Students Gaining Work Experience through CBB Internships

Sixteen tertiary level students are currently gaining professional experience through three-month summer internships at the Central Bank of Barbados.

The students hail from the University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill, Mona, and St. Augustine Campuses as well as the Barbados Community College and are pursuing degrees and associate degrees in a range of fields, including Economics, Accounting and Finance, Mechanical Engineering and Theatre Arts.

Among them are Sheldon Shepherd, the 2017 recipient of the Central Bank-offered Roland Craigwell Memorial Scholarship and 2017 Central Bank of Barbados Scholar, Rhea Bennett. They have been assigned to the Bank’s Research and Economic Analysis Department (READ).

Bennett, 20, who is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, said that the experience so far has been a good one: “I’m enjoying it. It’s a lot of work, but after just five weeks, I’ve learned so much. I’m looking forward to the rest of it.”

Pamela Arthur, Officer-in-Charge of the Bank’s Human Resources Department, described the internship programme as two-fold – on the one hand, to provide a possible future workforce for the Bank and on the other, as part of our institution’s broader domestic outreach. “Through our programme, we train not only in terms of knowledge development and acquisition of skill sets, but in other areas such as people skills, deportment and conduct.” 

Arthur revealed that past interns have gone on to be offered longer term employment at the Bank. “Over the years we’ve seen some of our summer students become full-time Central Bankers. Our 2016 Roland Craigwell Memorial Scholar, who was an intern last year, is now a Research Officer. But regardless of whether their time at the Bank is extended beyond the internship period, our aim is to ensure our summer interns are prepared for the working world and are able to make meaningful contributions not only to the Bank, but also to Barbados as a whole. The view of the Bank going back from the time of its inception has always been that the Bank should educate our people not only for ourselves but also for our nation. This we strive continually to do.”

The Central Bank of Barbados’ internship programme has been in existence for more than a decade.

2017-07-04