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08 June 2023 | Story Danelle Fisher | Photo Lunga Luthuli
Career Services
Pictured are student representatives from House Vergeet-My-Nie, winners of the 2023 Inter-residence Work Readiness Challenge. With them is Nobesuthu Sonti, Senior Officer, Career Services (holding a mic), and on the right is Petunia Rooibaaidjie, Career Ambassador.
The Career Services division within the Department of Student Affairs recently (May 2023) held their first-ever Inter-residence Work Readiness Challenge. The challenge, targeted at students in residences, called on students to submit their CVs and cover letters to the UFS Careers Office. 

Students from the Bloemfontein Campus residences were challenged to submit as many CVs, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles as possible, with the most submissions winning the challenge. “Having the Inter-residence Work Readiness Challenge was to increase the employability of the University of the Free State students through a healthy competition among students on the Bloemfontein Campus,” states Nobesuthu Sonti, Senior Officer in the Career Services office. 

Nineteen out of 28 residences competed, with students submitting their documents on Blackboard; Career Services recorded 486 submissions in one month. “The response from students is an indication that they were not aware of the support that Career Services can offer regarding their CVs and cover letters,” explains Sonti. 

The initiative also revealed the challenges students have in compiling CVs and writing cover letters, and how to articulate themselves during mock interviews. 

Sonti said: "Most students were not aware of what to include in their document, which affected the quality of content submitted. Through the mock interviews, we found that students struggle to articulate themselves and are not able to sell themselves,” said Sonti. 

House Vergeet-My-Nie came out as victors in the end, having submitted more CVs and cover letters than the other residences. Sonti encourages students to seek career guidance and contact the office to assess their career paths and be offered private career coaching.

  • The Career Services office offers students workshops on how to write CVs and cover letters, networking, and job-hunting skills to improve their employability. It further offers career guidance and mock interviews, together with a career closet where students can pick out interview-appropriate outfits for their interviews.
You can contact the Career Service office at the following email address: career@ufs.ac.za

News Archive

UFS strengthens ties with Mexican university
2010-05-11

 At the First Joint Subcommittee on Technical, Scientific and Technological Co-operation were, from left: Prof. Nahum Marban-Mendoza, Chairperson of the Department of Agroparasitology, UACH; Dr Gisela Pena-Ortega, Director of the Office for International Affairs and Academic Exchange, UACH; Prof. Wijnand Swart, Director of UFS Strategic Academic Cluster 4: Technologies for Crop Industries in Semi-arid regions; and Dr Victor Pinto, Department of Parasitology, UACH.
Photo: Mercedes Cuenca


In 2006, the University of the Free State (UFS) signed an institutional agreement with the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACH) in Mexico. This made the UFS the first South African academic institution to establish scientific relations with Mexico.

It was for this reason that Prof. Wijnand Swart, Director of the UFS Strategic Academic Cluster 4: Technologies for Crop Industries in Semi-arid regions, was invited to participate in the First Joint Subcommittee on Technical, Scientific and Technological Cooperation held recently in Mexico City. During his visit, Prof. Swart secured the working relationship between the UFS and the UACH.

During the first meeting of the Mexico-South Africa Bi-national Commission, the Mexican Foreign Secretary and Minister of Foreign Affairs and South African Minister for International Relations and Cooperation signed a joint statement. The statement, “Mexico and South Africa: Towards a Priority Relationship”, together with a Scientific and Technological Cooperation Agreement, will lay the foundations for monitoring existing collaboration and promote new actions between institutions in Mexico and South Africa.

Prof. Swart spent the remainder of his stay in Mexico presenting lectures to staff and students at the UACH on integrated pest management and challenges facing South African agriculture. He also engaged in discussions with Dr Gisela Pena-Ortega, Director of the UACH Office for International Affairs and Academic Exchange, about the establishment of a staff and student exchange programme with the UFS.
 

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