PRESS RELEASE – Harris Paints, the Caribbean Champions of Colour, once again launched its annual Internship and Summer Employment Program showing its continued investment into the future workforce across the Caribbean.
Over 40 interns from Jamaica, Barbados, St. Lucia and Dominica in addition to others from as far as Canada were selected to participate in the 2016 programme which began in May and will run until August 31st. With studies varying from Science/Engineering, Chemistry, Business Management and Finance to Tourism & Hospitality, Marketing and Aviation Management, the students were challenged to use their skills and training to add value to the workplace while advancing their career goals.
Marguerite Desir, Senior VP for Human Resource and also Head of Harris Paints St. Lucia, Dominica and Guyana, said, “Our goal is to offer opportunities to these students who have clearly expressed a desire to work and showcase a level of proactivity and creative out-the-box thinking that belies their age. In doing so, Harris is helping young adults take the next step in their career path and our region as a whole take the next step in developing our future workforce.”
Said one of the interns Abigail Welch from Guyana, studying in Canada, majoring in Economics and Finance, “It was certainly a privilege to work at the Caribbean’s leader in the paint industry. My experience working in the Finance department alongside the Senior VP Finance was rewarding- I learnt so many things that will better equip me as a new grad entering the corporate world. I thoroughly enjoyed the internship program as it has been a transformative experience and allowed me to demonstrate my true potential.”
This year Harris Paints also collaborated with the Caribbean Science Foundation (CSF) which offers an annual Student Program for Innovation in Science and Engineering (SPISE). SPISE is an intensive four-week enrichment residential summer program for the most gifted Caribbean high-school students 16-17 years of age who are interested in studying and exploring careers in science and engineering. Several SPISE graduates are currently attending MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia and University College London as freshmen or sophomores.
The longer term goals of the Program are to: (1) help address the low numbers of Caribbean students pursuing advanced degrees in science engineering, (2) groom the next generation of science, engineering technology and business leaders in the Caribbean, and (3) help diversify the economies of the Caribbean by stimulating more technology-based entrepreneurship.
(0)
(0)