It’s another resounding YES from Epiroc to youth empowerment!
Many
young graduates, eager to start their working careers, are finding it extremely
difficult to secure a job in today’s tough economic and high unemployment
climate that is being further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The youth
plays a critical role in shaping our country and economy and they must therefore
be afforded every opportunity to gain valuable skills which they can take
forward into meaningful careers,” says Coetzer. “We’re always on the lookout for new and exciting ways
to engage with talented people and build our employer brand in South Africa.
YES4Youth is a great mechanism to help us do that. It gives us an ideal
opportunity to play an active role in addressing the socio-economic challenge
of high unemployment in South Africa by providing work experience to some of
our country’s youth over a 12-month period which we believe will make it easier
for them to find permanent employment.”
YES
is a not-for-profit
business-led
collaboration with Government and labour that provides for and
institutes Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) with the objective of creating one million work opportunities for the
youth in South Africa.
In
2019 Epiroc engaged with 33 unemployed matriculants, TVET learners as
well as university graduates who were placed across a variety of functions within
the company’s HR, Communications,
Finance, Sales and Supply Chain departments. Coetzer
notes that while there is no guarantee of placement at
the end of the YES Programme, three of their Supply Chain learners were offered
permanent positions with Epiroc’s Regional Distribution Centre. “However, we experienced
a high turnover with the university graduates, a handful leaving for permanent
positions within the mining industry. We trust that we made a positive impact
during their time with us and that they will hold Epiroc top-of-mind as they
grow within the industry and even become future Epiroc customers.”
In selecting the most suitable interns for the 12-month Programme, Epiroc followed the strict YES criteria which dictate that the unemployed candidates should be passionate and talented previously disadvantaged South African citizens aged between 18 – 35 years. Discussing some of the Programme’s challenges, Coetzer notes that they find the initial interview process to be really difficult. “Youth are expected to sell themselves as the top candidate but they have limited career experience and grades are not necessarily a good predictor of workplace success. To overcome this hurdle we steer our interviews in a different direction, giving the candidates an opportunity to engage in other activities where they can showcase their communication, leadership and problem-solving skills.”
This
year Epiroc will provide 60 unemployed youth with opportunities ranging from
formal participation in YES4Youth to a structured Learnership or Apprenticeship
Programme. “By the end of July we had already signed on 40 interns placed in our
HR, Finance, Parts & Service, Sales & Marketing departments with the
majority working ‘virtually’ with their teams at head office,” explains
Coetzer. “We also actively sought out talent in the Kuruman area and we are
very excited to now have a young woman on board for the next 12 months to assist
with building relationships with and marketing our products to mining customers
in the area.” The smartly structured YES internship gives interns the opportunity
to gain both practical and theoretical knowledge, depending on their allocated
roles within Epiroc. Coetzer points out that in addition to learning
about the business world, the selected YES
interns also earn a stipend. Epiroc will encourage those 2020 interns
who excel at their tasks to apply for vacancies within the company.
Coetzer
who actively recruits youth for Apprenticeships, YES Placements, and
Learnerships, shares a few tips to assist candidates when applying for a
permanent job. “Some of the more common mistakes we see include not forwarding a
motivational letter to accompany a CV application, especially when it has been
listed as a minimum requirement, spelling mistakes, and parents forwarding an
application on their child’s behalf. We also strongly advise against spamming
or copying multiple recruiters on a single email when forwarding their CV and
then having to ask when a recruiter calls for which internship it is.” Avoiding
these, Coetzer advises, can make all the difference between an application
being successful or unsuccessful.
Candidates must also bear in mind that recruiters often
have to build a shortlist from scanning hundreds of CVs to check for minimum
requirements. “Personally I try to identify a sense of a candidate’s
personality in their CV or application and it is so refreshing to find a CV
where some thought and effort has gone into expressing one’s personal brand
through a photo (not a selfie please!) of the candidate, a well written
introduction or a really well executed elevator pitch,” continues Coetzer.
“This year we actively stalked youth on LinkedIn and I cannot stress enough the
advantage those candidates with a well-structured profile on this platform have.”
Programmes
like YES4Youth and other B-BBEE Skills Development initiatives better enable Epiroc
to actively
participate
in the communities within which the company operates. “They also provide us
with a pool of passionate
people
who understand our business and our culture, to recruit from,” adds Coetzer. The Yes4Youth presents a win-
win scenario as the programme not only empowers interns
through unparalleled work experience but also delivers
benefits to companies who embrace and invest in this initiative
including qualifying companies for discretionary grants.
In successfully implementing the programme Epiroc has advanced
a B-BBEE level and is now proudly a B-BBEE
Level 2 Contributor.
“We look forward to working with all our interns and we encourage them to make the most of this opportunity and
learn as much as they can about the working world. We are
confident that we will provide them with the perfect
springboard to launch successful job applications and careers,”
concludes Coetzer.
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