DOHA: Many companies in the Middle East and North Africa region prefer to hire interns to spot the best talents for future employment and to cut back on costs, shows a regional survey conducted by Bayt.com.
A majority of respondents believe that internships are useful to both employers and interns (74.8 percent) with 30 percent stating they are equally valued by both parties.
A large portion of respondents (31.1 percent) think that companies hire interns in to spot top talents for future employment, while 36.5 percent believe the motive is to cut back on costs.
Interestingly, 55.2 percent of internships in the region are paid in one way or another.
Almost three quarters (73.4 percent) say they were appointed a mentor during their tenure, however, of these, 18 percent state that their mentor didn’t offer them great help.
While seven out of 10 (71 percent) claim to have received an appraisal (either in a one-on-one session with a supervisor, in a formal document, or both), 28.9 percent state that they received no feedback at all.
On the other hand, 15.4 percent state to have never done an internship, although 24.3 percent would either like to, or are planning to.
Three quarters (75.6 percent) state that their academic institution required them to become an intern, which correlates with the perception that such positions are aimed primarily at college students (21.5 percent) or fresh graduates (40.3 percent).
The Peninsula
