Microsoft Bahrain helps graduates reach their potential through 'Career Connections'

The event was presided over by Microsoft country manager Sherif Bayoumi. It marks the third such ceremony in the second phase of the training courses which is held at the National Institute of Technology (NIT).

The training and skills upgrade program was launched by Microsoft in 2005 to better prepare Bahraini graduates for the competitive job market in the country. In the first phase of training in 2006 the program secured 62 jobs for graduates of the initiative.

By collaborating with local non-government organization The Bahrain Internet Society (BIS), the program has been undertaken as part of Microsoft's global Unlimited Potential (UP) Initiative to create an IT-aware and IT-skills equipped workforce. Unlimited Potential which supports community based technology learning centers was launched by Microsoft three years ago, and since then Microsoft Gulf has given away 28 grants in six countries around the region with a total of $1.5 million in cash and software.

"The Microsoft initiative is extremely important in the continued development of the Kingdom," Said Ahmed Al Hujairy, Chairman BIS, "We hope to help more and more young Bahrainis with job placement over the coming few months."
BIS will be coordinating with the training institutes on the courses and sharing Microsoft's vision to develop qualified and committed assistance in job placement for unemployed Bahrainis to play a leading role in the sustainable development of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

"We understand that one of the greatest concerns of governments across the Gulf is to ensure that young nationals are given the skills, training, and opportunities to play their part in driving the future economic and social growth of their countries." Said Sherif Bayoumi, Microsoft Bahrain Country Manager, "Microsoft is committed to engaging with local communities whenever possible, this program has allowed Microsoft to contribute to those communities and help young people find their defined roles in society.

193 Bahrainis successfully graduated from phase one of the program which was launched in 2003, whereas phase two of Career Connections comprises of two parts; the first, "Train the Trainer," prepares select instructors to teach future batches of Career Connections courses and focuses on delivering training skills to ensure self sustainability of the Microsoft Career Connections program and has already trained 8 trainers who are now redelivering the courses.

The second part of Career Connections is the Basic track; this involves training unemployed Bahraini graduates on software tools like Microsoft Office, as well as useful internet skills. Microsoft's initial plan is to train 1,000 young Bahrainis on the Basic Track training by June 2007, of which 450 have now been trained.

Young Bahrainis are still encouraged to register for Microsoft Career Connections, and can do so at NIT, where there are still a few remaining places in the training course.