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2010

Graduate Recruitment
Handbook
- Job search guide for students
- A to Z directory of participating employers

CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (CDP)


CENTRE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT (CHED)

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Contents
GRP Information Job Search Information

Employment Opportunities - CDP Services 4


Where to Begin 6 Skills for Work 8
Company Showcases 48 A Job Search Road Map 14
Career Fairs 12 What’s Your Affininty 16
Presentations 48 How to make your Postgraduate
How to use the Directory 50 Diploma Work for You 18
The A-Z Directory 52 Selection Methods 20
CV Guidelines 24
Cover Letters 28
Preparing for Interviews 30
Psychometric Tests - Why not to
be scared 38
What’s your Case? 44
Options beyond GRP 100

The 2010 Graduate Recruitment Handbook is published by the


UCT Career Development Programme
Private Bag X3, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701
Telephone: +27-21-650-2497
Email: cdp-careers@uct.ac.za
http://www.careers.uct.ac.za
© University of Cape Town 2010
Articles may only be reproduced with written permission from the Editor.
Printed by Creda Communications, Cape Town.

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CDP Services to Students
CDP Mailing List
If you are not yet registered on our mailing list, we encourage you to do so.
Students are informed via e-mail and SMS about upcoming talks, events and
opportunities. You may either register at our reception or online. Go to
www.careers.uct.ac.za/reg

Career Information Centre (CIC)


The CIC is the hub of UCT’s Career Development Programme. It houses a
wealth of career related resources including books, files, magazines, videos and
pamphlets as well as internet access for searching company information and
specialised sites.
Reference materials include employer information, NGO directories, career
specific titles, postgraduate options, gap years, skills for work and interview
skills. You will also find practical guides on developing CVs and cover letters.
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday: 09h00 to 16h30. The CIC is open during
university vacations.

Talks and Workshops


We deliver a series of talks and workshops to students throughout the year on
CV Development, interview skills, researching careers and gaining work
experience. Please collect the Talks Schedule at our reception or access it online.
Enquire about the CV Development for Postgraduates talk at our reception.

Career Guidance
Registered UCT students and recent graduates in need of detailed individual
guidance may book an in-depth 45 minute session with a Career Advisor.
We also offer a CV Review service to those who have attended the CV
Development talks and/or used the resources in the CIC. CDP provides a Quick
Queries service where students can consult a Career Advisor for approximately
15 minutes on a first come first served basis. The Quick Queries service is
available on Tuesdays: 14h00 – 15h30 and on Thursdays: 10h30 – 12h00.

Career Awareness Talks


The Career Awareness Talks series was devised to cover areas of work which
typically do not feature in campus based graduate recruitment activities.
Speakers present personal stories of their dynamic career trajectories —
challenging many typical student career expectations. You may come and
view previous Career Awareness Talks on DVD in our CIC. Topics include
work experience with Working for Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors without
Borders) and a range of other topics from careers focusing on Architecture to
new occupations being forged in Social Media and Climate Change.

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The Mock Interview Programme (MIP)
The MIP enables students to experience a practice job selection interview with a
professional recruiter and receive feedback on their performance.

Careers Fairs
Annual Career Fairs provide students with an opportunity to meet and interact
with graduate recruiters at a central location on campus. In 2009, during the
second semester, more than 150 organisations set up their stalls for the day at 2
General Career Fairs and 2 Sector Specific fairs for Law and Accountancy.

Graduate Recruitment Programme


During the annual Graduate Recruitment Programme in 2009, more than 190
organisations attracted graduate talent by participating in presentations and
selection interviews on campus, whilst also offering internships and bursaries.
All students can use the GRP to research different employment prospects by
attending a wide range of talks to help them explore options and make informed
choices.
CDP also publishes the annual Graduate Recruitment Handbook which contains
job search information for students and the A-Z directory of participating
employers.

www.careers.uct.ac.za
The CDP website is regularly updated with information about our services and
events. Also view the job search and career development articles under CDP
the resources tab.

Career Portal
The Career Portal is an online communication tool designed to complement
campus based recruitment activities, connecting UCT students and alumni
with opportunities in the world of work. The Career Portal extends our reach
to students, alumni and employers beyond the annual graduate recruitment
cycle and after a gap year, time out or first job. There is also a link service for
bursaries, scholarships and vacation work for students. It can be accessed by
clicking www.careers.uct.ac.za/careerportal

Work/Study Project
This project links students to short term, part-time and casual job opportunities
to help generate income and provide work experience opportunities
while studying. §

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Employment Opportunities for
Graduates - Where to Begin

S
o it is time for that all important task of finding employment after 3-5 years
of studies at UCT – where do you start? Navigating graduate opportunities
is like a project – it requires loads of understanding of what the “as is”
situation is coupled with a review of what the “to be” situation can be.

So let’s assume you wish to be gainfully employed – the “to be” situation. In
order to even start thinking about what that will look like, your focus should
start with analysis.

Who are you and what do you have to offer the future world of work? On
analyzing your skills set, you would come up with a range of competencies,
attributes, attitudes, interests and preferences that make you the person that
you have become. The challenge is to know what all of that comprises before
you start analyzing which opportunities that potentially suit your profile.

Write down the skills you have developed thus far – in and out of the classroom.
For example: As a graduate you might have developed organizational skills
– often managing your time as well as others; you would have had to work
in teams and developed effective communication skills; you would have had
to solve problems and be flexible and adaptable when you are faced with
challenges; and you would have used technology in your assignments and by
this stage have an intermediate understanding of various packages.

All employers are looking for resourceful, effective communicators who are
problem solvers with a qualification in a major offered at UCT. Ask your friends
and family what they think your key attributes are that make you an ideal team
member or participant in a group situation – what do you bring to the party?

Once you have a clear picture of who you are and what you have to contribute,
start writing down the key areas that you find interesting. If organising is your
strength, there are a number of graduate opportunities in almost every sector
calling out for planning and organizational skills.

Then start looking at the opportunities out there for graduates – such as the
opportunities advertised in the Directory Section of the Graduate Recruitment
Handbook. Find out who is employing graduates with your skills and
qualifications, in the city you wish to work?

What is important is that you do the analysis up-front. Graduates sometimes


come to us at the end of their final year and say “there was nothing available for
me from the Career Development Programme”.

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Why do you think that is? Perhaps what you were looking for is not typically
offered through campus based programmes – if so, you need to understand
where these opportunities are and if they even exist – in other words – analyze
the landscape out there to ascertain whether there is demand.

Graduate Recruitment Programmes offered at Universities via the traditional


career fairs, events and presentations often are a small fraction of what is
available. The profile of organisations that come onto campus are generally
large commercial and state-owned entities who have graduate needs in excess
of 10 or more opportunities – sometimes up to 400 vacancies per annum.

It makes sense then for them to spend their recruitment budget on flying around
South Africa visiting the campuses and letting graduates know what they are
looking for and how to apply. Small and Medium Enterprises and Not for Profit
Organisations on the other hand, don’t have big graduates programmes with
large intakes of graduates – they typically have demand for 1-3 graduates a
year and would not have the resources to mount a glossy graduate recruitment
campaign with extended travel budgets to visit all the Universities.

If you know this up-front, then you can customize your opportunity search to
target the companies and opportunities that suit your profile and save a lot of
time and effort.

The Career Development Programme has a range of resources to assist you


in analyzing and promoting your skills and can offer advice by way of talks,
workshops and individual sessions to assist you in thinking through that all
important first step in your ongoing career development. §

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Analysing your Skills for Work

F
or some time there has been a growing trend for graduate employers to
emphasise the need for a strong set of skills or “competencies” in their
new recruits. Gone are the days when employers could afford to take on a
very raw graduate and spend a couple of years training them up. Graduates are
now expected to “hit the ground running” when they start work.

Recruiters examine applications for evidence of skills; these will also be


evaluated at interviews and assessment centres. Graduates must therefore
know how to identify and provide evidence of their skills. This is often a case of
teasing out the transferability of a skill learned in one context to its application in
another. Any graduate can point to their academic achievements as evidence of
a general intellectual ability, so employers are interested in additional abilities.
These can be generic such as communication skills, or specific such as fluency
in a particular language or knowledge of a statistical package.

Recent years have also seen the advent of a new set of responsibilities, namely
career management and personal development. As the world of work changes
graduates are less likely than ever before to obtain a “job for life”, and employers
are consequently less concerned with guiding an employee’s long term career
path. Graduates must therefore acquire an ability to assess their own continuing
needs both in terms of marketability (keeping professional skills up to date)
and personal satisfaction (matching their interests to market opportunity).
They must be willing and able to participate in the “lifelong learning” culture
that is evolving.

All of which means students and graduates need to be able to analyse, develop
and record their constantly evolving skills profile. This is itself a skill, and one
that is vital not just when applying for jobs, but in choosing a career. On the
opposite page and overleaf are brief descriptions of each skill and how it can be
evidenced or developed.

There is a growing awareness that graduates will need to be able to assess their
skills profile, opportunities and marketability continually. As more jobs are
offered on a fixed term basis there will be periodic requirements to re-assess
career choices, make changes of direction, and retrain. Repeated job hunting or
job creating will be required, and this will entail developing skills in networking,
self-promotion, etc. as well as developing an attitude of self -reliance / self-belief
and adaptability. A commitment to lifelong learning (both formal and informal)
to maintain the relevance of your skills, as well as to develop personally, will
therefore be crucial. §
_____________________________________
“How to Analyse your skills for Work” and related titles are available in the Career
Information Centre, ground floor, Hoerikwaggo, on Upper Campus.

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DESCRIPTION EEVIDENCE & DEVELOPMENT
Communication Structuring a report or essay
Speaking and writing clearly and accurately, effectively, presenting a proposal
listening and reading accurately, and negotiating to a committee using technical
or persuading customers or colleagues. aids, having a job as a sales
person, teaching or tutoring.

Numeracy Being the treasurer of a society


Understanding or expressing ideas numerically, or handling cash on behalf
extracting conclusions from raw data, explaining of a restaurant you work for,
accounting information to others, or analysis of generating spreadsheets for a
lab results. project, following the financial
world and shadowing the stock
market.

Information Technology Take a course, or teach yourself


Know the basic word processing, spreadsheet by experimenting in computer
and presentation programmes, and specialised labs. Use library databases and
systems for your field of interest. These days search engines.
knowing how to use email and searching the
internet are essential.

Working with others Collaboration with others in


Almost all jobs have some sort of team work group projects, managing a
component, or require one-to-one communication, team or project, clubs and
influencing, negotiating, answering queries societies you belonged to,
from the public, or managing the work of voluntary work, teaching or
others. Working with others calls for sensitivity, tutoring, and other community
responding objectively, and also decisions activities.
around the level and depth of information you
need or can give.

Organising / Taking responsibility Planning for past projects,


Usually graduate jobs involve taking organising to complete projects
responsibility for your own work or the work with the help of others, any work
of others, and employers will be looking for experience, events management,
those graduates that have managed a project, travel abroad, family or shared
set objectives, planned the use of resources, accommodation responsibilities.
juggled projects, created solutions to problems
or anticipated solutions for possible problems,
and have an eye for both the big picture and
More overleaf
the detail.

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DESCRIPTION EEVIDENCE & DEVELOPMENT

Problem solving Use your degree knowledge


Thinking logically and laterally and using in a technical context, think of
ingenuity to remove or get around difficulties. new improved ways to be more
efficient and effective in your
studies or job, use creativity and
“penetrate the unknowns”.

Business or commercial awareness Knowledge gained through


Awareness of the priorities (in depth or as reading newspapers and
a serious interest) of the firm or the current financial journals. Engage in
economic or political issues affecting the small scale entrepreneurial
commercial or public sphere. activity, fundraising.

Functional Learnt in daily environment or


These are specific skills developed in a specific from a specialised school.
context, for example, languages, software
packages, degree-related knowledge or manual
ability.

Career management Show transition learning (coping


It is crucial that graduates know how to assess with significant change), self-
their skills profile, seek out relevant opportunities, awareness (knowing your
and maintain their level of marketability in our strengths, values, abilities
constantly changing economy where a “job for and motivators), opportunity
life” is not guaranteed. awareness (know where and
how your skills can be applied
in the market), and decision
learning (make informed choices
and review and re-assess goals,
and lead a balanced life).

Personal attributes
These are underlying attitudes and behaviours Manage conflicting priorities,
that make you employable, for example, being a start a new club, show your
self-starter, having a “can do” attitude, showing stamina in sporting or lab
commitment to the organisation you work for, activities, having a methodical
being goal-oriented, desiring excellence, being approach, and show your
decisive, having an awareness of cultural and reliability, being self-aware at
social issues, using common sense. every step of the way.

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How to make the most of
the annual Career Fairs
General Fairs (9am-3pm)
2 August 2010 - Jameson Hall
18 August 2010 - Jameson Hall

Sector Specific Fairs (9am-3pm)


6 May 2010 - Law, in Kramer Quad
3 August 2010 - Accountancy, in Jameson Hall
The Career Fairs give students an opportunity to explore potential employment
prospects with a number of different organisations from a range of industries.
Companies come to campus to showcase what they have to offer and students
are encouraged to make the most of this opportunity to gather information, ask
questions and network.

While the Career Fairs are occasions for companies to market themselves and
scout for talent, it is primarily intended as an opportunity for students to sample
and research different employment prospects and to find out more about the
graduate labour market.

How to approach the Recruiter


Start by introducing yourself… E.g. “My name is J. I’m a 6 year student in the
faculty of O majoring in $ ”

Ask about the company and possibilities for graduates from your discipline or
area of study. In some cases this will be in addition to their target recruitment
group (for example, HR positions in Engineering firms or Marketing in Financial
Services).

Find out about graduate opportunities within that organisation, the work
environment and future career prospects.

Explore openings for work experience and tips on how graduates might best
use their time at university to prepare themselves for the world of work. Search
out opportunities for job shadowing, vacation work, internships etc.

Make enquiries about changing work trends, company hiring policies and the
main skills and competencies they are seeking from graduates.

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Be aware that graduate opportunities come in many forms. Bear in mind that
industry specialists also employ general managers, while HR, finance, IT and
marketing professionals are required across all sectors.

Be open to a wide range of employment opportunities, maximise your options


and keep abreast of current skills and work trends through active career
research.

TIPS
• Collect information and brochures - web addresses and contact details are
always useful.
• Try to visit all the stalls, don’t restrict your enquiries to one company or
sector.
• Ask about hiring trends, skills requirements, recruiting methods and future
training opportunities.
• Follow up with further research. The UCT Career Portal will link you to
company websites. Also visit the Career Information Centre in Hoerikwaggo
on upper campus. §

Students browse the employer stalls at the Career Fair.

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A job search road map

S
o, you’ve finally arrived at the point where (hopefully) you can see the
graduation light at the end of the tunnel… now what? This is a question
I found myself pondering about 2 years ago, as I was nearing the end of
my MSc studies in Chemical Engineering at UCT. As seemingly disorganised
as it was at the time, my thought process around this really centred on three
key questions:

1. How do I make sure that my career ambitions are aligned to my


interests, personality and work style?
2. Which employment sectors did I want to explore at the beginning of
my career?
3. How do I best prepare myself for the job search process?

My hope is not to give you a “one-size-fits-all” roadmap to planning and


executing your job search process, but to share my experiences with you and by
so doing, hopefully give you some meaningful guideposts to use on your way
towards landing that dream job!

Looking back, my preparation for the job hunting process began at least a year
and a half or so before the end of my studies, when I actively participated in
on-campus extracurricular activities in student societies and thus gained an
understanding of how I worked and interfaced with others.

As a member of the AIESEC UCT Executive, I became aware of the fact that
I enjoy working with and leading teams, coming up with creative ideas and
doing “project-type” work that is varied in its nature. However, even with
this new-found self-knowledge, I still felt very ill-prepared for the real “world
of work”. This is where taking up a few internships proved incredibly useful
in understanding what “being at work” means. By the time the Graduate
Recruitment Programme started, I had already completed three internships in
employment sectors that I was interested in, over and above my exposure to the
mining industry through vacation work as a De Beers bursar – in management
consulting, business and in academia. I would strongly encourage you to visit
the Career Development Programme and ask about available internships– they
would be more than happy to assist!

“Great”, I thought, “so now I know how I like to work and have some ideas about
where I would like to work (in terms of sectors) – but where do I find these job
opportunities and how do I best prepare for submitting job applications once
I have found them?”. This is where the UCT Career Development Programme
(CDP) really helped. The Graduate Recruitment Handbook presented me
with an incredible range of job opportunities from some of the country’s top
employers in engineering, consulting, business, government and even non-
profit organisations.

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The Career Fairs were also another great way to meet potential employers “face
to face” and get to know more about their job opportunities. Thereafter I was
able to narrow down my job search to a target handful of companies which
I felt offered opportunities that were the most closely aligned to my career
goals. However, I still felt that I needed to do some groundwork to sharpen
my interview skills and update my CV and target my cover letters. Once more,
the CDP was indispensable in this regard: I consulted the career counsellors,
attended Career Awareness Talks and participated in CV workshops that they
offered. A key highlight was enrolling for the Mock Interview Programme
(MIP) which proved very useful in preparing me for interviews, given how
closely the experience simulated a real interview and the insightful feedback
received from the interviewer afterwards. By the time graduate recruitment
gathered steam on campus, I could not help but feel really prepared for the
process; probably the single most important factor that will guarantee you
success in the job search – your own self confidence!

As a result of my work experiences and “job search skills” gained through


the CDP, contrary to most students I found the job search to be a much less
stressful and enjoyable experience than most. I feel that my targeted approach
to employment was the right strategy for me – I applied for graduate positions
with four companies, and received employment offers from all four. In the end,
my decision to join the Anglo American Graduate Programme was quite an easy
one: I wanted to join a global organisation that would expose me to the world
of big business and provide me with an international career and leadership
development platform – all this while remaining relevant to my background
and interest in the mining industry. I joined the company in February 2009 as
a Strategy & Business Development Analyst and
have already been fortunate enough to be rotated
into a new role this year, where I now manage an
enterprise development fund. Needless to say, I
am loving every minute of it!

In conclusion, I will reiterate that to ensure that


you land that dream job, nothing beats doing
your homework – both on yourself (knowing
your goals, work style and preferred working
environment) as well as the job market in terms of
opportunities available. The Career Development
Programme present an amazing opportunity to be
able to achieve both while on campus – use it! §

Mondli Guma hopes to graduate with an MSc in


Chemical Engineering in 2010 and is currently on
the Anglo American Graduate Programme.

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What’s your affinity?

W
ell done for holding the UCT Graduate Recruitment Handbook in
your hands right now. There are many other things you could be
doing with your time but you are investing it wisely. Let me tell you
of the return on investment I experienced.

When I was a student, I used the Handbook to get vacation jobs at a ski resort
in the USA and then at a club in Ireland. I graduated with a BBusSci in 2002
and completed my PGDA the next year. In order to qualify as a Chartered
Accountant, I needed to complete 3 years of practical training, and I completed
those in 2006. I am grateful for the help that the Handbook provided in guiding
my job search, but that is not the point of this short article. This article is an
attempt to share some BIG PICTURE tips and also to introduce you to a possible
career in education.

THE BIG PICTURE: I propose that within each of us is a desire to work - we


love taking the different elements that are available to us and weaving them
together for greater human flourishing - we were created for this. A musician
takes the different musical notes and weaves them together to create a song
that leaves others mesmerized and taken to another level of human flourishing.
A cleaner sweeps the streets and others flourish because they are not tripping
all over the place and diseases aren’t being spread amongst the debris. I am
currently a UCT lecturer in the Department of Accounting and this is the place
where I hope to encourage greater human flourishing. Backtrack to the end of
2006 when I finished my articles though. I had a big decision to make, much
like the one that you have to make at the end of this year, what will I be doing
next year?

I looked at three elements when deciding what to do:

AFFINITY – What is it that you really enjoy doing? Think specifically of


activities that energise you – if you pour hours into doing something but yet it
leaves you excited and eager for more – you are looking at something that could
hold the key to your future career. Presenting material to others and answering
tough questions is what I love to do. Ask yourself “What do I love doing?”

ABILITY – Are you good at what you want to have as a career? This can best
be gauged by asking people that you interact with regularly. Ask them what
it is that you are good at. Ask your family and close friends, they might point
out aspects that you would not have ever considered. Tell them to be honest.
Having an affinity for something is sadly not enough - we’ve all seen those
people singing on Pop Idols who loved singing – they really had lousy voices
though (and dishonest friends who never told them the truth!). Singing was
not something that they were going to have as a career. Ask yourself and others
“What am I good at?”

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OPPORTUNITY – Are there employment opportunities for you in this career?
This is where the Handbook is invaluable. You can look through the list of
prospective employers and start to match yourself to the gaps that are opening
up. The Handbook is the starting point to find out the basics of available
opportunities.

In my role as a Commerce Student Advisor, I see a lot of students who are


struggling to make decisions about their future. One of the major reasons is
that they all seem to have only monitored the OPPORTUNITY side – they have
never stopped to honestly assess whether or not they have an AFFINITY or
ABILITY for what they have studied. I strongly encourage you not to make the
same mistake. All three elements are important.

In conclusion

I want to be excellent at what I do in life and I suspect that the same is true for
you. I chose a career in academia and education because I come alive doing it (I
have an AFFINITY for it) and others tell me I am good at it (I have an ABILITY
for it) and importantly I have an OPPORTUNITY to do it (UCT hired me!).

If you find that OPPORTUNITES are not coming your way (South Africa has an
incredibly high unemployment rate and that includes some university graduates),
I encourage you to participate fully in the Graduate Recruitment Programme
but also to explore entrepreneurship as a possible source of employment. If you
have the AFFINITY and ABILITY, make your own OPPORTUNITY! §

Paul Maughan lives in


Leslie Commerce Room
5.24 and can be visited.
Alternatively email him:
paul.maughan@uct.ac.za

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How to make your Postgraduate
Diploma work for you

W
e, Joshua Raizon from Harare/Zimbabwe and Constanze Schmidt-
Rhode from Hamburg/Germany met in February 2009 as two out
of sixty Management students who enrolled with the University of
Cape Town in order to learn in a one year-crash course (Postgraduate Diploma
Enterprise Management, PDEM), what the building, running and management
of an entrepreneurial business in the real world is all about.

In the first week of the course, the sixty very nervous and excited PDEM
students were encouraged to choose teams of 4-6 partners and open their own
business as the practical part of the course. We immediately decided to form a
team, hardly knowing each other but believing that Joshua with his Hospitality
Management degree and myself with a Medical Science degree would be able
to reach the outmost level of creativity and academic achievement within our
business.

Following the guidelines of the


course to create a green storage
product for a young and fashion
orientated market, the idea of the
Whippit was born - a wallet that
would be of outstanding quality,
incredibly funky and fashionable
but safe and convenient at the same
time. Such a wallet would catch
everyone’s eye when taken out, but
be so convenient and easy to use
that it would replace the ordinary
wallet.

Not only the colours and shape had


to be special, but also the fabric,
ostrich skin, which customers would
easily recognize. The Whippit is
intended to stand out with bright
pastel colours and make a statement,
showing that its owner knows about
fashion and appreciates outstanding
quality of leather and style.

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Joshua and I, with the business
skills that we learned in Accounting,
Marketing and Management
classes, then began to market and
sell the product within South Africa
(even in one of the shops of the
V&A Waterfront) and due to high
demand at the end of 2009 decided
to export the product to Europe and
particularly Germany with great
success.

It was clear from the beginning that


the Whippit business should not be
a fashion trendsetter with regards
to young accessories, but also give
something back to society and that’s
why we decided to donate €5 from every wallet to the Homestead, a shelter for
homeless children in Cape Town.

Joshua and I are still running the Whippit business successfully and have
maintained the donations to the Homestead until today, which has enabled
us to have proudly donated several thousand rands to support projects for
homeless children in South Africa.

We are also proud to say that we have extended our product range to various
genuine leather wallets, handbags and belts and most products are successfully
exported to Europe. Whippit, a product made by young South African
entrepreneurs, will be featured in several high-gloss fashion magazines in
Germany before the Soccer World Cup 2010.

We are employing a leather manufacturer in Darling who is employing mainly


women from the local community in his workshop to help him with the
production of the wallets.

I can only encourage young people to sign up for PDEM. It has taught us how
to be open to business opportunities.§

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Selection Methods
T
here are a range of different selection techniques used in graduate
recruitment. The process first entails scrutiny of applications for the
purpose of determining candidates’ suitability for employment in
particular positions. Here candidates are judged on their application documents,
and then granted an interview, or invited to participate in further processes.
Candidates need to give a good account of themselves on and meet the basic
requirements of the job in order to progress beyond this stage.

After the initial screening, information about candidates is collected using


one or more of the following selection methods:

• Interviews
• Personality Inventories
• Cognitive Assessments
• Work Samples / Job Specific Assessments
• Assessment Centres

This article provides an overview of the different approaches to job interviews


and various assessment methods that the job seeker may typically encounter.

Interviews
Interviews are all about making the best matches. Both the company and the
job seeker want to determine if there is a correct fit between them. To this end,
recruiters conduct various forms of interviews and these may vary between the
first and second rounds.

Interviews can be conducted by one person, or by a panel. Many organizations


choose to start with a screening interview which is intended to see which of the
candidates should be invited to further selection processes. This could take the
form of a relaxed, open-ended conversation, or all candidates could be asked
the same series of questions.

Competency-based or behaviour based interview questions are the most


commonly used style of questioning. These explore past behaviour on the
premise that this is a good indicator of future performance, particularly with
regard to problem solving, team work and dealing with setbacks. As a candidate
you will be asked to describe a situation where you displayed a particular
behaviour. Your answers can be drawn from any part of your past experience.

Assessment Centres
In the assessment centre approach, candidates are assessed with a wide variety
of instruments and procedures. These include ability and personality measures

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as well as a range of competency-based interactive simulation exercises. Typical
simulation activities include in-basket exercises, leaderless group discussions
and role-plays.

Various competencies are under assessment such as planning and organising,


problem analysis, decisiveness, interpersonal sensitivity, initiative and client-
focused service orientation. In all of the exercises, trained assessors evaluate the
candidates’ behaviour according to a rating scale.

In-basket exercises ask candidates to sort through an “in-basket” of letters,


memos and reports. Candidates are asked to respond proactively with action
plans and problem-solving strategies. The purpose of the in-basket is to
measure how a candidate manages information, conflicting priorities and how
they make decisions.

Leaderless group discussions are exercises in which the group of candidates


form a simulated “management team” and are given various situations to
respond to. There is no designated group leader and candidates are evaluated
on the basis of their behaviour in the group discussion (e.g. teamwork skills,
interpersonal skills, leadership skills).

Role-plays are simulated situations where candidates are designated a certain


role and must interact with another employee to address a number of hypothetical
issues. Participants’ performances are evaluated on the basis of their displayed
behaviour. Other types of exercises may include having to prepare for and give
a presentation on a particular topic, or complete a written report.

Work sample / job-specific tests assess functional competencies and may form
part of the selection process. These assessments require candidates to perform
tasks similar to those required in the job, for example, using MS Excel to process
and analyse data.

Personality assessments are either electronic or paper-based, self-report


inventories.

Cognitive assessments seek to measure abilities such as critical reasoning and


verbal reasoning, as well as the individual’s core cognitive capabilities and
potential, for example, problem solving, numeracy and logic.

Assessment centres apply the whole-person approach to selection. They can be


very good predictors of potential behaviour and job performance, leadership
ability and managerial potential. They also highlight areas where development
is needed.

continued on page 22

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continued from page 21

Case Studies
A ‘case’ is a scenario modelled after a real business or management problem. The
idea is to test a candidate’s ability in some or all of the following areas: listening
skills, analytical and reasoning skills, quantitative skills, ability to organise
and present information and hypotheses, ability to manage ambiguity, ability
to perform under pressure, understanding of basic business and economic
principles and professional poise. A case study could be given to an individual
in an interview situation, or to a group to discuss and present a group answer
to the business situation.

Classic business situation questions are used to see how much general business
knowledge candidates have and how logically they can apply this knowledge
to a common business problem. Business questions might relate to, for example
profit/loss, organisational structure or marketing scenarios. This sort of question
will usually be answered verbally by the candidate and will often be structured
in stages. Your interviewer will probably draw on his or her own real, client
experience to steer you through the scenario. An example of a business situation
might be: “An airline finds that, while its revenues are at an all time high, the
company is still operating at a loss. What is going on?”

In tackling a case study scenario, it is important to remember that there is not


one right answer, but you are being assessed on how you approach and analyse
the problem.

Conclusion
When embarking upon any phase of the selection process, candidates need to
be confident in themselves and in what they have to offer in terms of their
knowledge and skills, including their transferable skills and core competencies.
One of the key factors in personal and work success is ongoing self-assessment,
which leads to greater self-awareness. Too many candidates make the mistake
of thinking that “self marketing” is separate and distinct from authentic self-
representation, whereas recruiters’ selection techniques and tools are expressly
designed to assess the latter. §

______________________________
This article was prepared by the UCT Career Development Programme. Case studies
information courtesy of the Careers Service at the University of New South Wales,
Australia.

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CV Guidelines

T
he CV is a multipurpose document, but its main aim is to get you an
interview, which might open the door to various opportunities. It can
also be used as a self-assessment, marketing and presentation tool.
Careful thought and effort should be given to compiling your CV. It is often
the first interface between you and recruiters or employers. Your CV should be
carefully designed to present clear, factual data which will create a favourable
impression and convey key messages about your suitability as a candidate.

Developing a CV takes time and requires considerable reflection about yourself


and what you have to offer a prospective employer. Give yourself time to
work through the process and ask family and friends to help you identify
your strengths, abilities and skills and give you feedback on your style of
presentation. Attend a CV Development talk (see page 52), use the resources of
the Career Information Centre and submit your final draft to a careers advisor
for review.

Once you have compiled your CV, it can be useful to prepare a summary version,
as you may be requested to provide a brief outline of your CV (or resumé) in a
one-page format. There is no rigid formula according to which CVs should be
constructed. No one size or shape fits all. Whatever format you decide upon,
your CV should be organised in a way which assists the reader to establish
your qualifications and experience to date and particular skills, interests and
achievements you may wish to highlight without wading through too much
biographical detail.

What employers want


Employers will usually have a clear idea of the job description for the role on
offer and you will probably have received that as part of an application pack. The
reader of your CV will first and foremost be checking that you have fulfilled the
most basic criteria for the role, that you have at least some of the skills they are
looking for. Then they will be checking your experiences for signs that you have
the potential to shine in the organisation. Some organisations literally use tick
boxes to match off potential employees against their skills requirements. You
can help them by demonstrating clearly and, crucially, with good evidence, that
you have considered their needs and understand what they are looking for.

For most purposes, CVs should be no more than a page, 3 pages long at most.
The task is to convey the relevant information as clearly and efficiently as
possible whilst stimulating interest in what you have to offer. Use the resources

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of the Career Development Programme to help develop your own preferred
approach. As a general guideline, you may wish to structure your CV around
some of the categories listed below.

Contact Details
Name, surname, postal address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address.
This information can usefully be presented in a letterhead format, or in a box
on a title page. Please ensure that these are reliable means of contacting you at
short notice. [N.B. Will your email address become obsolete after graduation?]
See the example below.

EMILY SITHOLE
27A Prong Road Tel: 081 902 6309
Luton Park Mobile: 087 460 2628
5600 emilys005@grandmail.com

Objectives
It is not necessary to state your career objectives in your CV. If you choose to
do so, be specific: If applying for a job, indicate the position you wish to apply
for. If you are seeking to embark on a professional career in a particular field or
environment, or with a specific company, state this at the outset.

Education
Tertiary - include institution(s) attended, qualification(s) obtained, major
courses, date of graduation.
Secondary - institution attended, certificate attained, year of matriculation.
Additional - training courses attended, including certificates gained where
appropriate. Always start with current or most recent studies.

EDUCATION

2008 - present University of Cape Town


Bachelor of Arts (Film & Media Studies)

2003 - 2007 Glendale High School, Port Elizabeth
Senior Certificate (Full Matriculation Exemption)

continued on page 26

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continued from page 25

Extramural Activities
This is where you may mention additional experience, activities, community
involvement (social, family, religious, political), sports, leadership positions
etc. not covered by “work experience.”

Work Experience
State year, organization and position held/title, and provide a brief outline
of your duties where you think this adds useful information to your skills and
experience profile. Include voluntary, part time and vacation work, identifying
it as such. All and any work experience counts.

WORK EXPERIENCE
March 2009-present UCT Botany Department
Research Assistant (part-time)
Buchu Project: monitoring growth rates of
indigenous plants in W. Cape
2008 Greasy Burger
Waitron (vacation work)
2007 XYZ Organisation (full-time)
Youth Development Volunteer

Skills/Abilities
Briefly indicate where and how you developed and enhanced the particular
skills and abilities you wish to highlight. This can also be presented in note
form. Avoid complex narrative and business jargon or using the first person.
Keep this section brief and to the point, for example, “Leadership: Developed
whilst serving as subwarden in my residence and particularly when organising
year-end function for 200 people.”

Additional Information
Membership of Professional Associations/Bodies - insert information where
relevant.
Awards and Achievements - at both secondary and tertiary level. These may
be academic or non-academic. Try to distinguish between achievements and
awards. You may choose not to include this section.
Publications and Conferences - insert where appropriate.

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Referees
Names and contact details. Make it as easy as possible for the recruiters to
contact them - provide telephone and fax numbers, as well as e-mail addresses.
Your referees should know you and you should have their prior permission
to name them for reference purposes. At least one of these should be able to
comment on your recent academic performance.

Attachments
It is not necessary to attach certificates, testimonials and personal documentation
unless requested.

Dealing with difficult circumstances


Difficult circumstances can sometimes be hard to explain concisely in a CV,
but you need to account for any gaps or changes adequately. Always take
time to decide how fully you wish to explain career changes, fragmented
work experience or a poor or non-relevant academic record. Sometimes this
information is better conveyed in the cover letter as are situations where you
fear prejudice, for example, as a foreign graduate without a permit, when you
are disabled or have a health problem that might affect your working life or a
criminal record. It is your choice whether you want to disclose this information
or not.

Remember that no one size fits all


To personalise your CV, choose those headings that provide a suitable structure,
relevant to your specific experience and profile. For example, you may choose
to have sections such as leadership positions, community work etc. as specific
sections, if this is appropriate. §

______________________________
For more information and assistance with developing your CV, please sign up for the
CV talk at CDP reception in Hoerikwaggo. DVDs and other resources on CV writing
can be found in the Career Information Centre (also in Hoerikwaggo).

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Cover Letters

Y
our cover letter can be a powerful marketing tool and deserves just as
much care as you’ve taken with your CV. The purpose of the cover letter is
essentially three-fold: to steer your application to the appropriate person
or department, to highlight your CV (that has been customised in line with the
requirements of a specific position) and to draw the recruiter’s attention to you
and what you have to offer.
The cover letter should always be neat, brief and to the point. Avoid long
wordy paragraphs, exaggeration or pretentious adjectives (e.g. nice, excellent,
brilliant, perfect) and business jargon. Standard, clear language will be more
effective. As a general rule, do not exceed one side of an A4 page with adequate
line spacing - each paragraph should consist of just a few short sentences, using
a formal professional style.
Don’t repeat the phrases you have used in your CV, and remember to highlight
the main reasons you are interested in this employer and why they should be
interested in you. Also, make sure that the summary overview or pen portrait
of yourself in the cover letter can be backed up by the information contained
within the CV – as evidence of the skills, qualities and experience you have
to offer.
As with your CV, one size will not fit all. The cover letter needs to be customised
to each context and purpose. Ideally your cover letter should be addressed to a
named individual, stating in the subject line what you are applying for.
You may want to take this opportunity to put any interruptions, setbacks or
changes of direction in your university studies into context. Where appropriate,
you may also choose to highlight personal information that will enhance
your application (for example, stating that you fulfill the equity requirement
as stipulated in the job advert, or you are someone whose background and
experience shows a commitment to working in a particular sector).
The aim is to hit the right tone, sounding keen and genuinely interested, having
done your homework on the opportunity and the organisation behind it. Unless
you research what the employer is looking for and have spent enough time
reflecting on your own skills, priorities and interests, your cover letter could
fall into the trap of reading rather hollow – either as a mere checklist of the job
requirements or as a set of sweeping claims about yourself and your abilities,
devoid of any real substance.
Last, but not least: by the time you have reworked your own cover letter several
times, you may not be the best judge of the final product. Consult with family
and friends (and Careers Advisors), and please do remember to use the spell
and grammar check facilities on your PC. §

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Take the trouble to find the person’s name: everyone likes
to receive a personally addressed letter. This will help
your application stand out from the competition.

Your postal and e-mail addresses


Your telephone number
As appropriate: Date (on which you plan to post it)
State the position, bursary or
internship you are applying Reader’s title, initials and name
for and how you learned it
Reader’s designation (eg Marketing Manager)
was vacant. Give details of
how you were referred to
Department
the organisation. Refer the Organisation
reader to any documents you Full address
have enclosed in support of
your request. Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Surname or Sir/Madam

1st paragraph:
Reason for contact (eg bursary / job / vac job
application / informational interview request, etc.)
Make this as powerful an opening as possible.

2nd & 3rd paragraphs:


Motivation for application / request and highlights
of what makes you a good candidate.

4th paragraph:
A positive conclusion and statement that
Reasons why the organisation encourages the reader to act on this letter.
should contact you: Highlight
how your skills, qualifications
Yours sincerely (if addressed to a named person)
and experience will benefit
Yours faithfully (if addressed “Dear Sir/Madam”)
the organisation. Describe
the benefit to your future
and career development, to Signature
be derived from a bursary, Your name
vacation job, informational (typed / printed, whichever is appropriate)
interview (etc.).

Indicate, if relevant, that you would like a personal


interview and that you are available at their
convenience. Finish with a positive statement that
encourages the reader to act on your letter.

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Preparing for Interviews
The aim of the interview
Employers may ask you a variety of questions, but in essence they only want
to know three things, and these are the questions you need to answer with
evidence:

Can you do the job? – Do you have the appropriate qualifications, knowledge,
skills and experience/potential to do what’s required?

Will you do the job? – Do you have the right motivation and enthusiasm? Are
you really keen on this job or would you rather be doing something else? If you
enjoy the job, you will work hard and they will get value for money.

Will you fit in? Would people enjoy working with you or would you seriously
damage morale by being around?

Remember that, ultimately, they want you to be the ideal candidate because they
need to employ someone to fill the position – this is your chance to persuade
them that it should be you.

First impressions
Most people feel nervous at this point, but try and show confidence in yourself,
your abilities and potential. If a hand is offered, shake it firmly – avoid the
bone-crushing handshake and the limp, wet shake (a surreptitious wipe of your
hand before entering may help!).

Establish eye contact with your interviewer – don’t look at the floor- and smile!
The person interviewing you is human after all, not a trained robot. Remember,
the recruiter was once in your shoes so they will also try to put you at ease.

The first few minutes of any interview – the way you walk into a room and sit
down – are very important as they can influence the rest of the encounter. If you
make a bad start it can be an uphill struggle to recover lost ground – so try to
avoid slouching, scowling etc. On the other hand, if you are relaxed, confident
and polite it will help your performance and will impress your interviewer.

What you say


It sounds obvious, but one of the keys to succeeding at interviews is to listen.
Pay attention to the interviewer and answer the question they ask, not the

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one you wish they’d asked. Don’t give yes/no answers, and always volunteer
relevant information about yourself. Your responses should be long enough to
answer the question, but you should avoid going off on a tangent or becoming
involved in unnecessarily detailed explanations (it is a good idea to watch the
body language of your interviewer, which can often tell you whether you need
to expand on something or stop talking). Of course, you will have a set of key
points that you want to get across at some stage in the interview. Use your
answers to show what a great candidate you are and to illustrate that you have
done your research. But do it concisely!

The nightmare interview scenario that everybody worries about is making a


complete mess of one of your answers. The more preparation and research you
do, the less likely it is that you’ll be completely thrown by a question. Even so,
we’re all human and make mistakes, and your nerves might get the better of
you on the day. If this does happen it’s not the end of the world, so try not to
fall to pieces. The best thing you can do is breathe deeply, calm yourself down,
forget about it and concentrate on giving a better answer to the next question.
A concert pianist who hits a duff note doesn’t stop the performance and go back
to the beginning, but plays right on.

How you say it


The content of your answer is vital. However, the way you put these answers
across is equally important – you should never underestimate the importance
of manner and delivery because this is one of the ways your motivation and
enthusiasm will be judged. Most of us have a tendency to talk quickly when
we’re nervous. If you’re like this, try and consciously slow your speech in the
interview. This will give your answers more impact and will give you more
time to think.

Another temptation is to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind when you’re
asked a question. Instead, stop and think before you give an answer. Don’t be
afraid to do this – it’s perfectly acceptable to say something like “That’s an
interesting question, I’d like to think about it for a moment.” If you do this,
use the time effectively to actually think about what you want to say (rather
than sitting there in a silent state of blind panic!) Any pause you make is going
to seem like an eternity to you, but it will show the interviewer that you are a
confident, thoughtful person.

You can make anything sound interesting by the tone of your voice – articulate
your thoughts clearly and enthusiastically with a variety of tone and volume.
By the same token, your answers may be concise and intelligent, but they won’t
have any impact at all if you’re mumbling away with your head down.

continued on page 32

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continued from page 31

Body language
All the time you are speaking the interviewer is looking at you and is picking
up all kinds of signals from your body language. It’s important that you’re
sitting comfortably because it will help you feel relaxed. Sit up straight with
your head back and look at the person you’re talking to, but try and avoid
looking as if you’ve had a steel rod surgically implanted in place of your spine
(you’ll look tense and nervous). Avoid fidgeting too much because this will
distract from what you are saying, though don’t be afraid to use your hands in
moderation to illustrate a point. Be conscious of negative actions like slouching
and covering your mouth with your hand. Remember, everything you say can
be enhanced by how you say it and the way you look.

What questions will be asked?


There are a variety of questioning techniques used to measure you against the
qualities the interviewer is looking for.

Biographical questions
The interviewer uses these questions to find out more about you as a person,
and they are often used to settle you into the interview.

Open/Closed questions
Open questions often take the form of a request to “Tell me about…” These
questions cannot be answered by a simple yes or no, and you should use them
to provide a succinct, interesting and relevant statement. You might be asked a
ridiculously open-ended question such as “Tell me about yourself.”

In this case you should think about the job for which you are being interviewed
and the kind of person who fits the job description, then bring out the relevant
parts of your own experience in the answer. Questions that can theoretically
be answered yes/no are known as closed questions. You should avoid single
word answers and use this opportunity to elaborate and steer the questioning
towards another interesting aspect of your experience. For example: “Did you
enjoy the Spanish option you took?”… “Yes, I found it particularly enjoyable
to put what I had learned into practice when I spent the summer travelling
in Spain.”

Hypothetical questions
You may be asked how you would respond or act in a particular hypothetical
situation. There is often no “right” answer to the question as the interviewer
will be looking at your reasoning and problem solving skills. The scenario

continued on page 34

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continued from page 32

described in these questions may relate to actual situations as part of the


position you have applied for or may be totally “off the wall”. In the former
case it may be possible to bring in your previous experience - “When I was in a
similar situation at…”

If you wish to seek clarification regarding the scenario, ask the interviewer, but
keep your questioning succinct and promptly answer the questions.
Gather your thoughts before speaking; you don’t have to be an expert – just try
to give a logical, sensible and clear answer.

Examples

• What would you do if you were marketing director of


Disneyland Paris?
• How would you persuade doctors to listen to you if you were
a business manager?
• What would you do if you are a team leader and one of your
colleagues is not pulling his/her weight?
• How would you deal with the culture shock/loneliness?

Behavioural/competency based questions


This style of questioning is becoming a common feature of the recruitment
interview. In some cases, all the questions will be of this nature (they may also
be identical to those on the application form). The interviewer is looking for
concrete examples of what you have done, not what you think you can do. You
should use different examples from your academic studies, work experience
and social life to provide evidence.

Examples
• Describe an event/task/situation where you have influenced
a group to which you belong.
• Describe a task which you have performed or an event you
have been involved with which has conflicted with your
spare time. How did you overcome this?
• Describe an event where your accuracy and precision has
been relied on by someone else.
• Give examples of when you were faced with someone
difficult who didn’t want to deal with you.
• What type of leader are you?
• How would you go about solving a problem in a
small team?
• How do you deal with people who are unresponsive to what
you are saying?

continued on page 36

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continued from page 34

Technical questions
Certain positions require an element of technical knowledge. If this is the case
expect to be quizzed on it. Before the interview make a list of your technical
abilities and be ready to prove your competence in each, using examples. Re-
read any course notes that are relevant to the specialism. The interviewer will
be looking at your ability to communicate technical information as well as your
actual knowledge.

Examples
Give examples of how you would use your technical knowledge to solve this
problem…(interviewer gives example)
You are presented with a piece of equipment and asked to explain what it
does.

Inappropriate questions
Employers are not allowed to discriminate against anyone on the grounds
of age, gender or disability. Blatant discrimination in interviews is rare, but
if you are asked a question that you feel is discriminatory, remain calm and
respond positively. You can handle the situation in different ways, depending
on your feeling about the question and how much you want to work for
the organisation:

Either you can answer the question directly and emphasise, for example, the
benefits of your experience.

Or you can ask the interviewer if / how their company uses this as a criteria
in their selection process. This will not only give you the chance to think about
your opinions, but also will give the interviewer the chance to clarify.

You can refuse to answer the question, explaining that you do not feel it is
relevant to your ability to do the job.

If you are asked a question of this nature, you may wish to reconsider whether
you want to work within this organisation. §

__________________
This excerpt is from “How to Succeed at Interviews & Other Selection Methods”
published by the University of London Careers Service, 2000. The full version is
available in the Career Information Centre in Hoerikwaggo on Upper Campus.

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Psychometric Tests:
Why not to be scared

F
ast track graduate recruitment processes are amongst the most stringent
around and the majority include some sort of assessment. The reason for
this is not only that there are a large number of potential applicants for
relatively few positions, but that employers have quite limited information
upon which to base decisions.

At this stage in your career even the best CV is only beginning in nature and
mostly academic in its scope (that said, an excellent academic record plus relevant
work experience is still an important element in any selection decision, so you
should not underplay these). Employers need to quickly but fairly differentiate
between those applicants that will thrive in their organisations and become
valuable members of the team, and those that would struggle, simply get by
or who may not enjoy the role. They are after all going to spend significant
time, effort and money on the training and development of the successful
candidate – so employers want to be sure that they get it right. Testing, or as we
prefer to say, Objective Assessments, simply provide more information to help
employers make these decisions.

Objective assessments provide information on things that are hard to measure


with other methods, for example, your preferred working style, your problem-
solving ability, or how good you are at using information in verbal and numerical
form. This information is either used to shortlist candidates or to inform an
interview process by providing a framework for questioning. All tests are fair
and objective; there are no ‘trick’ questions – most good organisations will
work hard to treat you well because you are not only important as a potential
employee but also a potential customer.

There are two main types of objective assessment: Personality or work style, and
skills. Personality assessments, such as the OPQ, look at your own preferences
for different aspects of work. There are no right or wrong answers; these
assessments ask you to outline which of a range of statements are more or less
like you. This helps employers to see if you will fit in with their corporate and
team culture and if you’d be happy in the role.

Competency tests are more like traditional exams and have right and wrong
answers. They assess for example verbal and/or numerical reasoning skills,
checking skills, and a range of other skills relevant to the role. Most are timed
and are designed to see how you cope under time pressure.

continued on page 41

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Example 1: Completing a personality questionnaire
In occupational personality questionnaires there are no right or wrong answers,
as the questions are concerned with how you typically behave at work. SHL’s
flagship personality questionnaire, the OPQ32, has two formats. The first
requires you to rate yourself on a number of statements, while the second
requires you to choose between different statements that best describe you.

Rating statements
In these you are asked to rate yourself on a number of statements, on a five-
point scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). In the
example below, the person completing the questionnaire has agreed that “I
enjoy meeting new people” is an accurate description of himself.

Making choices
Here, you are presented with a block of four statements and you are required
to indicate which of the four is most like you, and which is least like you. In the
example below, the person completing the questionnaire has chosen “Enjoys
organising people” as most true or typical and “Seeks variety” as least true or
typical of him/herself.

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Example 2: Completing a verbal ability test
Looking at example and practice tests available on SHL’s candidate helpline,
a verbal ability test typically presents you with a number of passages, each
followed by several statements. You need to evaluate the statements in the
light of the information provided in the passage, and select your answer
based on three rules (whether the statement is true or follows logically from the
information, whether the statement is false, or whether you cannot say without
further information).

True False Cannot Say

Example 3: Completing a numerical ability test


SHL’s numerical ability tests typically require you to answer questions using
facts and figures that are presented to you in statistical tables. You may or may
not be allowed to use a calculator, depending on the level and complexity of
the test.

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continued from page 38

Students should practise some ability tests before taking them for real so that
they can be at the peak of their performance when they do. Be careful of taking
too much notice of “urban rumours” about feedback that other students get from
organisations. While people are entitled to some feedback from employers after
completing assessments, and you should ensure that you get some whether you
are successful or not, such accounts tend to take comments out of context.

While questionnaires do inevitably need to be constructed to make it harder


to “cheat”, this is not their prime purpose - they are a bona fide attempt to
identify who will be a good match for the role. Unsuccessful candidates often
blame a test in the same way as they blame an ‘unfair’ interview as a way of
rationalising their rejection. The best advice for students would be to prepare
well and then go for it! If your CV and experience is as good as you say then
there is little in psychometrics to be scared of.

Employers should offer you practice examples of both types of test so that
you are familiar with them before you sit them. Examples of SHL tests and
information about a typical assessment process can be found at SHL’s candidate
helpline (www.shldirect.com).

______________________________________
James Bywater is Head Psychologist at SHL.

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What’s your case?
M
anagement consulting firms like to hire smart, capable, motivated
people who will be able to help them solve the most difficult problems
in the corporate world today. We seek to serve our clients on the
top 3 issues that face the CEO or the Business Unit leader, and as a result, the
people we hire need to be world class problem solvers. With this in mind, we
typically use case interviews to help identify who will be able to contribute to
our organization as a problem solver. We would like to take this opportunity
to demystify the case interview process, help you understand why we use case
interviews, help you figure out how to ‘crack the case’, and help you understand
what you can get out of a case interview.

What is a case interview and why do we use them?


A case interview is a real-world business problem that requires a solution. If
you think of the toughest business challenges that need to be solved, these are
good examples of the types of questions we will ask in a case interview. These
can range from entering new markets, dealing with the market risks of Nigeria,
solving South Africa’s power crisis, or expanding your business into different
market segments. Other things that are important about case interviews are
that they will typically call on you to demonstrate analytical thinking, logic,
creativity, and comfort with mathematics (without using a calculator!). In
addition, they are almost always interactive – you will be expected to ask
questions, engage with the interviewer, express your opinion, and finally make
a recommendation as to how the business in question should solve this problem.
Another important thing is that you are not expected to have any knowledge of
a particular industry or a particular set of business frameworks.
Management consulting firms use case interviews to evaluate the way you
deconstruct a problem and communicate with others. The interviewer will be
able to observe real-time “thinking on your feet” as well as gain insight into how
you handle ambiguity. Finally a case assesses your comfort with numbers.
How can you ‘crack the case’? Of course, there is no sure fire way of cracking
the case. There are, however, some tips that you can use that will improve your
chances of succeeding. There is a relatively simple four step process that will
help you be more structured in your approach, and help you ensure that you
are covering most of the important elements.

1. Clarify
Make sure that you have a complete understanding of the question/problem.
What helps is to listen closely to the problem definition and ask questions to
improve your understanding. You may even need to paraphrase to confirm the
problem statement as some information may be extraneous.

continued on page 46

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Sample Case Study Questions

• Can you explain what process you would follow to estimate how many
cars there are in Uzbekistan?
• A courier company will offer a new packaging and addressing service
where customers can hand over an item directly to the driver. What issues
need to be thought about?
• A well resourced old age home programme wants to improve its
management of Alzheimer’s patients. What would you recommend to the
Social Development Commitee overseeing the project?

More samples and model answers can be found at:


http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/services/kt/futures/careers/resources.php
http://www.job-employment-guide.com/sample-interview-questions.html
http://www.palgrave.com/careerskills/students/psychometric.htm
http://www.consultancylinks.com
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/facs/class/cfe/psychassess.htm

Resources in the Career Information Centre (CIC)

2010 Career Awareness Talk DVD: Assessment Practices, presented by Rashida


Obaray, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Karl Heslop, Industrial Psychologist,
both from Joint Prosperity.

There are a range of books and brochures available in the CIC that cover
assessment and selection practice in detail, along with several titles on
psychometric tests including:

“The Times: How to Pass Graduate Psychometric Tests”, 2nd edition, 2001 by
Mike Bryon.

“How to Pass Advanced Numeracy Tests”, 2002 by Mike Bryon.

“How to Pass Professional Level Psychometric Tests”, 2nd edition, 2004 by


Sam Al-Jajjoka

Visit the Career Information Centre (Ground Floor in Hoerikwaggo) for more case
study samples.

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continued from page 45

2. Structure
Develop a plan to solve the problem. Start off with describing your overall
approach and then break the problem into discrete pieces/issues. Make sure to
state a crisp hypothesis and use a framework if you think this is appropriate.
Don’t get caught in the trap of trying to find a framework for every case. If you
think Porter’s Five Forces is appropriate, then you should use it, but don’t try to
apply it just because you want to show off your knowledge of frameworks.

3. Analyse
It is important that you walk the interviewer through your thinking. Whilst you
do this you should prioritize your issues and pick one piece to probe further. You
can then test your hypothesis with the interviewer. If necessary you should ask
for a few relevant facts and then state the findings for your analysis. Probably you
will want to refine your hypothesis. If you need more information do not hesitate
to probe further and once you are satisfied you can pick another piece to probe.

4. Conclude
Finally synthesise your findings. You can start by summarizing the discussion
followed by your overall recommendations. Discuss the trade-offs you have
made with the interviewer and relate back to the problem statement. Suggest
next steps once you feel you have covered everything.

What you should get out of a case interview

We design our case studies to see how you act in business situations. Since we
are using real life business problems, you can see the type of work that we do on
a daily basis. As the interviewee, you must see this as an opportunity for you to
decide if you want to work in this industry and for this company. If you do not
enjoy solving these types of problems, then you should re-consider whether or
not management consulting is for you. If, however, you enjoy the challenge of
solving the toughest problems of industry today, then you will be right at home
as a management consultant.

In conclusion, you must remember that the case interview should not be seen
as something scary or difficult, but should be seen as an exciting opportunity
to figure out if you want to do this sort of work in the future. If you have fun
with the case, then you are much more likely to enjoy working as a management
consultant. In addition, in my experience, if you have fun during the interview,
you are also more likely to succeed in cracking ‘the dreaded case’. §

Adam Kendall
Principal
McKinsey & Company

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Company Showcases
Date Time 1 Time 2 Company
29 July 2010 11h00 15h00 Deloitte
11 August 2010 11h00 15h00 Truworths
17 August 2010 11h00 15h00 Moore Stephens
25 August 2010 11h00 15h00 Procter & Gamble
26 August 2010 11h00 15h00 KBR

All company showcases take place in the African Gallery.

Presentations Schedule
Date Time Venue Company
28 July 2010 13h00 LS - 2B Sasts Working Adventures
29 July 2010 13h00 LS - 3A L'Oreal South Africa
29 July 2010 13h00 Kramer Werksmans Incorporating Jan S. de
LT3 Villiers
04 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Public Investment Corporation
04 August 2010 17H00 LS - 3A First National Bank
05 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3A The Foschini Group
05 August 2010 17H00 LS - 3A McKinsey & Co
10 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Rand Merchant Bank
10 August 2010 17H00 LS - 3A Monitor Group
10 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3B CCUSA
11 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Ernst & Young
11 August 2010 17h00 LS - 3A BDO
11 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3B Tiger Brands
11 August 2010 13h00 LS - 2B Chilli Adventures Work & Travel

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Date Time Venue Company
12 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Grant Thornton
12 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3B The South African Breweries
Limited
12 August 2010 17H00 LS - 3A Deloitte
12 August 2010 13h00 LS - 2B SASTS Working Adventures
16 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Absa
16 August 2010 17H00 LS - 3A Old Mutual
17 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Pricewaterhousecoopers
17 August 2010 17H00 LS - 3A Hatch
17 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3B Prestedge Retief Dresner Wijnberg
19 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Burlington
19 August 2010 17H00 LS - 3A Merrill Lynch
23 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Metropolitan
23 August 2010 17H00 LS - 3A Santam
23 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3B Sappi Manufacturing
24 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Procter & Gamble
24 August 2010 17H00 LS - 3A Bain & Co
25 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Baker Hughes
25 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3B TNS
26 August 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Metropolitan
26 August 2010 17H00 LS - 3A JP Morgan
26 August 2010 13h00 LS - 2B Sasts Working Adventures
14 September 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Nedbank Topp
15 September 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Clicks2Customers
16 September 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Mars Consumer Products Africa
20 September 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Toyota SA
21 September 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Mazars Moores Rowland
21 September 2010 13h00 LS - 3B CCUSA
22 September 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Auditor-General of South Africa
22 September 2010 13h00 LS - 2B SASTS Working Adventures
27 September 2010 13h00 LS - 3A Glenrand MIB
29 September 2010 13h00 LS - 2B Chilli Adventures Work & Travel

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Final Words...

A
s you come to the end of your University career, I hope we have
provided some useful tools to consider your options – whether that
be taking a gap year, studying further or entering the world of work.

Taking a gap year is a wonderful opportunity to any graduate – the


opportunity to experience new cultures and gain newfound independence is
very attractive to any future employer. All experiences are worthy in that you
develop your planning, organizational and communication skills. For those
of you that are interested in picking up where we left off and pursuing a
graduate opportunity next year, do feel free to contact us on your return as
our Graduate Recruitment services are available to all alumni.

The question we often get from graduates is: Should I study further and will this
guarantee me employment? Not necessarily – you need to understand what
skills are missing in your portfolio that relate to the kinds of opportunities you
wish to pursue in the future and whether further study would compliment this.
If you intend being part of a global organisation with a fast track management
programme, then a four year programme including Honours is ideal – this
will develop your research and team work skills further- very important
for these organisations. You will notice that some employers consider an
Honours as minimum requirement in their organisation. If you wish to go
into a specialized field such as some of the disciplines in Science or Economics
or be considered for a Research post, then clearly a Masters Programme at the
very minimum should be considered. The question is, will it increase your
long term employability and objectives?

Entering the world of work is daunting – a 2009 study conducted by the South
African Graduate Recruiters Association where 1600 graduates gave their
views on what they felt was important when considering an offer, the top three
suggestions they gave was to look for a company that was committed to your
ongoing training and development, one that had a strong reputation that will
compliment your CV and one where long term career prospects was a definite
option. A fantastic salary offer is attractive but our experience in the long term
is that it does not substitute challenging and interesting opportunities with a
clear vision for advancement.

To conclude: Consider your options carefully and make an informed career


decision. And if you need help, be sure to use the services of the Career
Development Programme (on the Ground Floor in Hoerikwaggo). §

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