Job opportunities for graduates required
Finding a dream job is one of the most difficult things any tertiary institution can promise its graduates these days.
Cleopatra Jones spent two years sitting at home after graduating with a Diploma in Journalism. At the time, finding her dream job was just that – a dream.
With the rate of unemployment in South Africa rapidly increasing, many graduates have found themselves going for years with being unable to put their qualifications to good use.
The challenge of graduates finding industry-suitable jobs after obtaining their qualifications was, however, the premise on which Rosebank College began its Graduate Empowerment Programme in 2012.
National Graduate Development Manager, Lillian Bususu said, “Government needs to re-look at our education system to match global standards if we are to create competent graduates. They also need to make incentives for companies to absorb graduates and to increase youth development agencies with a bias towards the promotion of entrepreneurship.”
Bususu, who has been involved with the programme since its inception, has been able to help place just over 1 760 graduates, like Jones, through the programme. The purpose of the programme is to equip students with skills, understandings and personal attributes, making them more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupation. The programme was built on feedback received from companies based on what they were looking for in new graduates.
After undergoing a “grooming session” and volunteering at the SABC for a year, Jones managed to get a job as a Production Coordinator for the current affairs television show, Special Assignment.
