Epiroc’s resolute focus on being an employer of choice combined with the undeniably important role of the youth in taking South Africa forward, prompted southern Africa’s mining, infrastructure and natural resources equipment partner to co-sponsor the prestigious DHL GradStar Awards 2018.

The GradStar programme was created to imitate the process used by leading employers to identify future talent and draws sponsorships from numerous blue chip companies across various market sectors.

The programme reaches out to all varsity career centres in the country and from thousands of entries received from different fields of study and locations, the top 100 university students who display the best leadership qualities and readiness for the workplace are selected.

The best talent is hand-picked in a four-stage judging process that includes behavioural testing and personal interviewing that comprises psychometric testing and video interviews. Then follows a workshop day hosted by the competition sponsors in which the top 100 students compete to secure a place in the ‘top ten of the finest’.  During a celebratory gala dinner on 26 September 2018 at the Indaba Hotel, Johannesburg, the top ten receive a trophy and certificate and earn the highly sought-after title of GradStar alumni.

“We are proud to be part of this prominent competition,” states Lerato Mokgethi, Regional Human Resource Manager for Epiroc South Africa Pty Ltd. “The workshops hosted at the Indaba Hotel, Johannesburg, presents us with an opportunity to interact with the students and share information about Epiroc.

This is an ideal platform to showcase our company’s strengths to some of the country’s finest and highly employable university students and to demonstrate why Epiroc is an employer of choice. During the workshop, the students are also given the opportunity to display their skillsets enabling us to identify the final top ten.”

Wrapping up, Mokgethi says that the GradStar programme equips the students with the necessary skills to start their careers and opens the doors of opportunity by showcasing some of the most employable graduates to potential employers. “Epiroc congratulates these students who have worked hard to make it through the GradStar Awards 2018 and we wish them every success in their future careers.”

As part of Epiroc’s commitment to support and encourage the development of new talent, the company has embraced a number of graduate initiatives. The programmes are designed to provide insight into how a workplace functions as well as into the company, its value proposition and product and service offerings. Passionate about nurturing and developing future leaders, Epiroc plans to remain in contact with the successful graduates and to assist them in continuing the development of their skillsets and knowledge.