Paving the Way for A Successful Future Career
Caroline Abu Kwaik is a recent graduate and Al Fakhoora Scholarship student. She also worked as a Technical Assistant, participating, organizing and facilitating many Al Fakhoora advocacy activities, international student dialogues and more. Caroline talks about the challenges of finding a job after graduation and what she has been doing to overcome them.
Caroline Abu Kwaik, 22, lives in Gaza City with her five family members. Caroline completed her undergraduate degree in accounting from the Islamic University in Gaza (IUG) in 2013 with an outstanding score of 89.3%.
“As I completed my degree, it looked like we spent years learning the theoretical part of accounting. It was useful, but when it comes to real life business, you find what you studied is something and what the market needs is something else.” Caroline said.
She adds, “Now I do believe that experience truly matters. I began job hunting in July 2013, and I have found that university grades are not the only path to getting a good job and competing, so I decided to start my career even on an unpaid basis.”
Even getting an unpaid internship is not an easy process, Gaza’s high unemployment rates makes the job market very busy. Caroline attended two interviews, and even though she scored very well in her leadership and academic performance, she lacked the practical experience and that became the major challenge. “In both Interviews, there was the question of how long you have been working in computerized accounting, so I scored less on this.” Caroline said.
In October 2013, Caroline started an internship, with the Union of Health Care Committees as an accountant. “During the past five months, I joined a Local NGO as an accountant, where I started using my real accounting skills. Still I need more time, I need at least one year, and most of the jobs even require two years.”
In addition, Caroline concludes, “During my time interning, I have acquired skills such as hot to work with a team, how to interact with other people and how to manage problems. I feel I have started my way to the future. I keep being optimistic despite all challenges.”
