• Society

Startup to Create Internship Opportunities

• By Sam Sopich
• April 21, 2022 10:24 AM

Campaign helps students enter the job market.

PHNOM PENH – A tech startup is set to help university students gain real-world experience and skills through paid internships.

Srik Dany was inspired to create the CamSEED Internships Campaign by seeing many students having trouble finding work and unable to apply for jobs they want because of lack experience.

CamSEED will launch its 1000 Internship Campaign on Apr. 25 to provide information and promote paid internships for Cambodian students to sharpen their skills towards implementation of Industry 4.0.

The year-long campaign aims to provide 1000 Cambodian university students with paid three-month internship opportunities, with a minimum of 50% of all placements being filled by women.

Dany, 23, said that she had lost her way and could not find a job she loved, largely due to lack of experience. She saw the rise of unpaid internships for university students, therefore she became involved in CamSEED.

“It’s a golden chance to come up with a solution to help them by providing the opportunity for students to do an internship. They get benefits by getting paid during the internship and can get good experience in a real-world job,” she said.  

CamSEED serves as a link between the educational system, which has problems, and the private sector so that they can collaborate to create internships.

“I know how hard and stressful it is when we don’t have experience to apply for jobs and we study only theory at university without any real practical experience,” she said.

“CamSEED is the best choice. We can apply for paid internships and after finishing one, you can apply for another to discover more about your passion.”

After completing the internship, Dany said that students can get a lot of experience with soft still and hard skills like communication, teamwork, flexibility, problem solving, time management, self-management and confidence.

Internships provide practical insights into job roles for students and enhance their employability.

She said paid internships provide a level playing field for all and are necessary to enable female students and those from disadvantaged backgrounds to participate in work-based learning.

Due to the Covid 19 pandemic 200,000 university students in Cambodia have had their education disrupted and moved online. This has not only impacted the quality of their academic performance, but also their ability to secure meaningful future employment.

As a result, students had limited exposure to the world of work, which, if left unaddressed will have a damaging impact on this generation of graduates and the wider economy.

To address these issues CamSEED and its partners are launching the 1000 Internships Campaign.

Being a member of CamSEED, people will get personalized opportunities by gaining access to paid internship opportunities tailored to best suit them, monthly training on how to build a CV, how to set up Linkedin, how to prepare for an interview, how to get the most out of an internship, and a session with a CamSEED consultant who will walk them through their problems.

Hao Sophareth, co-founder of CamSEED, said that this is important as the economy is moving towards Industry 4.0, while paid internships provide equal opportunities and access to all university students regardless of their socio-economic background, religion and gender.

“I am really excited to be launching the 1000 Internship Campaign in Cambodia with our partners, just a year after the launch of our own startup,” Sophareth said.

“We want to see a change in the way internships are viewed in Cambodia. Paid internships are an important step for students to gain work experience and skills.”