How to land an industrial attachment in Ghana

Industrial attachment is usually the first line on a Ghanaian graduate's CV, and for most students it is also the first time they have had to find work rather than be assigned it. The uncomfortable truth is that most attachments are never advertised anywhere. They are arranged.

Start a semester early

Firms that take students plan around their own workload, not the academic calendar. By the time the vacation begins, the good places are full.

Start asking three to four months before you need to report. That is early enough that a "not now" can become "come in June", which is exactly the answer you want.

Build a list of twenty, not two

Sending two hopeful emails and waiting is how most students end up with nothing. Make a list of twenty organisations, in the sector you want, that are within reach of somewhere you can stay:

• Firms your department has sent students to before. Ask your coordinator for names; this list exists.
• Employers your lecturers consult for. A lecturer's introduction is worth more than any application letter.
• Mid-sized local firms. A construction firm with thirty staff will give you more real work than a multinational with a formal programme and two hundred applicants.
• Public agencies and district assemblies, which routinely take attachment students.
• Anywhere a relative, church member or senior colleague can walk your letter in for you. This is not cheating; it is how most hiring in Ghana begins.

What to send

Keep it to a short email or a one-page letter, with your CV attached and your school's introductory letter if you have it.

Say four things, in this order: what you study and where, the exact dates you are available, what you can already do that is useful, and that you are happy to be useful in whatever way suits them. Then stop.

The line that gets replies is a specific one. "I am available from 3 June to 9 August and I can do AutoCAD drawings and site measurements" beats a paragraph about your passion for engineering.

Address it to a person if you can find one. the HR officer, the head of the unit, the site engineer. "Dear Sir/Madam" mail sent to an info@ address is the mail most likely to go unread.

Follow up, once, properly

Wait a week, then call or walk in. Ask politely whether the letter reached the right person and whether you may leave a printed copy. In a lot of Ghanaian offices a printed letter in a hand beats an email in an inbox, and a student who turns up is remembered.

Keep a simple record of who you contacted, when, and what they said. By your fifteenth application you will not remember, and calling the same person twice with the same question undoes the good impression.

When you get there

The attachment itself is your audition for a graduate role and your material for every application afterwards.

1. Turn up early, every day. In a small firm this alone puts you ahead.
2. Ask for the boring task nobody wants, then do it properly. That is how you get trusted with a real one.
3. Write down what you did each week, with numbers, while you still remember.
4. In your last week, ask your supervisor for a reference letter and their phone number. Do it in person, before you leave.

If nothing lands

Do not spend the vacation waiting. Volunteer somewhere that will give you a letter, take on a small paid project, or build something you can show. A student who spent eight weeks doing the accounts for a family business has more to talk about at interview than one who spent them at home with an unanswered email.

If you are looking now, current internship and attachment openings are worth checking weekly. the ones that are advertised go fast.