Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

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

UFS supports SAASTA in science initiative

2010-08-27

Romeo Motsie, Michelle Baadjies, Puleng Phalole and Thato Ntsebeng from the winning school, Unicom Primary School (Tweespruit) with Susan Usher, their teacher.

The National Astronomy Quiz for Grade 7 learners was recently hosted at the Boyden Science Centre, which is managed by the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Physics. It was also Boyden and the UFS’s Department of Physics that coordinated the Free State leg of the competition. The Free State Department of Education was also on board to ensure smooth arrangements for the preliminary, as well as the first two official rounds of the competition.

The competition is hosted by the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA), an agency of the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Ninety schools from all over the Free State took part in the first official round. Eighteen schools qualified for the second round, once again with a balanced geographic coverage of the province.

During the second round, eight schools made it to the third round. Two of these schools were from Bloemfontein and the other six from other towns and rural areas in the Free State.

The third round and provincial finals took place at the Boyden Science Centre. The schools qualifying for the final round were Hennenman Primary School, Unicom Primary School (Tweespruit), Voorwaarts Primary School (Kroonstad) and Fichardt Park Primary School (Bloemfontein).

As a pleasant surprise, Unicom Primary School, a less well-known school from a smaller town, won the Free State finals. It was the first time this had happened since the inception of the competition.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept