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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

UFS Council votes on top appointments

2003-11-24

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) today voted on the filling of four senior vacancies, including three posts at Vice-Rector level and one at the level of Dean.

The Council voted as follows:
- Prof Magda Fourie will be offered the post of Vice-Rector: Academic Planning
- Dr Ezekiel Moraka will be offered the post of Vice-Rector: Student Affairs
- Prof Teuns Verschoor will be offered the post of Vice-Rector: Academic Operations
- Prof Letticia Moja will be offered the post of Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences

Two of the candidates, Prof Teuns Verschoor and Prof Magda Fourie, are currently acting Vice-Rectors at the UFS. Prof Verschoor is acting Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Prof Fourie is acting Vice-Rector for Academic Planning. Dr Moraka is currently Dean of Student Affairs at the University of Pretoria (UP). Prof Moja is currently the acting Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the UFS.

According to the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, Prof Frederick Fourie, the filling of these senior vacancies comes after one of the most thorough search and selection processes ever at the UFS.

“It is wonderful that we are able to celebrate the outcome of this process that has brought forward such excellent candidates who reflect our country’s diversity. It shows that we can achieve the goals of quality and diversity at the same time,” Prof Fourie said.

Prof Magda Fourie (49) received her Ph D on Institutional governance of higher education in transition: a South African perspective from the UFS in 1996. She joined the UFS in 1998, later becoming Director of the Centre for Higher Education Studies and Development and Professor in Higher Education Studies. She said in her declaration of intent her aspiration is to contribute to making the UFS the excellent university it foresees in its vision and mission. Academic planning should position the UFS with regard to its core activities strategically as an institution of excellence that will meet the future from a strong basis of academic integrity and credibility.

Dr Moraka (45) received his Ph D in Education Management on Management of change and conflict resolution by student affairs officers at historically white universities in South Africa from the UP in 2002. He is Dean of Students at the UP since 2001. Before that he was Head of Student Support and Student Social Services at the UP for six years. He was also, among others, a lecturer at a college of education and a pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa. He said in his declaration of intent that diversity can become so greatly emphasised that people can be driven further apart. Focus should be on moulding a student community where everyone can feel at home, a community which lives together and works together without destroying what is unique to each individual.

Prof Verschoor (53) received his LL D in 1980 at the University of Pretoria on The criminal responsibility of psychopaths and similar figures. He was professor in and Head of the Department of Criminal Law and Medical Law at the UFS for 17 years before becoming Dean of Students in 1994. He said in his declaration of intent that he dreams of the realisation of projects that are awaiting the enthusiastic support, bringing together and empowering of persons involved by a Vice-Rector that wants to see the UFS prosper in an era of continuing dynamic development. In this he would like to make a substantial contribution.

Prof Moja (46) received her MB ChB in 1982 from the University of Natal and her M.Med in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1990 from the Medical University of South Africa (Medunsa). She became a full professor in 2003 at the UFS and has been acting as Dean of the UFS’s Faculty of Health Sciences since February 2003. She said in her declaration of intent that the challenge for her is to manage change with the ultimate aim of both achieving the vision of the UFS and satisfying the needs of the community. Some of the academic challenges include the training of more people from designated groups and rural areas. Careful planning and integration of the curriculum should be done to ensure that all students perform to their best.

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