Students of the Institute of National Commerce in Algiers between classes.
As a result of a Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) in higher education between the Institute of National Commerce (INC) in Algeria and the University of Michigan’s William Davidson Institute (WDI), and administered by HED, a new Career Center has been established at Algeria’s Institute of National Commerce.
This employment service for students will fulfill the need of Algeria’s growing economy for well-educated managers. The hiring of recent college graduates had historically been via informal networking among friends, family and colleagues.
"Algeria’s population will continue to increase at the relatively modest rate of 1.5 percent a year, but the working population will grow more quickly because of the country’s young demographic profile," said Khalid Al-Naif, Director of Development Consulting Services at WDI. As a result, unemployment will continue to be a chronic problem despite indications that the jobless rate has fallen sharply over the past two or three years. "The new Career Center offers a structured means of linking private sector employers to young entrants in to the workforce who are interested in internships and postgraduate employment. This will create more opportunities in the private sector and stop the exodus of Algeria’s most talented professionals to Europe and North America.”
Tom Devlin, a WDI consultant, visited INC and assisted in developing a framework for its Career Center in collaboration with INC Project Director Dr. Abdenour Slaouti. Though a comprehensive interview process the search committee hired Dr. Ali Belhkiri as a part-time Director and Mrs. Nassima Arheb as assistant to the Director. The combination of Dr. Belkhiri's extensive business and teaching experience, along with his commitment to students, places him in an excellent position to build the Career Center into a model for other institutions of higher learning.
“The INC faculty and students are very excited about the new Career Center," according to Dr. Slaouti, "as it will serve as a bridge between students and employers.”
Objectives for the Career Center’s first year of operation include: 1) identifying summer employment opportunities; 2) identifying post-graduate employment opportunities; 3) promoting and marketing the Career Center to students and employers; 4) gathering information about the labor market and learning about the needs of employers; and, 5) establishing a mentoring network for female students with female managers.
In just its first few weeks of operation, the Career Center has already made substantial progress with 60 students submitting their CVs, and a growing number of employers posting job announcements. In addition, the Career Center has already made contact with managers to begin establishing the foundation of its female mentoring network. At the end of June 2007 the Career Center will hold its first career fair, a two-day event designed to give students and employers an opportunity to meet and exchange information.