Performance Evaluation and Experiences of Student Interns: The Case of DAME Internship Program 2021

Date

6-2023

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Fitz D. Jimenez

Committee Member

Cris Edwin B. Bonalos, Jennica Amielle M. Mora, Juan Paulino S. Trespalacio, Junior, Mar B. Cruz

Restrictions

Restricted: Not available to the general public. Access is available only after consultation with author/thesis adviser and only to those bound by the confidentiality agreement.

Abstract

Internship is an avenue for students to apply the theoretical knowledge they learned from the classroom to a workplace setting and consequently gaining practical knowledge necessary for their future undertaking.

For most students, internship is the chance to get a real work experience. This is where the problem arises. As such is the case, there will be gaps in expectations of the employers and the performance of the student interns, stemming from the difference of the student's theoretical and practical knowledge. Hence, the objective of the study is to assess the overall expectations of corporate partners of the DAME Internship Program 2021 and the BS ABME students' performance. Specifically, (1) describe the corporate partners of the DAME Internship Program 2021, (2) discuss the performance evaluation of supervisors on the ABME student interns, (3) identify the strongest points and areas of improvement of student interns, (4) assess the students perception on internship towards their future career readiness, (5) formulate courses of action that could improve the performance of the upcoming BS ABME graduates.

There are 14 Host-Training Establishments (HTEs) that partnered with the UPLB Department of Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship. Namely, they are: ADAMCO, Romarcom, SIDC, TTBDO, CTC, Roxas Holdings, Lupa Realty Holdings, 1Export, Tagani, Varacco, RU Foundry, St. Johnpaul Countertrade, Zoomanity Group and Choice Harvest. All these companies managed to hire at least one student intern. They all operate within the agribusiness industry with the exception of Lupa Realty.

Gaps in expectation were identified through the identifying the individual expectations of the HTES. Student interns were able to deliver the require outputs by their supervisors. Many were satisfied of the outputs submitted by the student interns, although there are still several who were unsure whether it was used or had any impact on the company. Also, the average scores of student interns given by their supervisors were also used in the study. It was found out that out of 52 students, below 10 managed to get a perfect score. There are student interns who got scores below 90%, but most managed to score above 90%. This meant that students were exceptional but still have room for improvement in the eyes of the employers. Using ten performance factors, study showed that the interns scored lowest in organizational skills.

Research found that the DAME-CEM student interns' strong qualities are their communication skills, attitude, quality and quantity of work, and their job knowledge. Even then, employers still noted communication skills and attitude, together with adaptability as the qualities they should improve on.

Students' perception of the internship towards their future career showed that the internship was successful for most. They have positive feedback towards the job, HTE, supervisors, and the FICs. They were also able to develop various skills throughout the internship.

Thus, it tis recommended to focus on improving the communication skills - presentation, attitude-confidence, and organizational skills of the students. Provide workshops and seminars that would improve these key areas so that it will be easier to bridge the gap between the expectations of the employers, and the performance of the student interns. This will help future student interns and graduates in retaining their jobs. As for getting the job, it is a different but relevant matter. Hence, it is recommended to future researchers to look into the hiring process of the corporate institutions to gain insights that would be valuable to the graduates of Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship. Together, these will help them acquire and retain their jobs in these corporate institutions.

Language

English

LC Subject

Internship programs, Employees--Rating of

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993 2023 M17 A68

Document Type

Thesis

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS