As attractive and enticing as some jobs may be, you never know whether it’s a career or simply a job until you have some work experience.

In this regard, internships are useful but they are often unpaid, require travelling and that’s before you even get to the work. Even then, what you can expect on the job is very much an unknown which is why we’re curious about a new initiative.

That initiative is Standard Bank’s Virtual Experience Programme which is – to put it simply – a virtual internship.

The programme is self-paced with no deadlines and will take roughly five hours to complete. The goal, says Standard Bank, is to provide students a working experience that mirrors what they may experience in the working world.

“Many young individuals take up opportunities without a clear understanding of the industry or what skills their jobs will require, and the Virtual Experience Programmes aim to bridge this gap between education and industry,” explains head of youth development at Standard Bank South Africa, Maymoona Ismail.

Students who participate in the programme will be able to access video-guided training for skills such as job searching, business communication and networking, personal branding, interview preparation and more. Once complete, students will receive a certificate.

The bank isn’t stopping at banking, it plans to expand this initiative to include programmes for retail and investment banking, software development, engineering, and data science by August.

“Access to education is critical to unlocking the full potential of today’s youth, and we are wanting to supplement theirs studies with insights that will allow young people to make more informed study and career decisions that leads to job creation,” adds Ismail.

The two programmes currently available as part of the Virtual Experience Programmes are the Accessing Work Opportunities and Getting Ready for the World of Work courses.

As mentioned, these programmes are free and they can be accessed here.

[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]