Monday, February 22, 1999


art


By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Kellie Osato, Sharleen Andrade and business owner
Lloyd Horibe, left to right, have all benefitted from an
internship program at Hairscapes in Manoa.



When a foot in
the door is a
helping hand

By Rob Perez
Star-Bulletin

Tapa

When Kellie Osato was finishing her cosmetology training at Honolulu Community College last year, she wanted to get some on-the-job experience at a hair salon.

Osato reasoned she could only learn so much about haircuts and cosmetics from books and classroom exercises. The rest would have to come from the work world.

So during her final semester in school, the 19-year-old landed an internship at Hairscapes in Manoa, working a couple days a week beside the salon's stylists.

Once the internship ended, Hairscapes owner Lloyd Horibe hired Osato as an assistant. She is training to become a stylist.

In today's sluggish, scrutinize-every-expense economy, Horibe and a small but growing number of other small business owners in Hawaii are finding that internships are a cost-effective way to evaluate prospective employees.

Businesses get help -- often for free -- from students training in an area in which the companies want extra labor or expertise.

The businesses also are able to size up the interns' skills and work habits free of the normal requirements associated with hiring regular employees.

Such an evaluation can prevent the spending of thousands of dollars to hire and train a worker, only to discover that the employee isn't a good fit for the company, career counselors and employers say.

"We get to see their performance without having to hire them," said Horibe, who started taking HCC interns last year.

What's more, the schools usually go through a screening process to ensure students match the requirements of the jobs.

"It's not like putting an ad in the paper when you get 4,000 people and none meet your minimum requirements," said Ken Johnson, an HCC cooperative education coordinator.

The problem, say business consultants and others, is that many small business owners are unaware of the potential benefits of using student help.

Local colleges and universities say they are eager to work with interested businesses in setting up new internships. A phone call usually can start the process.

Most schools have internships. Businesses should contact individual campuses -- usually a career coordinating or placement office -- for information. The schools say they value such programs because of the job experience the students receive.

But internships, the schools emphasize, aren't simply free-labor programs.

"They aren't designed to be gopher-type work," said Mike Maglaya, a University of Hawaii career counselor.

Students must learn while on the job and get sufficient mentoring, the schools say. Students typically earn course credits for their internships, and in some programs even earn a salary.

In computer-related jobs, for instance, students can make more than the minimum wage.

Internships, however, are not for every business.

"If the firm is too small, I don't think the owner can provide the time (for mentoring) and pay attention to the business," said Andrew Poepoe, district director for the Small Business Administration in Hawaii.



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