It is always an honor to be nominated for awards, especially awards that represent the impact that our programs have on our alumni.
The PIEoneer Awards 2022 champion innovation and achievement across the global education industry, celebrating both individuals and organizations who are challenging professional standards and redefining the international student experience.
We are very proud to announce that we have been nominated for not one, but two PIEoneer Awards this year by The Pie. The two categories we are finalists for are very dear to us, as they truly represent the spirit and breadth of the opportunities we offer students to enhance their employability and catapult their careers.
Firstly, we have been nominated as a finalist for the Employability International Impact Award with our long-standing partners, Aston University, for the “Work GLOBAL, Stay LOCAL” program.
This collaboration is driven by four main principles:
The program offers students the possibility to gain guaranteed work experience in the career sector of their choice (UK or worldwide) while acquiring remote working competencies and expanding their professional network. Moreover, Virtual Internships deliver wraparound employability support including CareerBridge – an e-learning course designed around career-readiness competencies – employability coaching, weekly reflections, and regular employability webinars.
Overall, this initiative has provided employers around the world the opportunity to engage with Aston students, thereby bridging the gap between education and the workplace. Employers value this innovative, integrated employability initiative: it has a significant impact on the university, the students, and employers.
Listen to how Aston University alum, Pamela Chibanguza, now a Tech Consultant at Amazon, felt the Virtual Internships program impacted her career:
The second nomination is not for us per se, but rather for one of our dynamic, international participants. Jihan Alassad is a Syrian refugee, currently living in Lebanon, who has overcome immense difficulties and is nominated as a finalist for the International Alumni of the Year Award!
Jihan was one of 50 applicants accepted for the joint program run by Virtual Internships and Kiron Open Education. Jihan excelled in the program, gaining excellent feedback, and has now successfully gained paid employment alongside several amazing mentoring initiatives.
Upon finishing her virtual internship, Jihan went on to get two paid jobs, which are both hugely beneficial to society. One is with Hamzet Wasel, an E-learning portal, through which Jihan pursues her interest in Edtech, bringing e-learning to those who stand to benefit the most. Jihan’s other job is with Check Fake News, where she works to fact-check important news stories and minimize the proliferation of fake news in Lebanon and Syria.
Read more about the Kiron Access Program funded in collaboration with SPARK, the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) and the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD).
We are immensely proud of these two collaborations and deeply grateful to The PIE for the recognition. It is an honor to be nominated amongst some incredible individuals and organizations, so we wish the best to everyone with their fingers crossed for the announcements on September 9th!
If you are an organization or educational institution looking to partner to see how Virtual Internships can deliver employability, skills development, and career advancement opportunities, get in touch here.
Virtual Internships share the $14.3m Series A Funding Announcement which will drive the mission to make global internships accessible.
In July, we launched a virtual hackathon as part of our engineering recruitment process. Read all about how we did it and the benefits here.
Discover invaluable insights from accomplished alumni in our live webinar on 21st June to prepare your students for the future of work. Register now!