Huawei South Africa recently held the first of its Huawei ICT Academy Job Fairs for 2022, a project which has seen several graduates placed in internships and permanent positions.
Hosted at the Huawei Office Park in Johannesburg, the job fair is designed to promote local Huawei-certified ICT Talent to Huawei partners and offer them the opportunity to advance their careers and further enrich Huawei’s talent ecosystem by cultivating and harnessing the value of ICT talent.
“The significance of the Huawei ICT Academy programme cannot be overstated,” says Tang Shenbo, director of the service and delivery department of Huawei Enterprise SA. “The program does not only expose learners to the latest industrial certification and training to harness their skills but also gives them a start in their career journey within the ICT industry.”
At the job fair, the students were given the opportunity to do onsite interviews with Huawei partners, giving them valuable experience as they enter the job market. More than 20 representatives from 12 partner organisations including Altron, BCX, and Reflex Solutions were present at the fair. Through the course of previous job fairs, these partners have learned how valuable the skills student pick up in the Huawei ICT Academy are.
“The job fair has given us a great platform to get the best talent within the industry all thanks to the Huawei ICT Academy programme,” says Samantha Davis, HR manager at Reflex Solutions. “Most of the talent we have recruited have grown tremendously within our company and have obtained permanent positions.”
The students attending the job fair also got to hear from Bongani Shoshana, a Huawei ICT Academy graduate from Taletso TVET College, who landed an internship at BAC-IT following last year’s job fair.
“This time last year, I was sitting watching a former student motivate us but today I am here to share my testimony and to tell the graduates present to grab this amazing opportunity with both hands,” he says. “This could be a life-changing moment.”
More than 4 000 students have been trained through the Huawei ICT Academy Programme to date, with more than 2 000 having obtained Huawei Certificates. Since its launch in 2017, more than 150 students have successfully been placed in jobs through the job fair.
The Huawei ICT Academy provides students from tertiary institutions and TVET colleges with online and offline certification training courses aimed at upskilling them on the latest technology trends and certifications. Students that attended the virtual training were also encouraged to write an international certification exam. Students that managed to pass their exam were invited to attend the job fair with the aim to market themselves and engage with Huawei partners for job placement opportunities.
Both the ICT Academy and the Job Fair form part of Huawei South Africa’s broader commitment to fostering ICT talent in South Africa in support of the country’s fourth industrial revolution (4IR) ambitions. Other initiatives include 5G training, the Huawei Graduate Programme, and its Seeds for the Future programme. The ultimate goal of its talent ecosystem development is to boost South Africa’s ICT talent pipeline by some 10 000 people a year.