the GPA requirements. I was one of them and I know their plight.
All the top organisations are busy fighting over the best talent in the country to join them through their GDP programs and they’re forgetting we have a whole heap of graduates who have the qualifications and have come from the same higher learning institutions the cream of the crop but are left behind due to missing a few points to their GPA’s.
A reminder to organisations in PNG to not forget that untapped pool of talent, if your struggling to compete against the big corporates for those top talents, why not give a chance to those kids with below 3.5 GPAs? I’m sure they’ll appreciate the opportunity, not demand too much pay, be fast in learning on the job and they’ll give their all. You tapping into this overlooked pool of talent will most likely save your organisation money, time and resources and ultimately, help relieve the country of it’s prevailing unemployment issue.
#WokEmWok #ThePNGRecruiter
#WokEmWok #ThePNGRecruiter
