Career advice and opportunities
Dispatch launches expert weekly page to guide you in hunting for your dream job
School’s over, further study is impossible, for whatever reason, and work looms.
However, with four out of ten Eastern Cape youths already unemployed, the employment search for unskilled 2018 school-leavers is challenging, but far from impossible.
David Botha, manager of Kempston Employment Solutions, said he had immense empathy for youngsters battling to find first-time jobs.
“I have been there. When I left school, the only job I could find was at the bottom of the farming tree, as a labourer. I had no option but to accept it.
“Today, I’m glad I did. It taught me how to get my hands dirty, and I could work my way up.
“I was fortunate to get into the recruitment industry through contacts who felt I had the right attitude, and I learnt on the job.”
Botha’s advice to job seekers who have no recognised skills, or have not yet discovered their particular passion, is to explore part-time opportunities.
“Whatever job is offered they should take it.
“Aside from earning money, all job exposure helps them narrow down the options in a field that interests them, or for the lucky ones, where they want to eventually work.
“Most people, understandably, want full-time employment with all the associated perks.
“However, without employable skills, those jobs are tough to find, especially without tertiary education.”
Botha used an example of working as a factory sweeper.
“It might not be what a person aspires to but it will give a novice job seeker a hands-on education into the sector he or she is sweeping in.
“With the right attitude and desire to learn, there is the possibility of quick promotions, which could lead to the company paying for further training. But above all, do not quit the search.”
Selling is one area where passion and commitment can lead to employment, as long as the job is not high-tech, requiring professional knowledge, as is the service industry.
Prana Lodge, the East Coast hotel that has won an award as the world’s best hotel in its category, looks for people with, as owner Gail Davidson puts it, “the right attitude”.
“We look for attitude ahead of skills, and train the latter,” Davidson said.
Glynis Bentley, who manages Sheldon Recruitment, advises job hunters that if they “don’t know what they are looking for, they are never going to find it”.
“If there are no possibilities of further study or training, they should look at jobs their friends are doing. Do the research.
“Then see what jobs are available to people with their ability.”
Then there is volunteering, which means working without being paid. This is a well-accepted practice, particularly in the public relations (PR) and advertising industries.
PR company Media EQ director Antoinette Panton said it was a tough industry to enter.
“If a person volunteers and shows passion, commitment and the ability to learn, then they are worth looking at.
“However, they must have the soft people skills to even get through the door.”
If a job hunter has access to money, and has no direction or passion for any job field, he or she could consider psychometric testing.
By measuring attributes including intelligence, critical reasoning, motivation and personality profile, psychometric testing helps identify the type of jobs suited to school leavers.
A final word from David Botha: “It is understandable youngsters who have fought their way through to matric may think society owes them a living. Sadly, it won’t happen.
“Aside from attitude, people looking for work must get the basics right, and deliver more than is expected, stand out from the crowd, be willing and lastly be on time, every time.”
With the right attitude and desire to learn, there is the chance of promotions