Every six weeks Etafeni runs a “Fit for Life Fit for Work” programme for young adults with the aim of placing the graduates into either paid employment or stipend internships, or enrolling students in tertiary institutions with the help of a bursary. The programme has an 80% success rate!
FunDza is very proud to be part of the programme with the relaunched version of the BrandingMe workshop – aimed at young job-seekers to help them articulate and write about themselves with confidence. FunDza went to Etafeni on 23 and 24 July to run the new-look BrandingMe sessions.
The workshop takes place over two half-days during the communication week and aims to build skills of how to ‘brand’ yourself in job interviews and through application letters. Participants learn about the differences between soft and hard skills, and learn new vocabulary to better describe the soft skills they have acquired in their life experiences to date. For many, this is the first time that they are given the space to articulate what they want for themselves and what they have achieved in their lives beyond culture, peer pressure or a consumer society.
One of the changes to the BrandingMe session plan is the inclusion of current content from our FunDza mobi site, which we navigate live during the workshop to discover the interesting and helpful material on offer. In this last workshop we read and then discussed Preparing for a job interview from our Work-Wise series of blogs. At the end of that particular blog post there were questions which the participants asked each other in pairs in a mini mock-interview style.
In real time we also searched job sites online and together we learnt from each other (and google!) about new and exciting sites for job seekers. In this last workshop we came across Youth Village and discovered great jobs and internship opportunities.
One of the great things about the workshop is that it is now happening over two half-days rather than being packed into one very full day. This extended time means that we can have a presence and reach within these young people’s lives in a way that a one-day workshop doesn’t allow. In addition, the exciting Work-Wise blog – with articles like: Writing a winning covering letter and Getting professional with your CV – provides great content not only for the workshop but also as a constant and practical resource for these youngsters in order to secure a better future for themselves. Participant Busisiwe put it best:
“I learnt a lot, how to exactly write an application letter, including soft and hard skills. Your previous work experience even if it was informal for my instance. I also learnt what FunDza Literacy Trust offers: Work-wise blogs.”