Markus Hübscher

Career Starter Week (CSW)

General Remarks

The Career Starter Workshop I was able to teach in January & February of 2020 was very intense but rewarding. In two weeks, 4 lecturers from Switzerland together with a number of local experts trained more than 70 students. The students had the chance to get first-hand advice from international and local experts with regards to self marketing, presenting as well as interviewing skills and writing professional job applications. Overall, the workshop has helped the students to be more successful when it comes to finding a new job in today’s rough job market in Namibia.

Cooperation with university staff

The cooperation with the staff at NUST was very good. In particular, I would like to mention the support by Nico Smit of international relations. He was very helpful and supportive at all times. This made it easy to become acquainted at NUST. Encounters and meetings with all staff members of the university – no matter whether regular staff or senior executives – was always friendly and supportive.

Cooperation with students

The exchange with the students was intense but excellent. The students were generally eager to learn and attentive. It is clear, that B360 experts can bring in the international experience for career starters. However, it is very important to have local experts as well – particularly when it comes to interviews and CVs.

Given the format, a one-week workshop, there was enough time to develop a relationship with each student. It was interesting to watch, how the class became increasingly active during the week. Applying group work and every day examples helped a lot. One should not lose sight of the relevant aspect of the workshop though: increase the chances of the students to find a job. In this respect, I believe the workshop was very valuable. The feedback of the students speaks for itself.

Impact and win-win

It is important to offer students many possibilities to train. The workshop has this exact feature. Every student has several chances to present and stand in front of a group or the whole class. Experience and fair feedback are key to success. Both aspects clearly had a positive impact comparing how the students performed at the beginning and the end of the workshop. Having mainly taught professionals so far, teaching young students was a new but very rewarding experience for me. The almost intimate format of a workshop with not more than 20 students allowed a personal relationship. Discussions often continued beyond the normal hours. The eagerness of the students to learn, the way they overcame the gap between teacher and student, was interesting to observe. Overall: I am glad to have been part of this experience.

Personal message

There are many possibilities to make a difference in developing countries such as Namibia. In my personal view, there is nothing better than education. Education is the key to independent thinking, self-development and ultimately success. Therefore, I was deeply honored when asked, to train young Namibian students for their career start.

Given the country's economic crisis, the desperation of the young students is tangible. I am convinced that the workshop was able to make a small contribution to improving the chances of these young people and the development of the country.

B360 education partnership is the enabler of all of this. The workshop was possible only thanks to relentless efforts by all the people involved. Therefore, my gratitude goes out to all the people working hard to make this possible.