There is an ever-increasing need for young graduates across South Africa entering the mining services industry to have the educational skills and practical experience to build careers and work effectively in this continually expanding and complex sector, says analytical services provider Umzamo Analytical Services (UAS) human relations officer Thamie Nyoni.

He adds that talented university graduates looking to lay the right foundation for a long and successful career will typically search for new ways to learn and be taught, making experiential opportunities their main focus after graduating.

“We have a generation of young people leaving university with a vision for success and they are aware that real-time, hands-on experience is a must for their own personal growth and career development plan,” Nyoni explains, adding that practical training is not only advantageous to employees but also to businesses.

“However, through research and experience, we know that our local mining and mining services industry does not have enough experiential learning programmes to answer the pressing needs of students or the demands of industry.”

He believes that, for South Africa’s mining sector to flourish and remain an attractive career choice, graduate and internship programmes should be increased and must be structured to create a rich learning environment, with strong full-time employment opportunities at the forefront.

Local firms can use sustainable internships to ensure that more efficient and experienced professionals enter the sector with a strong career foundation and bright future, he says.

Work-Based Skills

Nyoni suggests that, by instituting a structured graduate internship programme, mining companies will be able to attract the best and brightest young individuals: “Through internships, students develop work-based skills and their knowledge is enhanced through an experience that broadens their understanding of work, as it applies to their area of study.”

At their laboratories in Witbank and Ermelo, in Mpumalanga, and Vryheid, in KwaZulu-Natal, UAS has established an internship programme for graduates, providing them with an opportunity to develop professional associations through their exposure to UAS clients. This, in turn, presents them with mentoring, ongoing support and postgraduation job connections.

Nyoni advises mining companies to recruit interns who are self-driven and goal-orientated and show a willingness to learn. “Interns bring new blood into an organisation, which means new ideas and innovativeness. Therefore, as an organisation, we use that to our advantage by building on their inexperience, as opposed to hiring experienced individuals who might have bad habits that might compromise our quality of service.”

Gaining business world experience is more accessible to more students through sustainable internships. It is important that companies have set procedures and structures in place to ensure that interns are learning something meaningful, such as job-specific tasks and dealing with clients.

“UAS is committed to sustainable internships as opposed to a ‘flash in the pan’ approach. In terms of responsibilities delegated to them during their time at UAS, we pair them with experienced individuals . . . to be groomed in such a way that, in time, they can work on their own, with or without supervision,” says Nyoni.