The School of Journalism and Media Studies (JMS) at Rhodes University does not only educate and train students to be professional journalists, but also gives them opportunities to meet future employers and secure internships.
The School of Journalism and Media Studies (JMS) at Rhodes University does not only educate and train students to be professional journalists, but also gives them opportunities to meet future employers and secure internships.
From Thursday August 20, 2009 till Saturday August 22, the School hosted a careers fair to help students gain more knowledge of the South Africa media job market and to network with potential future employers.
JMS Future Indaba Careers Fair, which was started in 2008, draws half-a-dozen media companies to inform students about their operations and what it is like to work in them.
The foyer of the Africa Media Matrix was a buzz of activity, with representatives from different companies like Primedia, Fin24 and SABC interacting one-on-one with students, while other representatives were giving presentations to groups upstairs.
Alumni, Marketing and Events Officer, Jolandi Snyders says there was “more broadcasting than print this year” in terms of companies taking part. She adds that “more than 120 students registered to take part, whereas we had about 80 students last year.”
A new aspect also was presentations by two alumni, sponsored by Telkom, sharing their industry working experience with the students. They were Nicholas Haralambos, product manager for Social Networking at Vodacom SA and Nontyatyambo Petros, deputy editor and columnist of the Business Report.
Telkom, as official sponsor of the Alumni Network, was also there. Though not a media company, Telkom is looking forward on building a relationship with the future media from the outset.
Media24 Administrator Journalism Academy, Makhosi Chiwashira, says Media24 recruits and train graduates into becoming working journalists. This programme takes 12 months. As she told students: “This is an exciting opportunity that will offer students the opportunity to be exposed to print career paths.”
“It was comprehensive enough for seeing our future” says student Nqobile Buthelezi. While some students were impressed and benefited a lot from the careers fair, some say it’s not as strong as there last year’s one. But five students from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University travelled up from Port Elizabeth to take advantage of the opportunity to meet prospective employers, and Rhodes Music Radio also mobilised its students to take part.
