During 2015 we as a firm decided to begin a 4 to 8 week internship program which is aimed at improving the lives of young unemployed individuals of all backgrounds from the townships around Cape Town. The purpose is to assist these young individuals to gain administrative experience and skills development in a formal work environment.
Our interns are selected from the suburbs and townships around Cape Town by an independent individual who herself lives in the township and is involved with projects in her community to help adults to become self-sufficient.
The internship program offers opportunities that empower our interns to gain on-the-job work experience and build their profiles with the hope of making them more marketable in their respective fields. The interns are involved with real work assignments that we regard as valuable within the work structure. At the end of our program we conduct exit interviews to gather feedback on the interns’ experiences and assess whether they are interested in pursuing a specific career path with the skills they have acquired.
A big part of the program involves job shadowing, office skills training, the introduction and exposure to various Government Offices such as the Deeds Office, Master’s Office, the High Court, Magistrate’s Court, the Civic Centre, SARS, Post Office and Docex, and performing tasks at these various offices and institutions. The interns are exposed to and involved in messenger functions, post preparation, archiving, serving and filing, office filing, practising computer skills and conducting basic research, telephone etiquette and other general office functions. Over and above these practical skills we encourage them to read and engage in self-education.
Sivuyise, Gouwa, Lindile, Welcome, Wada, Luciane and Mzu have thus far been involved in our program. Gouwa and Luciane have both been employed by other firms while still being part of the internship program. Ideally we would like to see all our participants gaining employment during or as soon as possible after completion of the program with us.
If you would like to learn more about our interns and possibly consider them for temporary, part- or full-time employment, please contact us at info@chrisfick.co.za and 021-4243937.
This article is a general information sheet and should not be used or relied on as legal or other professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your legal adviser for specific and detailed advice. Errors and omissions excepted (E&OE)