Discussion Request: From an Unemployed Graduate
Update:
It is with happiness to tell you that Khams has found a job. Here is message relaying the good news.
Guys,
I get a lot of feedback from you but this one really touches on issues that, I think, affect many people out there. Especially the young. I don’t agree or disagree with it but, and in agreement with the sender, I decided to post it here to find out what others think or have to say.
Here is the message (I have edited it, slightly, for readability):
Dear Corporate South Africa
I’m deeply shocked at the state of unemployment in South Africa. Government and private companies are in partnership with a golden lie. I have been, since last year, unemployed whilst the government, whatever that means, continues with this fallacy that the world, and more so South Africa, needs Scientist and Engineers.
I’m here to tell you that this puff and pass site is unnecessary because we are unemployed, and at the shebeen and taverns, and in fact we are registered in all their websites.
Were simply tired of buying newspapers, data bundles for internet, airtime, faxing R5 per page by the way, posting, making copies, filling in Z83 forms and every other temple these companies have.
Last but not least paying with our unemployed grandparent’s pension’s money to attend these pretentious interviews. Whilst they know that already have someone in mind. It is sad that in South Africa or as some might say poor Africa getting funding in the form of loans to study is easy but getting a job can kill your empty pocket and hopeful dreams while uneducated illiterate people continue to steal oxygen in all our so called skills lacking companies.
Yours drank at the shebeen after applying yet again at the post office today: Scientist/ Engineer: Graduate.
Khams
____
I decided to post it online because I don’t have all the answers and also that I may not know how deep a problem it is to try to find a job. What do you have to say? #Use the comments section below for your feedback#
One more thing: All comments with SMS/Mixit or shorthand writing style will be deleted.
UPDATE: just so that we don’t turn this discussion into a political party cheerleading contest, all comments about political party A is better than political party B will be deleted. Talking about the government is fine but campaigning is something else….
517 Comments
Our government is failing to create jobs. I graduated for B Admin in 2012 & International Relations honours in 2015 but still I can’t find the job.
We apply everyday, using our grandparents pension to sponsor the post office and internet cafes by faxing, making copies and cv’s.
Good day guys to read all these comments makes me feel sad because I am also a chemical engineering graduate, when I first completed my studies in 2010 It took two years for me to get an in-service training of which I got later in 2012 (this lasted a year with only a R3000 payment per month) after my in-service training I got an SHEQ internship (the whole of 2014) which was suppose to be a permanent position later on but in December they said the company is struggling financially so I decided to go and study Btech the whole of 2015, now that I am finished I have been up n down applying buying internet bundles for my laptop but no luck 🙁 I have applied for so many opportunities here in puff n pass.
I am confused and stressed since I am not getting any interviews the only one I got was an internship interview here I lost interest because I have done an internship before. I need a decent job and I will never give up on my dreams.
well guys lets stop being negative and make as many applications as possible, better days are coming. I hope we consider entrepreneurship as other alternative. I think as graduates we should also consider starting small, my motto is start small in a relevant industry
Hi guys we are in the same boat! I graduated 2011 with Bcom in Management and i have been unemployed since! In 2012 I decided to study PGCE because I thought job opportunities are more in DOE (since without a teaching qualification you were able to find a teaching job) but still nothing! I have been going in and out of schools and districts and all i ever get is rejection. So I’m stuck with my Bcom degree and PGCE. I’m currently studying financial management part time at unisa, decided to register with my unemployment money because staying at home and doing nothing is stressful and depressing and 12 months is a long time to achieve nothing. But seriously I have lost hope in finding a job and my confidence is crushed. There is too much corruption in government departments it is so depressing.
U are not alone…graduated in 2015 with a Bcom(Financial Management) from Unisa…Guess what it has done to me…NOTHING…I am thinking of doing an Honours but i have a feeling that its will just not worth the effort.
Hi, everyone please stop to have negative attitude just believe in yourself and keep on applying as much as your can. Make sure your CV is accurate as most vacancies requires a Compressive or straight detail CV. Please read the advert more carefully before applying and it will assets in the future, it work, as help me and it will also work for your just remain positive and keep on applying………………………..
as much as it is hard to find employment why dont we open our own firms,businesses and companies …i have read almost each and every comment and we all have qualifications why dont we come up with something different and recruit ourselves according to our skills we can have one big organization that has all type of jobs. All we need is to sit down and think of new innovative ideas the other organizations out there does not have. We were trained to be slaves thats why we study and we want jobs let stand up and claim what is ours by doing something not handouts. i thank you.
We don’t have capital to start our own business and the other thing is that we don’t have adequate skills that could allow us to perform a certain job. I am saying this because Im one of Graduate who are Unemployed, I meet someone who is Bcom Accounting graduate, now she is five years Unemployed. We need in-service training like intern and learnership. I’m getting tired to keep on applying more special by Post (R16 each envelope since I have been Unemployed)
Reading all this comments really discourages me.
I am currently studying with Unisa and reading that so many people are struggling to get a job with a good qualification is really depressing. i guess i will have to re-thing registering for next year!!
Hi there I completed last year 2015 november national diploma of administrative management, this year I applied many internship but I don’t get call,email,etc. But I told myself I won’t give up.
I have a Law diploma and a Computer Secretarial Diploma. I have three months experience as a paralegal. And the company which promised me employment just decided to take another route without informing any of the staff. It’s been three months now I am running up and down looking for a job but still no luck. They all want experience but how are we to get experience if they do not hire us and show us the ropes?
This is energy draining.
Do your LLB don`t stop with a Diploma ! I busy with my second degree almost done , entire level qualification are no longer relevant, times are changing fast keep up
hi guys our challenge is that we are all looking for some one to employ us ,some one to give us a job and a salary . why cant we try business ? look foreigners are now running our country they drive big cars and have big houses . i am a Bsc Applied mathematics graduate i dont want any one to employ me i ambusy with business i wanna be and employer , the qualification you have use it as an advantage to get funds and to register companies , our country need us to provide it with ideas and strategies to over come poverty….
It is really sad but comforting to know I’m not alone.I have a National Diploma is Public Relations Management,I graduated in 2011 and have since seeking employment.
Since 2011 I have been going up and down the government department hand delivering my cv with no response.It is true if you don’t know people you won’t get anywhere,we all know that those post are advertised for formality but they already have a person for that job.
I told myself I will not give up but with what is happening in SA now?…I don’t know how to feel or what to say.
Well I obtained my Communication Science Degree in 2013. And guess what I’m still unemployed all I managed to get was a ridiculous call center job of which I had to quit as I got ear infection and they refused to give me sick leave. As we speak I applied at Johannesburg water and office of the primer for an internship *im yet to get a response*. Sadly I applied at SANDF since 2013 got called for medical tests last year july *of which I passed* was then told I’ll be going in for 2016 january intake. So january I called and guess what MY NAME is no longer on the system nor list of jan 2016 intakes*. We may have all sorts of connections BUT without connections, bribing or sleeping our way into jobs WE WON’T GET JOBS. South Africa is a country for the Connected and people who can afford to bribe Individuals. Studying was a waist of time and money. Right NOW I’m Over Qualified for a Police, Traffic or Soldier Post!!!!
I know exactly how everyone feels. We are all victims of the dream the we were sold. Go to University and study they said, so you can break the chain of unemployment and poverty. I am an LLB Law graduate. For almost a year now I have been running around, spending money I don’t have, calling agents and government departments. Going to interviews only to be shut down for lack of experience. How are you supposed to get work experience with such a demanding university schedule? No law firm even wants to touch you as you are inexperienced.
The department of justice and the NPA provides no support to law graduates either. I even question if studying law was even the right decision.
Having a degree does not solve anything, in fact it just makes you a statistic.
Hi guys I am also a graduate with NID Biotechnology am strangling to find a decent job I am busy doing all these learner ship I am so tired doing learner ships I need a decent job
My hopes are running very shallow as I watch with complete dismay my dreams and aspirations plummet before they even take flight. I am a 2014 graduate engineer with a Bachelors Degree in Technology (BEng Tech): Mechanical Engineering. I have been, since graduating unemployed whilst I continue to apply for every suitable vacancy I come across I’ve yet to receive an interview. I have sent dozens of email & online applications in search of that elusive job yet my attempts have not yielded any success or hope thereof. I feel as if I am sending all my applications to an unattended black hole as the best form of response I get is an automated email. I am slowly getting fed-up of having to buy newspapers, Internet bundles, make copies and fax with my unemployment money all just to not get any response at all.
The last thing I need is for anyone to tell me to be patient because I have been patient and I’ve waited and waited for that life change call or email and I’m still waiting but for how long? I’ve tried to no avail on numerous occasions to follow up on my applications, even though some employers may find it presumptuous however I was left with little options because I needed answers. I’ve lost count of how many jobs I’ve applied for thus far. This is incredibly depressing and it completely crushes all my confidence.
I am starting to think that I should probably look for a new career path however I do not want to put myself in debt by enrolling for another course just to have the same thing happen again. You could have more degrees than a thermometer yet employment is not a guarantee. I am really beginning to think that university was a waste of time and money for me because all my friends who dropped out in the 1st year now have 4 years of work experience (where ever they are) and here I am thinking that I am better than them, perhaps my tragedy was to put education first.
University did not prepare me for unemployment instead I was brain washed into thinking that I would be invincible. I have realized that educated or not we all make up the same unemployment statistic. It is such an irony that in South Africa it is easy to secure an education loan yet securing employment to pay for the very same loan is a mammoth task. Yet our government continues to hire foreign engineers and award tenders to apathetic companies who don’t give a tinker’s damn about the unemployed youth. It is an absolute fallacy to ever believe that the government is doing anything to alliviate the country’s unemployment crisis. No wonder we have so many strikes, the government has perpetuated a tendency of responding where it bleeds.
I have also realized that holding a fancy degree does not get you employment but beginning “connected” whether politically or socially to the right people can do you wonders unfortunately for some of us our qualifications are our only hope and connection to the world of employment.
I end here as I suddenly feel a slight relief after putting my indignations in black n white and I hope that he who does not sleep nor slumber will certainly not forget about me.
Your Sincerely
Unemployed graduate (Mzomuhle)
We are in the same boat Mzo. I know exactly what you’re going through. I graduated last year and I don’t know what employment smells like … I can tell you to be positive, but I’m struggling to stay positive myself. It is hard. I don’t know what to do. I’ve applied for everything and all I get is rejection emails.
same struggle Mzo. I completed my BSc (Chemistry n Physics) in 2013 but still unemployed. But everyday when they present the stats of gap careers they always say that South Africa need lot of Scientist. They keep on going abroad hiring Foreigners for Science and Technology jobs in SA while there are lot of Science and Technology graduates who are applying for the same position daily and they are not being given opportunity to practice.
Hai I graduated in 2011 in business management. In 2012 I went back to school and study again my Btech. The only job I got was working at a furniture shop as cashier. In 2014 November I got retrenchment in the furniture shop. Since then I never work again. We only surviving by my mother disability grant. I am losing hope for a better life. It seems as if we will die in porvety.
Khams I am so deeply touched by this as I am also in the same boat as you. Now SA out of this high rate of unemployment has introduced these agencies to hire in private companies and also this new thing of not being able to work for more than 3months on contract, are their aware of crime rate increase, HIV/Aids and Abortions? I had my diploma in 2012, furthered my studies on part time as both my parents passed away while still hustling for Job so could be able to give back, I then dropped out as contract can only last 3months. I cant pay the institution to finish my BTech.Kanti utatu Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela zange athi “Education is the Key to success”? I am in very much pain and anger asking myself why did I study? Why did I choose engineering?Poverty poverty is killing us! Young people are dating Sugar daddy hoping for better life, ladies are prostituting to make it in a good company, people without qualifications are sitting in the offices telling us No Job or you don’t Qualify…..
Never Give up guys,Am also a graudate Diploma in Electrical engineering, National certificate in Draughting,Call centre, Data capturing,Driver licence Higher Certificate in Banking and am currently studying towards obtaining My Bcompt in Financial Accounting and its about 7 years now hustling for a stable job but nothing comes out.It really pains to recall the contribution on money,time and dedication I have putted,But I still have hope
I am glad to find out that I have people/fellow graduates I could relate to with this situation of being an unemployed graduate. For me I currently hold a Btech degree in marketing graduated in 2012 but still unemployed. You will find out in order to be employed you have to apply for a lesser position that does not require a qualification, just a senior certificate and at the end of the day, you are under paid. It is always said that education is the key to success, and when you work on that goal to be educated, you cant wait to see it happen the fruits of being educated but not in this country we are living in. Some even change careers in order to get employed and my worry is on those that are coming after us.
HI everyone. I share the same sentiments with you guys. however I have to disagree that puff and pass is unnecessary due to the fact that 3 of my friends got internships after seeing from the same site about them. but I have not been very lucky. in 2015 alone I think I sent out about 70 cvs as well. it is really frustrating and annoying to always send cvs but get no responses. I think we should consider doing more than just send cvs instead of always complaining we should consider starting our own businesses and be the change we want to see. government do fund small businesses. lets use our degrees and diplomas to start small companies in our own communities. do something. attend seminars that wil help us get information about such stuff. if people from outside our country can start their own what is stopping us from doing so? because it is clearly that our government only have a space for a selected few if its not their friends that already have jobs.
Ladies and genthlemen
The storie that i have read here it leave my heart in tearly pain , it makes me to look back and re-evaluate our democracy !!!
My view iz let us be mobilesd as graduate and confront this government !
There iz nothing as painful as being an unemployed graduate, let declare a WAR to the government
The youth of 1976 will be happy if we continue with their struggle
I know this pain all too well. I’m a graduate with a National Diploma in Civil Engineering. I was fortunate enough (or at least I thought so) to find an internship programme in 2012 funded by DoT. We were deployed in district municipalities accross the country. In the district I was deployed in, politicians chowed our money right in front our eyes. They even chowed our salariers in 2013 we went 7 months without getting paid (we knew the money was there because we attended DoT seminars and stuff but it got lost in the municipal pipeline). Again in 2015 they just stopped paying us in June (another 6 months without pay and no explanation or whatsoever), in December I finally decided that staying at home is better because I was no different from an unemployed person. Our government has failed us and they will keep failing us unless we do something about it. Politicians don’t care about us, they just wanna fill their pockets, feed their families and buy expensive bottles of Moêt.
Hi guys, it really excruciates to be unemployed after completion of your career coming to think of all your hard work, sleepless nights, sweat and tears and sometimes even feel like comitting suicide the way things sometimes were hard but you stand firm atill the last paper and graduated at the end you sitting home with your qualification and honestly, not that we don’t apply and we make a mistake when applying for positions we don’t meet minimum requirement, truth we do meet the required requirements but unfortunately they will respond with a nice message “we will like to inform you that your application was not successful and please do not respond to this email”. Like seriously guys why is all this happening. We took initiative and went to varsity with the promary objective that we want to improve our lives but now it seems its even worse and the pressure we have. I have a diploma in Banking (uj) now I feel it was a waste of time and money.
I am one of those who are real struggling for employment and honestly it’s very hard in South Africa when you have nothing. We are graduated and spent so many years and applying and applying but nothing comes up positive.