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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.

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Diligence to be rewarded at the 2015 Spring Graduation

2015-09-15

The hard work of many students finally comes to fruition with this year’s spring graduation ceremonies taking place on Thursday 17 September 2015 on the Bloemfontein Campus.

A total of 124 diplomas, 419 bachelors and 56 honours degrees will be conferred on graduates from all seven faculties of the University of the Free State (UFS). In addition to the 599 conferrals, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the world-renown American economist, will round out the number to 600 as the recipient of an honorary doctorate.

The Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences wishes to express appreciation for his extensive contribution towards economic, social, and political development across borders with an honorary doctorate in Economics.

Prof Sachs has had a positive impact on global peace and security, climate change, sustainable development, human rights promotion, and governance through various platforms, including being a Special Advisor to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). He also served as the Secretary-General’s MDG Advocate and Commissioner of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Broadband Commission for Development.

In addition, Prof Sachs serves as the Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. As an author, he has featured three times on the New York Times bestsellers list, and is the co-founder of the Millennium Promise Alliance, and drives the Millennium Villages Project as its Director.

Graduates should expect words of salutation and encouragement from our main speaker, the Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the university, Prof Jonathan Jansen.

Two ceremonies will take place in the Callie Human Centre at 09:00 and 14:00 respectively. Attendees of the afternoon ceremony will witness the conferment of Prof Sach’s degree. There is a live stream option available on the university’s website to individuals who are unable to attend the ceremonies.

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