Nesternship to give African youth a headstart

Nesternship is an internship programme that champions capacity building and personal development by offering young people practical work experience within Nestlé. These paid internships are open to tertiary level students, recent college or university graduates, and young people at the entry-level of their careers. The unique feature of Nesternship is that interns get the chance to work with Nestlé virtually – from their locations, while connected to a Nestlé team with a computer and internet access. Nesternship comes as an add-on to our regular internship programmes, so the interns can also be physically present in offices where needed and where restrictions allow.

In Central and West Africa, the first batch of openings were advertised on Nestlé’s social media platforms with applications open for two weeks in May this year. Over 3,000 applicants were assessed through a gamified experience with case studies and practical questions. After the top applicants went through screenings, the best candidates were selected and placed in various project teams ranging from finance and accounting, sales, information technology, communications and marketing to engineering. The duration of the internships is between one to six months based on the candidates’ availability.

In Ghana, approximately 30 interns from various tertiary institutions have started interning at the company’s head offices and factory site. The rollout will continue to other countries in the region like Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Senegal.

Fridah Muchina, Head of Human Resources, Nestlé Central and West Africa reiterates the company’s commitment to youth saying, “At Nestlé, we offer exciting opportunities to young people early in their careers in our region. Beyond Nesternship, we advertise all our vacancies on our job search page where you can apply for a job at Nestlé.”

Nestalk webinars

To further boost youth employability, Nestlé holds a series of monthly online seminars called Nestalk. The Nestalk webinars cover several topics including tips and tricks on how to create CVs, how to prepare for interviews, communication skills for workplace and business success, professional etiquette etc. Participation in Nestalk is open to all and free of charge. Young people interested in attending the upcoming sessions or viewing previous ones should access it via the portal here. These interactive sessions are hosted by seasoned experts from within and outside Nestlé. The hosts share their experiences and have earnest conversations and Q&A sessions with the attendees.

These and many other youth-focused programmes form part of the global Nestlé Needs YOUth initiative, which aims to equip young people with the skills they need to thrive in tomorrow’s workplaces, as business owners and as motivated and innovative farmers, who through sustainable practices, will feed the world.