76% of MENA students are required to complete an internship, according to Bayt.com poll

According to a recent ‘Internships in the MENA Region’ poll conducted by Bayt.com, the region’s number one job site, 75.6% of academic institutions require their students to complete an internship. That is very positive, as a majority of respondents believe that internships are useful to both employers and interns 74.8% with 30% stating they are equally valued by both parties.

A large portion of respondents 31.1% think that companies hire interns in order to spot top talents for future employment. Meanwhile, 36.5% of respondents believe that companies hire interns in order to cut back on costs. Interestingly, 55.2% of internships in the region are paid in one way or another. 

Of those who have held intern positions, the respondents considered their experience to primarily be important for developing and learning new skills and knowledge 48.3%, followed by gaining experience to add to their CV 28.9%. The majority 34.8% state that their experience as an intern was ‘good’, while 19.1% believe that they were over-supervised, while the work they handled was very relevant to their background and future endeavours (39.8%), as well as being extremely challenging 36.9%. 

Almost three quarters 73.4% say they were appointed a mentor during their tenure, however, of these, 18% state that their mentor didn’t offer them great help. While seven out of 10 71% claim to have received an appraisal either in a one-on-one session with a supervisor, in a formal document, or both, 28.9% state that they received no feedback at all.

On the other hand, 15.4% state to have never done an internship, although 24.3% would either like to, or are planning to. Three quarters 75.6% 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% or fresh graduates 40.3%. 

“Interns represent a significant and valuable pool of talent, and should be harnessed for their abilities to bring fresh insights and perspectives into industry. Employers can identify future talents by taking on students and graduates, providing them with a realistic perspective and expectations of their desired industries and allowing them to gain valuable skills and experience,” said Suhail Masri, VP Sales, Bayt.com. “Bayt.com works very closely with industry to tap into top talent at all career levels including fresh college graduates and students seeking internships and we have seen an increased appetite for interns from employers across industry sectors.  Bayt.com specializes in gathering data that is relevant to the recruitment industry in the MENA region. We bring together statistics that make a difference to employers and job seekers alike, to provide invaluable insight into the region’s trends.”

Data for the Bayt.com “Internships in the MENA region” poll was collected from October 29 – December 4, 2012, with 9,050 respondents covering more than 12 countries in the MENA region.