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#YouthMonth: UFS Career Hub to increase graduate employability

01 June 2023 | Story Belinda Janeke | Photo Kaleidoscope

Opinion article by Belinda Janeke, Head of Career Services in the Division of Student Affairs at the University of the Free State.

More than half of the youth in South Africa are unemployed. Although a tertiary qualification increases your chances of finding a job, a staggering 32,6% of graduates are still unemployed. This is unacceptably high. As universities, it is our duty to help decrease the graduate unemployment rate by producing highly employable graduates.

Employability is one of the key drivers in the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Vision 130. As an institution of higher learning, we have always supported employability and ensured that our students are skilled according to industry standards. UFS Career Services is known for cultivating relationships between the industry and students, and many successful applicants have completed our programmes before stepping into the job market.

Coming soon: Virtual Career Hub

This year, the Career Services Office is looking forward to technological developments in the field of career readiness. The virtual Career Hub will be a space where students and employers can make initial contact and where students can grow their employability by tracking their skills completion.

Continuous job placements

In the meantime, our newly appointed placement officers in UFS Career Services are being trained to assist students with job placements. We help students to compile a professional CV tailored to market requirements, a convincing cover letter, and a LinkedIn page that gets noticed. To make sure that students are fully prepared and confident, we also offer interview coaching and career plan development.

We have already achieved much success with our employability support and look forward to the data that will be generated by the Career Hub. All students (from first year to postgraduates) are encouraged to connect with UFS Career Services to help increase their employability. Let your degree work for you by making sure that you are work ready.

News Archive

Five from UFS’s Department Quantity Surveying win prestigious awards

2014-11-17

Prof Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu

Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

The University of the Free State (UFS) is very proud of five of its students who won the Kenneth K. Humphrey award at the recent International Cost Engineering Council (ICEC) conference held in Milan, Italy. Justin Haselau received the outstanding paper award. His study leader was Prof Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu, Head of the Department of Quantity Surveying at the UFS.

The ICEC is an organisation aimed at promoting cooperation between national and multinational cost engineering, quantity surveying and project management organisations worldwide, to the benefit of the industry and that of individual members.

The students received this prestigious award for the outstanding papers they delivered. The award is presented to authors under the age of 36. Submissions come from all over the world and were adjudicated by an independent panel.

The other recipients were:

1.      Marique Kamperbeek – (study leader: Prof Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu, 2013)
2.      Tshego Matshwi – (study leader: Prof Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu, 2013)
3.      Matlakal Radebe – (study leader: Prof Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu, 2013)
4.      Elana Malherbe – (study leader: Dr Benita Zulch, 2012)

The winning papers were included in the electronic version of the ICEC’s International Cost Management Journal (ICMJ).

This is already the third time the university has won these awards.

Prof Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu, Head of the Department of Quantity Surveying and Construction Management at the UFS, says she is very proud of these achievements.

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