3 Rules That Every Kenyan Intern Should Heed To

By Tabitha Makumi
I won’t sugar coat it for you, I loathed my first internship program which was at the National Museums of Kenya. Now, the main reason why it didn’t rock my boat other than being an unpaid position, it was because there wasn’t much to do there.
You see, interns are not expected to do much. They spend most of their days on Facebook and chatting away with their friends on Whatsup and all this social networks and before you know it, it’s already 5 in the evening and it’s time to go home. The next day, the cycle continues and what do you, know! Three months or six months of your internship are gone with the wind.
Now, my second internship was what I was hoping to get while I was at the National Museums of Kenya.
This time around I was stationed in a busy news agency in Nairobi. One of the many reasons that made this particular internship worthwhile for me was that Intern or no intern you had to work. You had to go out there, get a story, write it and get critiqued for it in a room full of journalists who would laugh while the editor pointed out the many errors in your story…..and man, there were many errors in those stories!
At the end of it all, I learned some useful rules/tips you should be armed with when you starting out your internship. They worked for me; I hope they will work magic for you too.
1.Don’t just sit there and say you are an intern…..Work Hard!
As an intern your objective should be to make yourself valuable. It doesn’t matter even if you are doing crappy jobs around the office or writing crappy stories like in my case…true you might be underqualified for most things you do, but do it like your job depends on it.
Once you’ve proven yourself worthy on the crap tasks, ask for more work around the office and your co-workers will start noticing that you are doing something and not just sitting all day. You never know where you luck lies….a lot of times the invaluable intern gets offered a job at the end of the internship.
2.Sometimes Unpaid Internships Are Worth it.
I was never paid at my first internship at the National Museums and neither at the News Agency. It would have been nice and kind of motivating but anyway, this is Kenya and that’s how things work.  If you paid, you are one lucky sod, if you are not, thank God you have an internship to talk about in the first place.
But I digress, with all the nasty things that people rave about unpaid internships, there’s some good that comes out of it and that is EXPERIENCE. While you may want to get a job at the end of your internship, experience and learning about the loops that come with that particular job is far more important.
And while you are interning, your goal as you learn and gain experience is to make the company believe that they will have a hard time getting another intern like you when your internship is done. If you my dear get to that point, they will need to make you an offer and bring you on full time and voila you will have yourself a job, thanks to your efforts.
3.You are now in the professional world….Act like it.
Interns love playing games and no, the games are not fun to watch. They come in late or not show up for work and then call around noon to say that they have a stomach bug or something…..please, that sounds like a hangover.
And the most heinous of them all, dressing as if you are going to some club in Lang’ata or Westlands. It’s pretty simple, want respect and want to be treated like the rest of the employees? Then observe what they wear and heed to the dress code.
Last word is this, you are now an intern, you may not be getting paid but you are learning something. Three or six months down the line you will no longer be an intern…what will be your next move. Think ahead, network as much as possible, show the company you are working for that you are a gem and they cannot afford to dispose you when your term is over.
Be a strategic and a valuable intern.

3 Rules That Every Kenyan Intern Should Heed To

By Tabitha Makumi
I won’t sugar coat it for you, I loathed my first internship program which was at the National Museums of Kenya. Now, the main reason why it didn’t rock my boat other than being an unpaid position, it was because there wasn’t much to do there.
You see, interns are not expected to do much. They spend most of their days on Facebook and chatting away with their friends on Whatsup and all this social networks and before you know it, it’s already 5 in the evening and it’s time to go home. The next day, the cycle continues and what do you, know! Three months or six months of your internship are gone with the wind.
Now, my second internship was what I was hoping to get while I was at the National Museums of Kenya.
This time around I was stationed in a busy news agency in Nairobi. One of the many reasons that made this particular internship worthwhile for me was that Intern or no intern you had to work. You had to go out there, get a story, write it and get critiqued for it in a room full of journalists who would laugh while the editor pointed out the many errors in your story…..and man, there were many errors in those stories!
At the end of it all, I learned some useful rules/tips you should be armed with when you starting out your internship. They worked for me; I hope they will work magic for you too.
1.Don’t just sit there and say you are an intern…..Work Hard!
As an intern your objective should be to make yourself valuable. It doesn’t matter even if you are doing crappy jobs around the office or writing crappy stories like in my case…true you might be underqualified for most things you do, but do it like your job depends on it.
Once you’ve proven yourself worthy on the crap tasks, ask for more work around the office and your co-workers will start noticing that you are doing something and not just sitting all day. You never know where you luck lies….a lot of times the invaluable intern gets offered a job at the end of the internship.
2.Sometimes Unpaid Internships Are Worth it.
I was never paid at my first internship at the National Museums and neither at the News Agency. It would have been nice and kind of motivating but anyway, this is Kenya and that’s how things work.  If you paid, you are one lucky sod, if you are not, thank God you have an internship to talk about in the first place.
But I digress, with all the nasty things that people rave about unpaid internships, there’s some good that comes out of it and that is EXPERIENCE. While you may want to get a job at the end of your internship, experience and learning about the loops that come with that particular job is far more important.
And while you are interning, your goal as you learn and gain experience is to make the company believe that they will have a hard time getting another intern like you when your internship is done. If you my dear get to that point, they will need to make you an offer and bring you on full time and voila you will have yourself a job, thanks to your efforts.
3.You are now in the professional world….Act like it.
Interns love playing games and no, the games are not fun to watch. They come in late or not show up for work and then call around noon to say that they have a stomach bug or something…..please, that sounds like a hangover.
And the most heinous of them all, dressing as if you are going to some club in Lang’ata or Westlands. It’s pretty simple, want respect and want to be treated like the rest of the employees? Then observe what they wear and heed to the dress code.
Last word is this, you are now an intern, you may not be getting paid but you are learning something. Three or six months down the line you will no longer be an intern…what will be your next move. Think ahead, network as much as possible, show the company you are working for that you are a gem and they cannot afford to dispose you when your term is over.
Be a strategic and a valuable intern.

3 Rules That Every Kenyan Intern Should Heed To

By Tabitha Makumi
I won’t sugar coat it for you, I loathed my first internship program which was at the National Museums of Kenya. Now, the main reason why it didn’t rock my boat other than being an unpaid position, it was because there wasn’t much to do there.
You see, interns are not expected to do much. They spend most of their days on Facebook and chatting away with their friends on Whatsup and all this social networks and before you know it, it’s already 5 in the evening and it’s time to go home. The next day, the cycle continues and what do you, know! Three months or six months of your internship are gone with the wind.
Now, my second internship was what I was hoping to get while I was at the National Museums of Kenya.
This time around I was stationed in a busy news agency in Nairobi. One of the many reasons that made this particular internship worthwhile for me was that Intern or no intern you had to work. You had to go out there, get a story, write it and get critiqued for it in a room full of journalists who would laugh while the editor pointed out the many errors in your story…..and man, there were many errors in those stories!
At the end of it all, I learned some useful rules/tips you should be armed with when you starting out your internship. They worked for me; I hope they will work magic for you too.
1.Don’t just sit there and say you are an intern…..Work Hard!
As an intern your objective should be to make yourself valuable. It doesn’t matter even if you are doing crappy jobs around the office or writing crappy stories like in my case…true you might be underqualified for most things you do, but do it like your job depends on it.
Once you’ve proven yourself worthy on the crap tasks, ask for more work around the office and your co-workers will start noticing that you are doing something and not just sitting all day. You never know where you luck lies….a lot of times the invaluable intern gets offered a job at the end of the internship.
2.Sometimes Unpaid Internships Are Worth it.
I was never paid at my first internship at the National Museums and neither at the News Agency. It would have been nice and kind of motivating but anyway, this is Kenya and that’s how things work.  If you paid, you are one lucky sod, if you are not, thank God you have an internship to talk about in the first place.
But I digress, with all the nasty things that people rave about unpaid internships, there’s some good that comes out of it and that is EXPERIENCE. While you may want to get a job at the end of your internship, experience and learning about the loops that come with that particular job is far more important.
And while you are interning, your goal as you learn and gain experience is to make the company believe that they will have a hard time getting another intern like you when your internship is done. If you my dear get to that point, they will need to make you an offer and bring you on full time and voila you will have yourself a job, thanks to your efforts.
3.You are now in the professional world….Act like it.
Interns love playing games and no, the games are not fun to watch. They come in late or not show up for work and then call around noon to say that they have a stomach bug or something…..please, that sounds like a hangover.
And the most heinous of them all, dressing as if you are going to some club in Lang’ata or Westlands. It’s pretty simple, want respect and want to be treated like the rest of the employees? Then observe what they wear and heed to the dress code.
Last word is this, you are now an intern, you may not be getting paid but you are learning something. Three or six months down the line you will no longer be an intern…what will be your next move. Think ahead, network as much as possible, show the company you are working for that you are a gem and they cannot afford to dispose you when your term is over.
Be a strategic and a valuable intern.

Engineering Jobs Product Managers

Engineering Jobs Kenya.
Product Managers – CRM
Techno Brain, an ISO 9001: 2008 certified  CMMI Level 3 Company, is Africa’s leading custom software application provider.
Techno Brain offers innovative software solutions to Government, NGO, and large Private organizations.
Due to the recent expansions Techno Brain seeks to recruit excellent Product Managers – CRM for Kenya.
Job Responsibilities
Manage, support, and supervise the business development department responsible for acquisition of new projects and project bids.
Locates or proposes potential business deals by contacting potential partners; discovering and exploring opportunities. Following up new business opportunities and setting up meetings.
Proactively develops and improve products and services by researching industry and related events, publications, and announcements.
Set sales targets and define strategy to achieve these targets and to follow the set strategy punctually.
Manage the proposal development process and maintain the time-lines for the proposal teams.
Coordinate with sponsors concerning size, standards, conditions and timing of research.
Support marketing activities, including trade/ scientific shows, mailings, etc. Initiate marketing strategies and coordinate actions to influence the market.
Planning and preparing presentations.
Establishing and maintaining working relationships. Communicating new product developments to prospective clients.
Plan, direct, supervise, and coordinate work activities of subordinates and staff relating to employment, compensation, labor relations, and employee relations.
Qualifications
Overall 3+ experience working with CRM
Qualifications: Degree in statistics/computer engineering with.
Proven IT Solutions  management experience, together with a good record of achieving targets.
Outstanding communication skills, both oral and written, and both technical and non- technical, and the ability to work with a diverse group of individuals in a professional and service-oriented manner
If you meet the above requirements please email your CV to hr.ke@technobrainltd.com by 3rd November 2013 indicating your current and expected remuneration.
Applications without salary details shall not be considered.

KEMRI Careers Research Officer Sh 144 – 277K

KEMRI Jobs Kenya 2013. Research Careers
Research Officer or Post Doctoral Research Assistant – Implementation Science
Reference Number: ROPDRA02-10-13
Category: Research, Science and Biotechnology
Salary: Kshs. 144, 594 / 277,983
Grade: 7.01/9.01
Location: Nairobi.
Summary:
To join the Health Services Unit of the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme a Research Assistant is required to extend research being undertaken on quality of hospital care in paediatric of neonatal services. The work will make use of theoretical models developed to inform the conduct of Implementation Research and will likely include both quantitative and methods.
This focus of work reflects the fact that one of the most significant challenges in health in the 21st century is delivering proven interventions at scale through health systems. Implementation Science is the study of how best to ensure efficacy is translated into effectiveness at scale. The Health Services Research Department (HSRD) based in Nairobi has developed a programme of work focusing on the challenge of implementation for interventions that should be delivered at hospital level. In particular this work explores how to deliver interventions to sick children and newborn infants.
Work on paediatric / newborn care will be primarily supported by Prof. Mike English in collaboration with Dr. Grace Irimu and with the support of collaborators in Oxford University. Within an initial two year period the research assistant would be expected to develop or help develop specific proposals for continued funding to develop this area of work further into as part of continued post-doctoral work or with the intention of completing a PhD.
Reporting Lines:
Post holder will Report to the Principal Investigator and relevant international collaborators.
Key Responsibilities:
1.    Undertake review of relevant conceptual, theoretical and empiric literature to support pilot empiric work exploring the factors influencing the quality and safety of paediatric or neonatal care as appropriate
2.    Support the development of existing work with a view to gaining experience in the methodologies being developed within Kenya
3.    Undertake pilot work on a topic selected with supervisors / mentors using appropriate quantitative / qualitative methods
4.    Develop conceptual thinking relevant to the Kenyan context and in conjunction with collaborators that will form the basis of a proposal for longer term work on the quality and safety of hospital care and how to intervene to improve it.
5.    Develop an appropriate proposal for funding as, or equivalent to, a Wellcome Trust Fellowship
6.    Support the academic growth and management of the Health Services Unit and The Health Systems Research Department at a level commensurate with experience
7.    And any other duties that may be assigned from time to time.
Qualifications, Skills And Experience:
1.    Should ideally have a PhD in a relevant discipline and evidence of significant, prior academic achievement.
2.    Candidates without a PhD who have an MPH or, exceptionally, medical doctors with significant health service experience and significant prior academic achievement may be considered.
3.    Prior experience of research (including designing and managing data collection) relevant to understanding the role and nature of the quality and safety of hospital care in Kenya (alternatively prior experience of health service management may be considered)
4.    Those at PhD level should have prior evidence of ability to publish research work in international, peer-reviewed journals as primary author
5.    Demonstrated potential to undertake quantitative or qualitative analysis personally to support research reporting
Competencies:
1.    Quantitative or Qualitative research methods
2.    Demonstrable ability to use of quantitative or qualitative analysis software
3.    Good knowledge of inferential quantitative statistics an advantage
4.    Ability to work independently to set and deliver on aims
5.    Excellent communication skills: presentation, verbal and written
6.    Good team member
7.    Ability to work collaboratively with national and county governments
Application Procedure:
To apply for this post you must be a registered user. Log into your account then go to Vacancies, view the post and click on the button: “Apply for this job”.
All applicants are required to attach an application letter, an updated Cv and to state their current/last salary.
Candidates must supply an email and telephone contact that will be used when offering interviews. The application closing date is 31st October 2013.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) is an equal opportunity employer.
Direct or indirect canvassing will lead to automatic disqualification.
KWTRP does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, processing, training or any other fees)..