There is still hope for Bachelor of Arts (BA) students, as long as they “find out what [their] talent is, find out which things spark [their] interest, and try and find a match for [themselves]”. This was the advice of Cathy Sims, Executive Director of South African Graduate Employers Association (SAGEA), to students on Tuesday 27 August.
Sims addressed Stellenbosch University (SU) Arts and Social Sciences students in her talk on the “Transferable Skills in the Workplace” and what these students need to become employable.
Cathy Sims interacting with the BA students during the talk PHOTO: Lucian van Wyk
The talk, that took place in the Arts and Social Sciences building, formed part of the second day of the celebrations of BA Week hosted by the outgoing 2018/2019 BA Student Committee (BASC), in collaboration with SU’s Unit for Graduand Career Services.
According to Sims, career development starts on day one.
“You need to be actioning and asking your lecturers and the career service, ‘what can I do with this degree?’ because that is fundamentally the issue at hand,” Sims said.
The questions asked by the student audience members ranged from the following: “How important are extracurricular activities when you’re a BA student?”; “What skills are desired in the workplace that we learn in our courses?”; to “How beneficial is it to have a postgraduate compared to just having an undergraduate in BA?”; and “What are the most common professions that BA students normally fit in?”.
Sims stated that SAGEA conducted a study three months ago, asking employers the importance of certain skills in graduates and how satisfied they were with them.
“The results were that problem solving and critical thinking were the most important,” said Sims.
She added that SAGEA found that companies predominantly hire graduates because they’re looking for future leaders who might go on to become managers at the companies.
“There’s also a group of companies that hire graduates because they want some technical skills,” Sims added.
Zariah Beukes (21), who is in charge of the culture portfolio on BASC and a postgraduate Translation student at SU, stated that the talk took place after a demand from BA students to know the significance of their degree after the lack in BA recruiters at the Careers Fair, early in August.
Zariah Beukes (21), outgoing BASC member in charge of the culture portfolio, who organised the talk PHOTO: Marecia Damons
“So what happened is, the week of the career fairs there was a general one. So we as the BA faculty just assumed that we were supposed to go to that one, and we did go and a lot of the people were not happy about what was happening there.
“I spoke to one of the students and they said they felt like there were only two companies who were willing to employ someone who does something that’s in line with [BA],” said Beukes.
She added that since BA week forms part of her portfolio, she thought of organising a conservation around this topic during BA week.
Sims added in the talk that a lot of BA students don’t practice critical thinking when attending the Careers Fair.
“When you go to a careers fair, you’ll walk straight past [a company like] KPMG, assuming that these companies don’t have a need to hire people who have studied human behaviour such as Psychology and Sociology, to work in their human resources (HR) departments or people departments. Every company has a communications or social department,” Sims said.
She stressed that the employment rate doubles with a postgraduate qualification.
“You have to think for yourself for the first time; working on your own; convincing people. You develop all these skills at an advanced level. So I would greatly encourage you to do a postgraduate if you can afford it. It’s the best thing you can do for the rest of your life,” Sims said.
She also stressed the importance of having a LinkedIn account, saying that it is “the best tool you can use to find employment, as 75% of employers are using LinkedIn”.
Ryan Marais (22), third year BA Humanities student, said that the talk taught him the importance of branding.
Ryan Marais (22), third year BA Humanities, sharing what he learned from the talk PHOTO: Marecia Damons
“I need to put myself out there, like on LinkedIn. I never had an interest in it, ’cause I only saw [that] old people have it, so I’m definitely getting an account,” Marais said.
Sims ended the talk by encouraging students to go to make use of the Unit for Graduand Career Services and “bounce ideas”.
“That’s what the career service is for. Go to them and say ‘I’ve got ideas’. They’re never gonna give you the answer, they mustn’t give you the answer. They must say, why, what and how to do it, so that you can have a thinking partner to help you through this decision,” Sims said.
BA Week concludes on 30 August with the announcement of BASC 2019/2020.
The Unit for Graduand Career Services is located on 43 Victoria Street, Stellenbosch Central, Stellenbosch.