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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 appoints new council members

2004-06-07

The council of the University of the Free State (UFS) last week appointed two new council members. One of the members, Mrs Busiswa Tshabalala, will represent the Qwaqwa community. It is the first time since the incorporation of the Qwaqwa into the UFS campus last year that a council member was elected to represent the Qwaqwa community.

Mrs Tshabalala obtained her BA Hons in History from the University of the North’s Qwaqwa campus in 1992 and a B Ed degree in leadership management from the UFS in 1998. She was the first female deputy principal at the Harrismith Secondary School (1989-1992) and principal of the Forty Second Hill Teachers’ Centre in the Vrede area office of the Free State Department of Education. In 2001 she was seconded by the Free State Department of Education to coordinate programme 1 and 2 for Link Community Development. She is currently the director of the Thabo Mofutsanyana education district of the Free State Department of Education.

Dr Susan Vosloo, international acclaimed cardiologist, is the other new member of the council. Dr Vosloo, old Kovsie of the year 1989, obtained the MB Chb degree in 1980 at the UFS, an M Med cardiothoracic surgery and in 1998 the FCS (SA) qualification in cardiothoracic surgery at the College of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA). Dr Vosloo’s career extends over a wide spectrum and she specialises in pediatric and adult cardiothoracic surgery. In 1993 she took part in the first heart transplant in Johannesburg at Milpark Hospital, in 1997 she did the first hear-lung transplant at City Park Hospital in Cape Town and in 1997 a heart transplant on a 3-year old child.

She has a cardiothoracic surgery at the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town since 1991 and in also part-time involved with the Red Cross Memorial Hospital in Cape Town.

“It is a great honour for the UFS to welcome two women with so much expertise and experience on the council. Their presence strengthens the UFS’s continued effort to transform the council,” said judge Faan Hancke, chairperson of the UFS council..

Both Mrs Tshabalala and Dr Vosloo’s appointments are until June 2008.

The following council members have been re-elected until June 2008:

Prof Dines Gihwala - vice-chairperson of the council
Dr Nathan Bagarette
Dr Frans Kotzé

Dr Kobus Laubscher was elected by the donors as representative for a further term until June 2008. Me Winifred Hoexter was elected by the Alumni as the third representative. She has been a foundation donor of the UFS since 1997 and committee member of the Kovsie Alumni Trust since 2000. Me Hoexter’s term is until June 2008. The other Alumni representatives are judge Faan Hancke and Mr Jan Grobler, whose term is until June 2006.

Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

7 June 2004

Mrs Busiswa Tshabalala

Dr Susan Vosloo

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