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Welcome Message from Carol Jenkins, CEO
World Learning believes that the best hope for peace, justice, and sustainability lies in bringing people together. Through cultural immersion, experiential learning, and information sharing, our programs equip others to collaboratively address the most pressing issues of our time.
Throughout my years at World Learning, I have had the fortunate opportunity to meet with many of our participants, partners, and alumni—a global network of learners. Our programs help them understand other cultures, master new skills, and cultivate networks. Our teaching and training methodologies empower them to find locally relevant, sustainable, and implementable solutions. Our approaches emphasize flexibility and adaptability that help them tackle real-world problems. They, in turn, make extraordinary changes in their lives and communities.
Please join us—and those we work with and serve around the world—in our pursuit to create a brighter and better future for all.
Carol Jenkins | CEO, World Learning
Allen Cutler | Chair, Board of Trustees - Get Involved
Media Center > Story
Connecting Students to Work in El Salvador
March 26, 2019
Searching for work was once a challenge for students at the Universidad Centro Americana José Simeón Canas (UCA).
Though the university had relationships with local employers, it didn’t always understand the difficulties students were having in finding jobs — or what employers were looking for in new hires.
That changed in 2017.
World Learning worked with five Salvadoran universities to establish career development centers (CDCs) as part of the USAID-funded Higher Education for Economic Growth Project. These centers provide connections to the local job market and prepare students for careers through skills trainings.
“World Learning had a way of customizing their global experience to fit the reality of El Salvador,” says Mario Dimas, director of the university’s CDC.
Since late 2018, World Learning’s university partners have created a total of 312 connections with local employers.
UCA, in particular, has doubled the number of internship and job opportunities for students and increased its employer partnerships by 127 percent. Major companies like Unilever now send staff to lecture at the university, conduct recruiting activities on campus, and bring students on tours of their technical sites. Students return with a newfound understanding of the technical skills employers desire, which helps the university improve its curricula.
World Learning also worked with the university to establish new practices to develop students’ soft skills. Now, counselors at the career center employ role-playing techniques to help students practice for job interviews and offer personal attention to students developing their resumes.
“Students must go beyond what they learn in their technical abilities,” Dimas says, explaining that companies are looking for recruits who can express their ideas, engage in teamwork, and prepare for leadership roles.
Ultimately, everyone benefits, he adds. “These companies receive students who understand how to work in real life.”