Puzzlingly, this model in South Africa is still quite rare; most of our graduates leave colleges and universities with no work experience related to their course or degree whatsoever. For employers, this is a challenge. Too many first-time jobseekers lack the most basic work readiness skills they require. This is problematic, not just for the almost 400,000 unemployed SA graduates looking for work, but for the nation as a whole.
Fortunately, local tertiary institutions are starting to increase the work readiness and on-the-job training component of the courses and degrees they offer, with a special focus being placed on internship as a viable and mutually beneficial solution to improving graduate employability. This increased focus on workplace experience is borne out by a number of facts:
Bridging the gap
Initiatives such as GAP and Harambee offer not just work placement and internship opportunities, but also access to training, resources and tools. The GAP site helps businesses find interns across the country, and offers free tools, tips, templates and an online work readiness programme called Bridging the Gap, with a view to increasing graduate employability and offering more value to the prospective host business. GAP also works directly with education institutes to enhance placement strategies, and provides valuable market information for matching qualifications and course content with market needs.
Harambee works mostly with school-leavers and matriculants, and offers comprehensive work readiness and other training for selected candidates, as well as job placement support.
Research from abroad and feedback from local employers suggests that it is absolutely critical for SA's future for learning institutions to focus on helping their students access internship programmes, work-placement initiatives and experiential learning opportunities, in order to get hands-on working experience.
Ensuring that tertiary qualifications meet the needs of the market (employers) will further ensure that our next generation of graduates is not just educated, but employable as well.