Rita Becker
Matthias Michel
Expert in Finance and Human Resources
Expert in Political Leadership and Public Management
Faculty of Management Sciences
Namibia University of Science and Technology
January 28 – February 08, 2019
Career Starter Week (CSW)
‘Engaged and ready for a job’
Let’s start with the essential: In only five days, the students got a package of practical training, interview sessions and case studies, which will make them to be “engaged and ready for a job” (our vision). From day to day it could be noticed that the students were gaining more self-confidence, courage to present themselves or their business models, and a higher ability of teamworking. In our view, the Career Starter Week (CSW) has a high impact and is highly efficient. It is enriched by the involvement of local professionals.
The condition for this high impact and efficiency of the CSW is the professional concept by B360 and an intensive preparation, which was given by Sabina Balmer. The experts are also supposed to prepare themselves before and during the week intensively and be flexible. By this readiness and flexibility, we can show professional behaviour and be a vivid example for our students.
As the students voluntarily decided to participate in the CSW, they showed up very motivated – and even the (on the first day lousy) punctuality improved quickly. They were eager to work on case studies and presentations, rather than to get theoretical inputs. They appreciated the involvement of local professionals in order to realise the relevance of topics or skills. Original statement of a student: “This was a wonderful experience. I really learned a lot and I believe that all the information I got will surely help me be successful in any field of work I choose in the marketing industry and become an entrepreneur.”
Only 13 students registered for the Marketing Class, as it was a pilot - contrary to the HR Class, which was overbooked. This shows that once known, the CSW has a high reputation. The intensive engagement of experts is fully compensated by new experiences: By the daily interactions with students and the local experts we have learned a lot about culture, life and work conditions. And on weekends, we could explore the life in a township (on bikes in Katutura) or on the countryside (on the back of a pick-up on a farm and game driving on a lodge).
