SA Job Seekers boosts employment prospects for Alexandra youth
Amid high unemployment and tough labour market conditions, SA Job Seekers is helping Alexandra youth overcome barriers to employment by equipping them with essential CV-writing, interview preparation, and workplace readiness skills.
One organisation in Alexandra is refusing to back down and allow young people to buckle under the pressure of the socio-economic challenges they face.
SA Job Seekers is driven by a central goal of tackling one issue that renders young people unemployable, and that is their inability to craft compelling CVs and present themselves well in interviews.
They uncovered this problem during their engagements with recruiters, which followed a series of door-to-door campaigns urging companies to employ young people. “Through our engagements with various companies, we were able to place some people there. But some of the HR professionals were brutally honest with us. They said people are not ready to be employed. They said they only hired people because they engaged with us; had it not been for that, they wouldn’t have hired them,” shared the organisation’s founder, Mush Raletjena.
Read more: Businessmen urge youth to take charge and address joblessness
He said the common concern raised by companies was that young people were not adequately prepared to carry out duties listed in the job description. “What amazed them was that the same people could do the actual job. But they perform poorly during interviews and struggle to create good CVs.”
The recruiters’ feedback prompted the launch of the Job Readiness Workshop. In its recent session, held on July 8 in partnership with Galxcoc, Altron, Bongani Rainmaker Logistics, and Rohlig Grindrod at Alexandra Motswedi Skills Centre, job seekers were empowered with practical tools and insights to transition into the labour market.
Far from a passive event, the workshop fostered active engagement between speakers and attendees. It offered more than hope; attendees walked away with actionable advice. A keynote address delivered by senior human resources professional Tebogo Mohlampe from Altron equipped participants with essential knowledge on job searching and market expectations.
Mohlampe stressed the importance of candidates demonstrating the ability to perform job-related tasks in interviews. Attendees learned how to tailor their CVs, understand recruiter priorities, and position themselves as solution-oriented candidates to enhance their employment prospects.
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