YAL Bahrain launches the Steps to Success Programme

With almost 100 participants, the YAL Steps to Success programme officially began on Saturday, 27th June 2009.

This unique programme was aimed at creating an even plan for university students and fresh graduates to transition smoothly from student life to their professional lives and in the process gain the necessary skills for a successful career. This year the programme was sponsored by Zain Telecommunications.

The programme concept evolved when it was realised that companies are usually reluctant to hire fresh Bahraini graduates because of their lack of soft skills needed in the work place as well as the inability to put their education into practice. These graduates are usually unequipped to present themselves professionally through their CVs as well as interviews which don't usually make them the best candidates for job vacancies.

The Step To Success programme is a five day workshop on soft skills training followed by a chance to practice these skills through the four week internship students compete for.

The workshop is designed to cover three main aspects of building personal skills, job hunting/ presentation skills and career building skills. The workshop is using the unconventional approach to teach students lessons in critical thinking, team work, responsibility and leadership.

Abdulhakeem Al Khayyat, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait Finance House, Bassim Al Alawi Managing Director of Al Alawi Factories, Ahmed Al Banna, Chief People Officer at Gulf Air, and Amin Al Arrayed, General Manager of First Bahrain were some of the guest speakers at the workshop. They shared with the participants -career building tips accompanied by their own success stories.

Furthermore, they also provided the students an insight into the job market and talked about what companies are usually looking for in fresh graduates when they enter the market.

The Workshop was inaugurated by YAL executive board member, Wajid Al Madani, Administration General Manager at Aluminium Bahrain. Welcoming the attendees, he urged and encouraged the participants to seize this opportunity and take charge of their careers. He also expressed his gratitude to Zain on behalf of YAL Bahrain for sponsoring the event and participating in the development of education and employability skills of the Bahraini youth.

The opening ceremony was attended by YAL members, representatives from the participating companies and participants.

The workshop will ran for 5 days from 27th June to 1st July 2009 at the Zain E-Learning Centre, at the University of Bahrain. This will be followed by a four week internship at participating companies.