Leading enterprise asset management engineering company Pragma, will again host its award-winning Student Training Programme (STP) in June and July 2020 at its head office in Cape Town. Students are invited to apply for one of the ten sought after spots on this programme between 1 March and 31 March 2020.

Says Stéphan Pieterse, Chief People Officer at Pragma: “The three-week programme is specifically aimed at B.Eng. or B.Sc.Eng. (Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical, Electrical and Computer or Mechatronic) students in their third or fourth year of studies.

The content of the programme ensures that students are introduced to the concepts of enterprise asset management as well as Pragma’s service offering. Furthermore, participants also have the opportunity to be part of various coaching and mentoring sessions with Pragma’s senior management team in order to provide them with valuable life and career lessons.”

According to Darius Booyens, Associate Consultant at Pragma, the theme will be Data Science | Future-proof your career. Booyens explains: “Data Science is a regular topic within Pragma. It goes hand in hand with connected tech - another big drive within Pragma. I personally believe that data science will go from being a wanted skill to a necessary skill in the near future, especially considering the incredibly fast expansion and use of technology in the physical asset management space. The era of connected devices and big data is upon us and if we (the proverbial employer and employee) aren’t ready, we’ll be left behind.

The ability to do complex problem solving is the top skill needed in jobs going into 2020 and beyond. To future proof your career is extremely important if we look at the pace at which new jobs are created and traditional ones come to an end. Data science and machine learning will help us become better at our jobs so that we can be more efficient to keep up with market demands.” 

Nina Booysen, Project Engineer at Pragma, adds that the student training programme typically runs from the start of the last week in June to the end of the second week in July, i.e. fifteen working days.

“The programme will run from the 22 June until 10 July 2020. This year we celebrate a decade of Pragma’s Student Training Programme (STP), which also coincides with Pragma’s 30th birthday! We’ll aim to reunite our Pragma STP Alumni at this momentous occasion. 2020 ought to be a big year for the Pragma STP, and will prove to demonstrate the impact that the programme has had on the lives of the Alumni.”

Pieterse explains that Pragma has a very thorough and intensive student selection process. “We look at practical skills and knowledge, soft skills (presentation skills), and personality tests. By looking at all of these criteria, we’re able to filter through hundreds of applications and identify talented individuals from a myriad of universities. Many of these individuals end up working for Pragma and become great assets and team mates at the company.

Both Darius and Nina participated in the programme. We only consider university students for the STP. Pragma has other opportunities available for non-university students. Please refer to our website (www.pragmaworld.net) for more details”

Pieterse concludes: “It’s been an amazing privilege and honour to have been part of the design and execution of this programme since the very first one presented back in 2011. Over the last nine years, I’ve seen a tremendous amount of growth in the individuals we worked with and I know that many of them are making a lasting impact at the companies they work for. We’ve also experienced that impact at Pragma.

It’s time for me to hand over the reins and who better to take over than two STP alumni’s! I wish Darius Booyens and Nina (nee Van Rooyen) Booysen all the very best. I know they will take the programme to even greater heights!”

Launched in 2011, the programme has been an enormous success and has won various industry accolades. It excelled at the 2015 Skills Development Summit, winning in all three categories the programme was nominated in, including Best Graduate Training Programme, Best Training Programme Large Company and Best Innovative Training Programme.

Further to this, it won first place at the 2019 Skills Development Summit as Best Graduate Training Programme and was a finalist in the Best Training Programme Large Company and Best Innovative Training Programme categories. The Student Training Programme was also a finalist in the Best Graduate Development Programme at the 2019 Future of HR Summit.

With limited space available, interested students are urged to apply as soon as the application window is open at www.pragmaworld.net by 1 March 2020.