Amazon specifically looking to fill 400 seasonal positions
“There is an immense need for career guidance in South Africa”, says South African Airways’ Head of Talent and Performance, Renchia Strauss. She was speaking from the company’s stand at the Career Indaba that took place at the CTICC in Cape Town this week. Some 2000 school leavers, learners, students, job seekers, teachers and parents walked the exhibition floor to meet the 46 companies, universities and colleges and attend free workshops focused on career choice and finding a job.
Says SAA’s Renchia Strauss: “I saw that young people have a hunger for information. My message to them is: you have to start planning your career much sooner than in matric.” SAA’s stand was a popular one with school leavers and students alike and the airline was keen to show that working at an airline was more than just being a pilot or flight attendant. Renchia Strauss explains: “we wanted to create an aviation awareness amongst the South African youth. We also used Career Indaba as a platform to inform them of the diverse career opportunities SAA offers.”
Lack of career advice
Career Indaba director Claire O’Connell agrees: “there is a lack of career advice and many young people will pick the stereotypical jobs when you ask them what they want to be – a doctor, lawyer, engineer…. But they don’t realise that the subject choices they have already made may prevent them from fulfilling these dreams. They can become disillusioned and we wanted an opportunity to show them there are so many other options available to them.”
She continues: “it has been inspiring to see such a variety of visitors to the very first Career Indaba in Cape Town. The event is a huge success every year in Sandton so it was logical to bring it here this year. We have had some 2000 high schools learners, university students, job seekers, parents and teachers through the doors. The workshops were particularly popular, ranging from topics such as how to right a CV to how to apply for a bursary.”
Amazon jobs
Global online platform Amazon was there specifically to recruit for 400 seasonal positions at their Cape Town office for the upcoming peak holiday online shopping season. Peculia Williamson, who is the senior recruitment manager for Amazon in Cape Town, says apart from English, there is a particular need for foreign language skills in their call centre and customer service divisions, such as Russian, Japanese, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese and Chinese. “We already have a few candidates that we met at the expo who will be undergoing assessments this weekend”, says Peculia. She says Career Indaba was also very valuable in terms of a branding and awareness exercise for the company to inform would-be employees about the company.
Food Lover’s Market
While the Food Lover’s Market stand at Career Indaba also proved very popular with visitors, partly thanks to copious bags of dried fruit and nut give-ways, Food Lover’s Market’s HR director Lizelle Greeff says food or supermarket retail is not always such a popular career choice with students. “It can be a difficult environment, long hours, weekends etc. But with the company’s phenomenal growth over the past few years we have had to provide strong training and development platforms to enable us to promote from within and create an environment where employees can train, grow and equip themselves for their future careers.”
“We are a family business”, says Lizelle “and we pride ourselves on the fact that we only have permanent employees and not a high staff turnover. Our biggest recruitment annually for our management and graduate training programme, the Food Lover’s Academy, takes place in Gauteng and the Western Cape.”
Other companies that exhibited at the event include: 2 Oceans Maritime Academy, CAD4all, Camp Councelors USA, Cape Nature, Cape Town College of Fashion Design, Cape Town Flight Training Centre, College of Cape Town, Cornerstone, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Eduloan, Elizabeth Galloway Academy of Fashion Design, False Bay College, First Car Care, ZaPOP, International Hotel School, MANCOSA College, MSC Business College, Mintek, National Youth Development Agency, Near East University, Paarl Media Academy, Peninsula Beverage Company, Public Investment Corporation, South African Air Force, South African Navy, South African College of Business, STA Travel, The Platinum Group (Jenni Button, Hilton Weiner, Urban Degree, Aca Joe, Vertigo), Transnet, Transport Education Training Authority and UNISA.
Website: www.careerindaba.co.za
Contact:
Communications manager: Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone : 021 700 3558
Mobile: 082 562 7844
Email: annemarie.roodbol@clarionevents.com
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Author: Annemarie Roodbol from Career Indaba. Originally distributed by MyPR.co.za.
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SAA’s stand at Career Indaba Photographer: Annemarie Roodbol
Photographer: Annemarie Roodbol
Career Indaba workshop Photographer: Annemarie Roodbol
