Three Ways Organisations Can Work With Young Talent and Create Meaningful Value

Across Cameroon, employers frequently express concerns about the difficulty of finding young professionals with the skills and experience required to contribute effectively in the workplace. At the same time, thousands of young people complete their education every year with qualifications and ambitions, but limited opportunities to gain the practical experience employers expect.

This disconnect is part of a wider challenge facing labour markets around the world. According to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025, 63% of employers identify skills gaps as the biggest barrier to transforming their organisations over the next five years. Meanwhile, the African Development Bank has estimated that between 10 and 12 million young Africans enter the workforce annually, while only around 3 million formal jobs are created.

For young people, limited access to practical experience can make it difficult to demonstrate their capabilities, particularly when applying for their first job. For employers, the challenge is finding people who can apply their knowledge, work effectively with others, and adapt to the demands of a professional environment.

There is an opportunity for organisations to address these challenges together. Businesses, nonprofits, and other institutions can play an important role in helping young people develop professional capabilities while benefiting from their contributions, perspectives, and potential.

Importantly, creating these opportunities does not always require a large recruitment budget or an elaborate graduate development programme. Depending on their needs and resources, organisations can begin through internships, short-term projects, or structured mentorship.

Here are three approaches worth considering and how to make each one valuable for everyone involved.

1. Offer internships that provide meaningful professional experience

Internships are among the most familiar ways for organisations to engage young talent. When designed well, they provide young people with opportunities to understand workplace expectations, develop practical skills, and apply their knowledge in a professional setting.

For employers, internships also create an opportunity to identify and develop potential future employees before making longer-term recruitment decisions.

Rather than relying entirely on academic qualifications and interviews, an organisation can observe how a young person approaches assignments, responds to feedback, collaborates with colleagues, and manages responsibilities over several weeks or months.

Research suggests that these experiences can contribute to stronger recruitment outcomes. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers' 2024 Internship & Co-op Report, employers in the United States converted approximately 53% of interns into full-time employees. The research also found a higher retention rate among employees who had previously interned with the same organisation, at 75.5%, compared with 51.5% among employees recruited through other pathways.

Although these findings reflect the American labour market, they demonstrate how internships can contribute to an organisation's longer-term talent development strategy.

However, the value of an internship depends considerably on how the experience is structured.

Young people are sometimes placed in organisations without clearly defined responsibilities, adequate supervision, or meaningful opportunities to contribute. They may spend much of their time completing administrative tasks without understanding how their work supports broader organisational objectives.

Such experiences can limit what participants learn and make it difficult for employers to assess their capabilities.

A more effective approach begins with identifying what the intern should contribute and learn during the placement.

For example, a small business looking to strengthen its digital presence might engage an intern to review its existing communication channels, develop a content calendar, and support the implementation of a basic marketing strategy. A nonprofit organisation could involve an intern in documenting programme activities, supporting research, or improving its volunteer management processes.

These assignments provide practical experience while contributing to work the organisation already needs to accomplish.

Making internships valuable for both sides

Organisations considering internships can begin by defining a small number of clear objectives for the placement. These should describe the responsibilities the intern will undertake, the skills they are expected to develop, and the results they should work toward achieving.

Assigning a dedicated supervisor is equally important. Regular check-ins allow interns to ask questions, receive feedback, and better understand professional expectations. Even a short weekly conversation can provide an opportunity to review progress, identify challenges, and discuss areas for improvement.

Where possible, organisations should also provide appropriate compensation or support for transport, meals, and other participation costs. These considerations are particularly important in contexts where financial constraints may prevent capable young people from accessing professional opportunities.

If an internship could lead to employment, communicating this possibility and the criteria for consideration can help participants better understand the organisation's expectations.

For employers, the goal should be to create an experience that produces useful work while offering enough support for young people to develop their capabilities. For interns, having meaningful responsibilities and opportunities for feedback can make the experience an important foundation for their future careers.

2. Involve young people in solving real organisational challenges

Not every organisation has the resources or immediate need to recruit an intern. Some may nevertheless have projects, operational challenges, or new ideas that could benefit from additional research and fresh perspectives.

In these situations, short-term projects can offer an alternative way to collaborate with young talent.

The approach involves identifying a real challenge within an organisation and inviting young people to explore possible solutions over a defined period. Participants may work individually or in teams, depending on the nature of the assignment, before presenting their findings or recommendations.

For example, a business considering expansion into a new city might ask a group of young people to research potential customers, identify competitors, and recommend possible approaches to entering the market.

A community organisation struggling to retain volunteers could invite participants to investigate the reasons behind declining engagement and develop suggestions for improving the volunteer experience.

Similarly, an organisation seeking to strengthen its digital communication could ask young people to review its existing channels and propose ways to improve audience engagement.

These projects create opportunities for participants to develop research, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills while working on challenges that matter beyond the classroom.

For organisations, they provide additional perspectives on issues that may not have received sufficient attention because of competing priorities or limited internal capacity.

At Impact Axis, applied learning is central to how we approach skills development. Through the Goodwill Fellowship, we create opportunities for young people to practise the competencies they are developing by working on projects and challenges that require them to research, collaborate, make decisions, and present their ideas.

Collaborating with external organisations can make these experiences more relevant by exposing fellows to actual business and community challenges.

Designing projects that lead to useful outcomes

The quality of a project-based experience depends largely on how the challenge is defined.

An assignment such as improving an organisation's marketing strategy may be too broad for a team of young people working over a few weeks. A more focused challenge, such as identifying three practical ways to increase customer enquiries through WhatsApp, gives participants clearer direction and makes it easier to assess their recommendations.

Organisations should also consider whether the project can realistically be completed within the available time and resources. Challenges that require highly specialised expertise, involve sensitive information, or demand immediate operational decisions may not be suitable for this type of collaboration.

Providing participants with relevant background information is another important consideration. Young people are more likely to develop useful recommendations when they understand the organisation's objectives, target audience, constraints, and existing approaches.

Where confidential information is involved, organisations can provide anonymised data or establish appropriate information-sharing arrangements.

It is equally valuable to involve someone from the organisation throughout the experience. A designated contact person can answer questions, provide feedback, and help participants understand whether their ideas are realistic within the organisation's operating environment.

At the end of the project, participants should have an opportunity to present their findings and receive constructive feedback.

Where recommendations are adopted or inform future decisions, sharing that information with participants can reinforce the value of their contribution. Seeing an organisation act on an idea they helped develop can strengthen a young person's confidence and understanding of how professional work creates value.

For organisations uncertain about longer-term talent partnerships, project-based collaboration can also provide a useful starting point before considering internships or recruitment.

3. Create mentorship opportunities that connect young people with professional experience

For many young people, one of the greatest challenges in preparing for employment is limited access to people who understand how different industries and professional pathways work.

Students may know which careers interest them without having a clear picture of the skills employers expect, how recruitment processes operate, or what the first few years in a particular profession involve.

Mentorship can help bridge this information gap by connecting young people with professionals who can share practical knowledge, provide guidance, and support more informed career decisions.

The value of mentorship is supported by research. A randomised study involving more than 1,100 vocational students in Uganda examined the effects of connecting young people with mentors during their transition from education into employment.

The researchers found that students who received mentorship were 27% more likely to be working three months after graduation and earned 18% more after one year. An important finding was that mentors helped participants develop more realistic expectations about entry-level jobs, including the wages and employment conditions they could expect.

This information influenced how young people approached their job searches and evaluated available opportunities.

The findings highlight an important dimension of mentorship that is sometimes overlooked. Young people can benefit considerably from having access to accurate information about professional life, even when mentors are unable to provide direct employment opportunities.

A conversation with an experienced professional can help someone understand which skills to prioritise, how to prepare for interviews, what challenges to anticipate, and how to make decisions about their career.

For organisations, mentorship also provides employees with opportunities to develop their own leadership, communication, and coaching capabilities. Supporting a young person requires mentors to reflect on their professional experiences, communicate ideas clearly, and help others navigate unfamiliar situations.

It can also create meaningful relationships between an organisation and emerging talent in its field.

Building a mentorship experience that works

Mentorship does not necessarily require a complicated programme or an extensive time commitment.

An organisation might encourage experienced employees to dedicate approximately two hours each week to supporting a young person over an agreed period. Depending on participants' needs, this could involve individual mentoring sessions, professional development workshops, career conversations, or opportunities to observe workplace activities.

The process should begin with a clear understanding of what the young person hopes to achieve. Someone preparing for job applications may benefit from CV feedback and interview preparation, while another person exploring career options may need guidance on understanding different professional pathways.

Mentors should also be encouraged to share realistic perspectives about their industries, including the difficulties they encountered early in their careers and the decisions that helped them progress.

The most useful mentorship relationships allow young people to ask questions, reflect on their experiences, and develop confidence in making their own decisions.

Organisations do not need to guarantee jobs or internships for mentorship to be valuable. Providing thoughtful guidance, sharing professional experiences, and helping young people better understand the world of work can make a meaningful contribution to their development.

Choosing the right approach for your organisation

The most appropriate way to engage young talent will depend on an organisation's objectives, available resources, and capacity to provide meaningful support.

An organisation planning to recruit within the next few months may find internships particularly valuable because they create opportunities to assess potential employees while supporting their development.

A business or nonprofit seeking fresh perspectives on a specific operational challenge may prefer project-based collaboration, particularly when it does not have the capacity to supervise an intern over an extended period.

For organisations with experienced professionals but limited financial resources, mentorship can provide a relatively accessible starting point. Employees can contribute their knowledge and experience without requiring the organisation to establish an entirely new programme.

These approaches can also complement one another.

An organisation might begin by inviting employees to mentor young people, later collaborate with a group of fellows on a practical project, and eventually offer internship opportunities to participants whose skills align with its needs.

What matters most is ensuring that the engagement responds to a genuine organisational need while providing young people with relevant opportunities to learn and contribute.

Building partnerships that create value for young people and organisations

At Impact Axis, we believe that stronger collaboration between employers, educational institutions, and youth development organisations can help address some of the challenges young people face when transitioning into meaningful work.

Our work focuses on helping young Cameroonians develop durable skills, gain practical experience, access mentorship, and build relationships that expand their professional opportunities.

Since 2021, Impact Axis has reached more than 450 young people through its programmes and activities. Women represent 67% of our fellows, and our programme data indicates that 55% of participants access meaningful opportunities within six months.

These experiences have reinforced our understanding that young people's professional development is strengthened when learning is connected to opportunities to apply skills in real settings.

Partnerships with businesses, nonprofits, foundations, and professionals are an important part of making these experiences possible.

Through the Goodwill Fellowship and our Skills & Employability initiatives, we are interested in working with organisations that can provide practical challenges, create pathways to work experience, offer mentorship, or connect young people to professional opportunities.

Such collaborations can take different forms depending on the needs and capacities of each organisation. A small business may be able to host a project team, while a larger organisation could explore structured internships or employee mentorship opportunities.

Our role is to help create connections between young people preparing for work and organisations that can benefit from their contributions, while supporting experiences that are valuable to both sides.

An opportunity to invest in tomorrow's workforce

As skills requirements continue to evolve, organisations have an important role to play in helping young people gain the experience and guidance needed to participate meaningfully in the workforce.

Internships, project-based collaboration, and mentorship offer practical ways to contribute to this effort. They allow young people to understand workplace expectations, develop relevant capabilities, and build professional relationships while providing organisations with opportunities to identify talent, explore ideas, and strengthen their own teams.

These approaches are especially relevant in Cameroon, where limited access to formal employment and practical work experience continues to make the transition from education into work challenging for many young people.

Creating stronger pathways will require organisations to recognise young people as potential contributors and provide environments in which they can learn, apply their skills, and take on meaningful responsibilities.

For employers and institutions considering how to become involved, the starting point can be relatively modest. Hosting one intern, providing a practical project, or encouraging an experienced employee to mentor a young person can create opportunities for learning and collaboration that extend beyond the immediate engagement.

At Impact Axis, we are committed to building more of these relationships and helping young people make the transition from education into meaningful and dignified work.

Interested in working with young talent? Explore partnership opportunities with Impact Axis and discover how your organisation can contribute through internships, applied projects, mentorship, and other forms of collaboration.

Sources

• World Economic Forum. The Future of Jobs Report 2025. January 2025.
• African Development Bank. Leaders underscore urgent need to create jobs for African youth. 2016.
• National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). 2024 Internship & Co-op Report.
• Alfonsi, L., et al. Meet Your Future: Experimental Evidence on the Labor Market Effects of Mentors. J-PAL / IZA, 2022–2024.