Global engineering firm DRA launched a two-year graduate programme last month that will see the firm provide practical industry experience for six engineering graduates.

DRA human resources manager Louise Dercksen notes that the firm is hiring graduates from the mechanical, electrical and process engineering disciplines. “We have approached the universities, as well as a graduate recruitment agency, and the two-year programme will start this year and finish in 2019,” she adds.

Participating students had to submit a curriculum vitae and their latest academic results. They also underwent an interview process and a psychometric test. DRA received about 60 applications for the programme, which opened for submissions in November last year.

“We did not look solely at academic results. We are looking for candidates who are keen to innovate, possess people skills and show potential in business acumen,” Dercksen says.

DRA project engineers Phillip De Weerdt and Antonio Da Gama Texeira, who recently completed their MBA studies, will be functioning as project sponsors for the two-year programme. The graduates will be allocated discipline-specific mentors to ensure their development in all the required proficiencies of the programme.

Dercksen highlights that students can use the two-year graduate programme towards their five-year practical experience requirement for registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa.

The graduates will also have the opportunity to learn from engineers across the world through DRA’s global network of 20 offices.

“There is a skills shortage in the broad engineering sector and DRA saw an opportunity to contribute towards developing talent within the industry,” Dercksen asserts, adding that the skills shortage is not limited to South Africa.

According to multinational human resource consultancy Manpower Group’s talent shortage survey for 2016, engineers are ranked fourth out of the top ten most difficult positions to fill, largely owing to a lack of skills. The survey points out that the four top reasons why it is hard to fill engineering positions include a lack of applicants, a lack of hard skills or technical competences, a lack of experience and a lack of soft skills or workplace experience.

Dercksen says the DRA programme can help alleviate this constraint. “During the programme, the students will be exposed to all elements of the work we do, going through a rotational programme.