Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN) and U.S. Mission in Pakistan recently conducted an virtual opening ceremony of ‘PUAN Summer Internship-2022’. Each year, dozens of senior members of PUAN volunteer their time and professional expertise as mentors to professionally guide the junior alumni from the network in order to provide and support them with career advises and professional experience. This year, 40 senior alumni are mentoring 40 junior alumni for a 12-week internship at their respective organizations.

Ashab Hassan Lodhi, Assistant Alumni Outreach Officer-PUAN Punjab was the moderator of the opening ceremony and Paul Giblin – Public Diplomacy Officer, U.S. Embassy Islamabad- was the key note speaker.

Ceremony had an interesting Q&A session which helped both mentors and mentees to find out more about what career choices, skills set and expectations are required in today’s fast growing job market. Considering the level of competition and saturation in the market today, these internships serve as key entry points to our young alumni, not only helping them gain hands-on work experience under the mentorship of some of the best minds in their fields but also paving the path to full-time employment opportunities in the future. These internships serve as one of the best opportunities for mentees to learn and challenge themselves by giving back to their communities. Participating senior alumni are expected to provide substantive assignments and guidance to interns to foster their professional growth; in return, younger alumni work full-time in the host organization for three months and are paid a monthly stipend by the PUAN Secretariat.