{"id":548079,"date":"2022-07-25T04:00:22","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T04:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/blackboards\/how-are-egypts-fresh-graduates-being-provided-the-skills-they-need-for-work\/"},"modified":"2022-07-25T04:00:22","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T04:00:22","slug":"how-are-egypts-fresh-graduates-being-provided-the-skills-they-need-for-work","status":"publish","type":"blackboard","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/blackboards\/how-are-egypts-fresh-graduates-being-provided-the-skills-they-need-for-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How are Egypt\u2019s fresh graduates being provided the skills they need for work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> How are Egypt\u2019s fresh graduates being provided with the skills they need for work?<\/strong> Egypt\u2019s private sector companies seek a range of skill sets in the fresh graduates they hire, with different sectors often having quite specific technical needs, but broadly similar personality traits and work attitudes, we noted last week<\/a>. Unfortunately, the extent to which fresh graduates emerge from Egyptian universities with the skill sets needed in the labor market can vary considerably, our sources at law firms, startups, and companies in a range of industries tell us.<\/p>\n

Which Egyptian universities do the best job of preparing fresh grads to enter the workspace?<\/strong> The short answer is that because of the way Egypt\u2019s university system works, certain universities \u2014 public or private \u2014 are particularly strong in different technical areas or disciplines. For example, Cairo University \u2014 particularly its English section \u2014 rates especially high for law graduates, says Zulficar and Partners Managing Partner Firas El Samad, while Shalakany also sees many good candidates from private universities such as GUC and BUE, says Senior Partner Moataz El Mahdy. Wafik Beshara, VP of HR at CEMEX Egypt says Assiut University has excellent mechanical and electrical engineering departments, and a good science faculty. \u201cWe see a big talent pool from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, each institution comes with its own set of flaws and shortcomings:<\/strong> One major problem with government universities is simply the high enrollment rate compared to private universities, notes El Mahdy. El Samad also notes that a big market weakness is the reliance on rote memorization for law students. \u201cFresh graduates and even newly-hired junior associates often reflexively cite legal references, as if this is what matters. The client doesn\u2019t care about references, but about what you advise him to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many fresh grads with technical skills and experience have developed it in spite of \u2014 not because of \u2014 the university tuition they\u2019ve received:<\/strong> The startup community isn\u2019t seeing many fresh grads with the desired combination of technical skills and practical experience coming out of Egyptian universities at the moment, notes Yousef ElSammaa, managing director of venture studio firm Fibonacci Studio. \u201cWe\u2019re in a sector where you need a lot of self-development and self-teaching,\u201d notes Hussein El Kheshen, co-founder and CTO of Sakneen. \u201cI think, almost perversely, because the public university system has challenges, candidates who go through that system end up doing all the self-teaching anyway \u2014 to figure things out. No one\u2019s giving handouts.\u201d Candidates who self-teach often end up being the strongest El Kheshen sees, he notes.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s no denying that Egypt\u2019s most prestigious universities give candidates an edge with fine skills:<\/strong> Graduates from universities like AUC and GUC do have a head start in some ways, because the education styles to focus more on things like self-confidence, how students present ideas, and how they put themselves forward, notes PepsiCo Egypt HR Senior Director Naniece Fahmy.<\/p>\n

Altogether, companies look for candidates from a broad range of universities: <\/strong>\u201cWe don\u2019t put the university as a filter. We do our best to select the best candidates,\u201d notes Beshara. The key thing is to select candidates from accredited universities that don\u2019t just provide a theoretical education, but give their students exposure to different scenarios they will face in work and life, says Tarek Nour, TBS General Manager.<\/p>\n

But with a dearth of plug-and-play graduates, many firms are taking steps to fill gaps themselves<\/strong>, including offering internship programs, and providing new hires with on-the-job training.<\/p>\n

Internships are popular across industries, offering exposure to the job with the possibility of more permanent work:<\/strong> CEMEX offers a four-six week hands-on internship program targeting some 50 university students \u2014 typically from engineering, commerce, or science faculties \u2014 annually, says Beshara. After pausing for several years, HSBC is relaunching an internship program that will ask candidates to think about HSBC\u2019s market growth and customer experience, and cultivate soft skills, HSBC head of HR Moustafa Raouf tells Enterprise. The six-eight week program aims to work with 15-25 candidates this year. Internship programs are also essential for law firms to observe interns\u2019 skill sets and behavior, which El Mahdy says \u201cputs us in a better position to judge whether the student has the skills we\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Startups, too, are rolling out internships:<\/strong> Environmental startup Mycelium<\/a> kicked off in 2020 a three-month internship program for around 15 interns, says CEO Mohamed Fawzy. \u201cWe try to involve them as much as possible in our practical work and encourage them to share ideas. Most interns need quite a lot of introductory training on what we\u2019re doing and what a startup really is,\u201d he adds. Rabbit Mobility is also starting an internship program, notes co-founder and CEO Kamal El Soueni. This could eventually lead to permanent jobs for interns, he adds.<\/p>\n

On the other side of the equation, students who proactively seek experience through meaningful internships and student activities stand out from the crowd: <\/strong>\u201cIf students have done real internships \u2014 not just summer internships, but real work experience \u2014 it makes a difference,\u201d says ElSammaa. El Kheshen would consider a fresh grad who\u2019s done a lot of part-time work for three years to have three years of experience, he notes.<\/p>\n

Once candidates are hired, a training and onboarding process gets them up to speed:<\/strong> TBS offers different kinds of training sessions for new hires, including a three-day entry level training program, providing them with an introduction to the work environment, such as the basics of food safety and hygiene, says Nour. Other training sessions focus on employee leadership and agility, and customer interaction \u2014 and some of these are conducted by experts outside the organization, he adds. Rabbit offers three-four days of onboarding for new hires, where they are introduced to the company\u2019s history, vision and values, and why the company is doing what it\u2019s doing, says El Soueni. This ends with some personal feedback on each new hire\u2019s coachability, before they then start work the following week, he adds.<\/p>\n

And some invest substantially in longer-term training:<\/strong> Long-term on-the-job training is extremely important for Zulficar and Partners, says El Samad. Investment in training new associates is \u201ca big item on our budget,\u201d he notes, without disclosing precise figures. \u201cMuch of the training is focused on helping the fresh hires understand how to approach particular tasks, El Samad notes. \u201cIf we have the luxury of time, we set the new associates a task, and then we review the work, discuss it with them, and ask them to redo it if necessary, based on our instruction and feedback.\u201d Sometimes the firm hires external trainers \u2014 often US and UK-based professional consultants \u2014 to train junior lawyers on how to draft contracts and research, he adds.<\/p>\n

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