Category entered:
Best Work Readiness
Campaign name:
Ready for Work (University of Pretoria)
Company name:
University of Pretoria
Short description of campaign:
Employability/Work Readiness Initiative
As a means to provide a comprehensive employability assistance to UP students. Career Service of the University of Pretoria have been working overtime to ensure that our assistance is of an excellent quality. Therefore, we have added an integrated various novel and relevant services to assist our students in recent years. Below are some of these initiatives:
READY FOR WORK
The Ready for Work Programme is designed for University of Pretoria students and recent graduates entering the workplace to help them integrate into the world of work more easily. This uniquely packaged offering helps them move from the world of education to the world of work with essential workplace and other soft skills that will not only improve their career goals, but also open doors to prospective employment.
SOFT SKILLS TRAINING
Career Services, in collaboration with UP Enterprises upgraded and extended the on-line courses accessible to UP students via ClickUP. Each package takes about 5 hours to complete and after assessment, students receive certificates they may use to enhance their curriculum vitae. During 2020 these packages were extensively reviewed and upgraded
The Ready for Work Programme has four online packages that cover Career Planning, Job Preparation, Power Skills, and Professional development.
The Career Planning package consists of:
• Researching your career
• Choosing your career
• Learn how to combine the technical abilities of a computer with the human capacity by applying a computational mindset to solving problems
• Learn techniques to improve your confidence
• Learn practices to become a better interpersonal communicator
The Job Preparation package consists of:
• Researching potential employers
• Writing a CV and Cover Letter
• Learn about basic financial literacy
• Learn skills which will prepare you for a Job Interview
• Learn about the “gig economy’ and how to prepare for this for this new form of work
The Power Skills package consists of:
• Learn how to handle conflict in the workplace
• Learn how to take charge of your environment through stress management skills
• Learn how to be assertive in the workplace
• Learn how to improve the quality of your thinking
• Learn how to creatively solve problems
• Ethical Reasoning Skills
• Learn strategies that will help you manage your time effectively and how to develop SMART goals
The Professional Development package consists of:
• Learn about workplace ethics
• Learn about e-mail etiquette
• Learn about office protocol
• Learn about the Basic Conditions of Employment
Once UP students graduate they are afforded up to two more years to do these courses for free. Thereafter they are available at Enterprises UP at a cost.
In addition to the Ready for Work Programme, students can also enroll for the free on-line Entrepreneurship Programme (POD) that forms part of the ready-for-work initiative.