GREAT BAY (GIS)—The Business Outreach & Placement Program(BOPP) is about to start, and the first training session has taken place at the PMIA Hall on Backstreet, where students received information on entering the job market, whether in the private or public sector.
The Business Outreach & Placement Program was initiated in the summer of 1998/1999. The main objective of the program is to provide students within the secondary education system who are 16 years and older and are in pre-exam or exam class as well as students in tertiary education with the opportunity to be employed in Government Services or the Private sector for a period of six weeks during their summer vacation.
The program has evolved over the years to the extent that it now includes trainings, interviews, monitoring and evaluating of not only the student workers but the program as a whole.
The students have attended exercises on building confidence and human interaction, voice, body language and interpretation, as well as conducting a SWOT (Strength Weakness Opportunity Threats) analysis.
BOPP organizers, have stated that the program is mutually beneficial, whereby the students receive job training and in turn The Island Government or Private Business continues to serve the community.
Students are selected on the basis of their academic and personal skills. They go through preliminary training and on the job training. After the 6 weeks of on the job training, the students will have an excellence work experience that is beneficial to them in many ways, from the general knowledge acquired to specific tasks learnt.
Students who are successful at the training will begin working on Monday, July 6.