PN Philippines recognizes the significance of the regular visits of the students to its partner companies organized as part of its Guidance to Employment program.
Guidance to employment is a key element of Passerelles numériques (PN)’s program, and the company visits activity is a notable initiative existing since our very first days. The purpose of this activity is to expose our students to the professionalenvironment and to let them learn more about the company itself and the know-hows of the working community. Organised by the External Relations department, around 10 times per year, students, by class, are taken to a visit or tour to a partner company’s establishment.
“Company visits are an essential part of our training because it gives us an overview of what is it exactly to be in the realm of the IT industry. At the same time, it also gives us hints on what to expect for ourselves in the near future. Through these visits, we are able to meet and see employees working in a real project and we are able to hear their experiences and knowledge as well. I also believe that activities like this have a big impact in our decision-making on choosing our company for our internship and later on employment,” says Jeffry John Juni, PN Philippines Class 2018
From our beginnings until now, there have been numerous visits to our 36 partner companies. The most recent ones were done at Lexmark, NCR, and Accenture.
During the Lexmark visit, students were welcomed by talks from Miss Chiqui Sayson (Human Resource Sourcing Specialist) and a representative from the engineering department. The talks were about the company itself and the positions which could interest our students. This was followed by a tour around the different departments of the production company – from backend to frontend, up to the testing and packaging of the tangible product itself.
A visit of NCR took place a few days after. After the usual tour, a discussion with Mr. Paolo Catingub (Platform Software Group Manager), former PN Philippines students and now Software Testing Engineers in the company, and three current student interns was organized. This offered a great chance for our students to ask all their prepared questions.
Last December, students were invited to visit Accenture, our long-term partner. Gian Marko Enfectana (Human Resources Senior Analyst) led an interactive discussion about the company. The students were also given a testimonial talk by April Delibrano, the current President of PNP’s Alumni Association, who has been working in the company for four years as a Senior Analyst.
Apart from exposing our students to the professional world, these visits are also one way of strengthening our relations with these partner companies who have been actively supporting our mission in the Philippines throughout the years. They are the same companies offering internships to students and/or employment opportunities ever since the beginning of PN Philippines.
We are looking forward to more collaborative projects with our partner companies that benefit our students’ learning, as well as to more innovative activities, such as the company visits, that foster employment readiness in our students.