Top achieving students were invited by the Wits Counselling Careers and Development Unit (CCDU) to network and fast-track their next career moves with potential employers.
The CCDU Professional Speed Dating event saw over 100 students from different faculties engage with representatives for multiple companies on August 25, at the Professional Development Hub (PDH) at Wits University.
From companies like L’Oréal South Africa, Life Health Care, BMW Motors, and Standard Bank, students were spoilt for choice when it came to potential suitors. Students with a minimum average of 65% were allowed five-minute interviews, rotating between the companies to gauge what each field had to offer and to gain firsthand interview experience.
Deputy Dean of Students Tshegofatso Mogaladi welcoming companies and students to the Speed Dating Event on August 25, 2023 at the Wits PDH Building. Photo: Georgia Cartwright
Between the dates, ten-minute informative sessions on the latest developments in specific fields were given. This included everything from new disinfectants against bacteria, to transformative constitutionalism in South African law and discussions around decolonizing the content in the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement’s (CAPS) economic document.
Along with this, students were also given slots to present some of their research through presentations.
Organiser of the event, Bongi Ndlovu told Wits Vuvuzela that the purpose of the event is to ensure that Wits graduates are “employable” and that they “possess the right attributes sought by employers.”
Many students seemed to have learnt a lot from the event despite only getting five-minutes with each employer. LLB Student Shaheed Wania told Wits Vuvuzela that there was a lot of competition, but he has learnt that “just because you are doing something in a particular field, it does not mean you are stuck in that field.”
Companies in attendance found the event promising with Ndlovu saying that BMW South Africa and the Boston Consulting Group (BSG) have already been contacting students who attended, impressed with their work. Ndlovu said the event was all about “opening opportunities for students.”
South African Breweries representative, Rene Kohler-Thomas said that their company is not looking for “skills” in the general sense but are looking for students who are “dreaming big” and can adapt to change. She added that she has thoroughly enjoyed engaging with students as you can see the “quality of the talent coming through.”
Ndlovu says the CCDU is planning to host more events like this in the future as it teaches students valuable skills for the working world, provides them with networking opportunities, and gives them the chance to brand themselves to potential employers.
FEATURED IMAGE: LLB student Kamogelo Mathekga being interviewed by law firm, Louw Genis & Rajoo Incorporated during the Professional Speed Dating Event at the Professional Development Hub. Photo: Georgia Cartwright
NATIONAL EDGE?: A recruiter explains to Witsies their available options for their career applications. Photo: Lameez Omarjee
International students can forget about applying for jobs in South Africa, unless they have an identity document (ID) or work permit. This was the general message at a careers fair, held earlier today at the Old Mutual Sports Hall at Wits.
The Counselling and Careers Developmental Unit’s (CCDU) graduate recruitment programme organised the fair for students from across all faculties but there was little on offer for students from outside South Africa.
Limited choices
International student Tinashe Chuchu, Masters in Marketing, attended the fair to look for potential recruiters and employment opportunities. He said the fair was a good initiative by Wits, however his choices are limited given his degree and nationality.
“There were a wide variety of opportunities for engineering students, social sciences students and commerce students,” he said. However he was turned away by companies who were not looking foreign students. “I left out all the banks, for obvious reasons. They do not take anyone who is not South African,” Chuchu said.
“I think the labour department puts (sic) regulations for companies to fulfil quotas,” he said. In his own experience of looking for jobs, Chuchu found that there were positions advertised for international students, but only for specific and scarce skills sets.
Laws and regulations
Kwame Owusu-Ansah, masters in Chemical Engineering, shared Chuchu’s views. Although there were many opportunities, Owusu-Ansah said some of them were very “shaky”. You can apply for some positions, but then you have to make sure you can get a work permit.
“I have a wide variety of choices because I’m an engineer. But until they find out I’m an international student, it slashes by three quarters.”
“Initially if you got an offer there would be an opportunity for you to get a permit. But now you may get an offer, and not a get permit”
He explained that South African labour regulations are more stringent than in previous years. “They often refuse permits for international students, even if they give you an offer,” he said.
Lloyd Uta, an international student completing his Masters in Marketing, found companies that were looking for applicants from South Africa and abroad. Those were big multi-national companies and a few smaller companies looking to increase their human capital, he said.
However, Uta admits, “Choices are limited. I have to keep switching between what I want to do (marketing) and what I can do (IT),” to find job openings.
Employers voice
Amos Kova, a graduate recruitment manager at a bank explained why applicants had to be South African citizens, “We believe that we have an obligation to South Africa”.
Bohlale Paile, also a graduate recruitment manager at a bank said: “We don’t take international students at this point. We did before, but we ran into problems when it came to getting work permits”.
She explained that the Department of Labour required recruiters to motivate why non-South African citizens were chosen over South African citizens.
The motivation process and applications for work permits take time, which holds international graduates back from starting the graduate programme timeously.
Raj Naran, the Career Development Educator and Team Leader Career Services at CCDU said this year, the careers fair was open to everybody. “It does not have a specific focus.”
Companies came from industries where there was a shortage in a skills set, such as “accounting, engineering and commerce” he said.
Naran added that students should earn their jobs, develop themselves and prepare well, “and certainly, academic records play a role”.
Another careers fair is scheduled for September this year.
Shaun Vorster, Business Development partner for the Youth Employment Index. Photo: Palesa Radebe
In an attempt to combat youth unemployment, three companies have combined resources and created an online index where corporate businesses can “register and actively contribute to the employment of young South African talent.”
Uwin Iwin, Mazars and Pleiades Media have collectively established a Youth Employment Index (YEI) which is meant to help companies track youth (individuals aged between 16-35) employment.
“The YEI is a platform where corporates can see how they are faring against each other” in terms on youth employment, said Nazreen Pandor, chairperson of the YEI and associate director at Mazars.
She said the YEI will help create healthy competition, with corporates spurring each other to employ young people, or at least provide opportunities for them to contribute to South Africa.
The YEI is a measurement index that tracks youth employed in corporates and measures development opportunities afforded to them.
According to StatsSA, the 2012 third quarter unemployment rate among the 15- to 24-year-old age group is estimated at 48.2%. The aim of YEI is to encourage businesses to prioritise youth employment and development
Kerry Botha, CEO of Pleiades Media in the YEI said they have always believed in the value of public relations and the powerful role the media had to play in catalysing the necessary shifts in youth employment.
Sarah Botha, daughter of Kerry Botha and account executive of YEI said YEI was established to “make sure people my age and younger are offered the same opportunities.”
The limitations to the YEI are: the index will be a “self-assessment” index meaning companies rate themselves on how well they think they have done and their rating is limited to the “integrity” of the company; the index methodology hasn’t been properly defined and it doesn’t articulate if broad-based-black economic empowerment (government policy) will be considered; no definite corporates were said to have signed up.
THE International Human Rights Exchange (IHRE) programme at Wits’ is investing in the future of students by offering them employment opportunities through internships.
The programme offers an average of 50 local and international Wits students internships at prominent non-governmental and other organisations such as the SA Human Rights Commission, Civicus, Helen Suzman Foundation and Sonke Gender Justice.
The initiative by IHRE attempts to deal with the widespread problem of unemployment that South Africa faces by allowing students to work and gain experience in the areas of research and project management to make them more marketable by the time they graduate.
IHRE’s programme assistant and student liaison, Shingirai Taodzera, says the South African job market is “extremely competitive” and “expanding at a slow pace”, making it essential for students to have “networked and gained practical skills of the work environment to limit the hardships of finding a job after completing their degrees”.
“Because social sciences is mostly non profitable in comparison to other fields such as engineering, networking is important to allow students to know where jobs could be, and if they have the experience of working, it makes it easier for them.
“IHRE offers internships so that students can learn etiquette, teamwork, leadership and inter-personal skills in a more practical manner because this is vital in the kinds of work they will do when they leave university.”
International relations honours student, Veronica Benham, has been part of IHRE for three years and having done an internship at the South African Human Rights Commission, feels she has “climatised to the work environment”.
“I had good relations with people at the commission and they were willing to have me beyond the duration of the internship,” she said.
Blake Desormeaux is an international student from Wellesley College in Boston, US, who is interning at the Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA).
“Through the IHRE internship I hope to gain more insight as to how better I can help the gay and lesbian support group which I run back at my college,” she said.
In this episode we take a look at the work of Joburg Theatre, through the eyes of the people that work at there. Justine, who has been at the theatre for more than 20 years, walks us through its history, and Mbongeni, a ballet dancer, tells us how he came to make this beautiful theatre […]
