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UFS Mock Interviews: Shaping career-ready graduates and tackling unemployment

23 May 2025 | Story Lilitha Dingwayo | Photo Lunga Luthuli

To get senior and postgraduate students ready for the world of work, the University of the Free State (UFS) Division of Career Services’ Placement Preparation Day, which was initiated in 2023, has grown into an annual workshop – Mock Interview Day – with this year’s event taking place in the Callie Human Centre on the Bloemfontein Campus.

Held on 14 and 15 May 2025, this UFS initiative – aimed at addressing employability – has evolved through the implementation of several educational subdivisions tasked with the responsibility of assisting all registered students understand the professional environment. One of these divisions is the Centre for Teaching and Learning’s (CTL) ‘Graduate Attributes’ – an initiative that seeks to assess a student’s development of valuable attributes during lectures.

According to Belinda Janeke, Assistant Director of Career Services, “Feedback indicates that most students have no interview experience – a critical factor. It is through these mock interviews that students’ confidence is built and their transition from student to employee is smoothened.”

With the assistance of staff members and employees in conducting the interviews, the two-day initiative has seen evident success in both attendance and reach. “Yesterday we had about 90 students come in for the mock interviews and all of them stated that it was their first time being interviewed,” said Janeke. “Even though our office is situated on the Bloemfontein Campus, we also visit the South and Qwaqwa campuses to ensure accessibility across all three UFS campuses,” Janeke added. Emphasising results, she shared that in the 12 years she has been working in this division, student engagement has grown due to improvements in technology.

Career Services sends out letters and emails on the 11th of each month to recognise the achievements of students who have used their services. In collaboration with the UFS’ Vision 130, more directions are being explored across the three campuses, starting with the cross-campus Shoe Camp project.

This initiative targets all UFS students, prioritising senior individuals on the cusp of job hunting. “As a postgraduate student, I am looking into getting a job next year and I have never been interviewed before, so I needed the trial run to get more information on accurate interview etiquette,” said Aphiwe Mbutuma, an Administration honours student. Mbutuma said the support she received from the staff was crucial in boosting her confidence for her next interview. She further described the experience as an eye-opener, adding that students should seize these opportunities to understand what is expected of them. Zukile Daki, a second-year student in the Faculty of Law, said: “I once bombed an interview, so I came here to improve, and it went well.”

News Archive

International Bible scholars attend conference on Apocalyptic Literature and Mysticism

2017-09-18

Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor,
second from left, flanked by three
deans of theology: Prof Fanie Snyman (UFS),
Prof Jörg Frey (University of Zurich),
and Prof Gregory Sterling (Yale Divinity School).
Photo: Eugene Seegers

Apocalypticism and mysticism have become two key areas of research that have converged to form the heart of contemporary spirituality. It was with this in mind that leading local and international Bible scholars were invited to a collaborative international conference jointly hosted by the UFS Faculty of Theology and Religion and Yale Divinity School, with the theme Apocalyptic Literature and Mysticism—Investigating a Turn in Recent Apocalyptic Research.

It is perhaps unknown to many that a number of the most profound thinkers, both of Judeo-Christian tradition and other religions in general, were mystics. Their lives and writings speak of a longing for an intimate relationship with God, reflecting on universal existential questions such as understanding our human existence, our creation, and ultimately, the meaning of life.

Apocalypticism, on the other hand, focuses on texts and prophecies describing how an alternative, future world might replace our existing one, a process often cataclysmic in nature, thus, like the mystics, also reflecting on the deeper foundations of human existence and our possible demise.

Traditionally, both have been misunderstood and controversial, but more recent research has revealed their formative role in religious discourses, with many scholars finding growing commonalities between apocalyptic and mystical texts. Moreover, these commonalities help to establish a better understanding of Judeo-Christian traditions, as well as other religions in general.

This hugely successful UFS collaborative effort, as well as others of its kind, contribute to the growth of theology as a discipline, with a positive impact on the broader religious community, the church, and society as a whole in the common desire for a just, equitable, and humane world.

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