CUC welcomes Summer Students

Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd. (CUC) is currently hosting 16 students as part of its annual Vocational and Summer Student Programme.

Now in its 14th year, the programme welcomed the students on July 8 with a promise of an opportunity for them to gain meaningful experience and an abundance of knowledge, which will prepare them for the world of work.

Student, Diarra Hoyte who is in Electrical Maintenance Department, says the experience so far has allowed him to “observe and better understand the working environment.” He added, “The greatest benefit of this programme is acquiring the skills I learn each day. I have now developed a better understanding of my future career.”

The programme has been designed not only to expose students to technical training in their field of interest but each year students get an opportunity to experience first-hand what it means to give back to the community when they take part in CUC’s annual outing with the Sunrise Adult Training Centre.

Throughout the six weeks the students also attend weekly “Lunch and Learn” sessions where they receive presentations on topics ranging from résumé writing to personal budgeting.

For those who perform well throughout the programme it remains an open door of opportunities. High performers are often welcomed back. Additionally, there are those who never really leave as some summers interns have been brought back to temporary, and in some cases, permanent jobs.

Selena Sookoonsingh who is working in the Information Technology (IT) Department says “I really would recommend the CUC programme to any student who hasn’t had any work experience as I did before I applied. The CUC experience really isn’t what I expected. It’s better.”

Based on their indicated interests, this year’s students have been placed in multiple departments across the Company including Electrical Maintenance, Mechanical Maintenance, Corporate Compliance, Corporate Communications, Financial Services, Information Technology, and Customer Service.

IMAGES:

Vocational student Diarra Hoyte (right) assists CUC’s Industrial Electrician Norrin Stewart with the testing of a transformer.

Summer student Selena Sookoonsingh (right) assists CUC’s Network Administrator Waide Watler with maintenance on one of the Company’s servers.