Tertiary education: A means to an end

Recent research offers some welcome news for final-year students. There will be more jobs available next year in most sectors, provided you can show recruiters what makes you special. While you’re sending out your CV be careful not to ignore the new companies on campus. Also remember that your degree doesn’t define your destiny, so keep an open mind while you’re doing your homework on where you want to work. - Fay Humphries

Sibusiso Mbhele

It is time tertiary students/graduates come to understand the nature of the environment they are in. Being in the university is not just a privilege but a learning curve that our students should discover.  The university requires someone’s transformation of mind, to understand why it’s essential to go through it? 

Their lives are not in relation to what the working environment expects from the graduates. However, the shortage of skills has been on top of the agenda. Graduates rarely expose themselves to programmes that provide them with skills. What happens is students are involved in activities that are not of benefit to their careers. This results with a lack of information on the changes that takes place in their respective fields. A month ago we had a 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup, and then if you could research the students/graduates that took place in the voluntary programme are not from the hospitality industry. At the end of the day you ask yourself, do these students/graduates have career development plans? Why is it that they allow opportunities slip in their own hands like that?

Tertiary institutions do have structures that provide assistants to such issues but students/graduates are not involved. The point is you build experience while you at tertiary, you make yourself relevant to the working world. “Prevention is better than cure”. While still at tertiary you should mold yourself to fit in the company or department that you want to be. You should be able to spot opportunities while at a distance. Regarding fitting to the right spot Fay says “Apart from investigating the more non-traditional employers and organisations, students should also be aware that sometimes their degrees can lead to jobs they may not have initially considered. For an example, many believe that an engineering degree is required to build a successful career in the motoring sector-but that’s simply not true”.

It should be highlighted to students/graduates that employers are definitely looking for the right people that will be the future of their companies. Therefore, it takes a well equipped personality to grasp such chances because recruiters are more in terms of soft skills than degrees hence qualifications also play a major role.  “We’d like to see more South African-based students take advantage of our International exchange programme. There is no upper limit to the numbers here and we focus on selecting the best students for the internships that best match their needs” Says Nyaladzi Putecho from AIESEC.

Therefore, it is all about recognizing programmes that are in place to enhance the skills that are needed at a workplace. Students who put the necessary time and effort into becoming employable and get serious about the recruitment process will secure themselves a position anywhere. Make it a point that you develop in you skills that are essential for the market. 

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