Chartis urges students to get real world work experience

A university degree is no longer enough in the globally competitive workplace. According to local insurance company Chartis South Africa, there is a missing link when students leave university, with recent graduates lacking knowledge of the real business world.

“There are a number of good quality candidates coming out of university with a degree,” says Pam Sacree, Regional HR Director for Chartis Africa.

“So when recruiting applicants for our graduate program we like to see that they demonstrate entrepreneurial skills, or have experience in the real world. Students need to be proactive to give themselves a competitive edge over their peers and not just rely on their university curriculum to prepare themselves for the employment market.”

One way of doing this as a student she says, is to join an organisation such as Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), which operates in more than 45 countries including ten in Africa. The program’s focus is the professional and entrepreneurial development of students, while they conduct educational outreach projects that make a lasting difference in their communities.

SIFE students contribute to their communities by teaching the principles of market economics, success skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, environmental sustainabilityand business ethics. Through empowering others, the students gain a practical understanding of how market economies work and develop a culture of ethical business conduct.

Chartis has been a long time global sponsor of SIFE: in South Africa, the company has contributed close to a R1 million over the years. As a benefactor, Chartis has realised the value of targeting SIFE graduates as candidates for the graduate program. The specific skills and principles the students gain from SIFE give them an advantage over other graduates and are aligned to company culture and values.

“As a company in the financial services sector, we find SIFE students do very well in our graduate programme. An entrepreneurial spirit is definitely desirable and SIFE alumni are now advancing their careers in many areas of the business.”

Chartis South Africa’s graduate program is a one-year program designed to train and develop young talent for future key positions within the company and to instil leadership skills.

Most of the top universities in South Africa, 26 in total, participate in SIFE. SIFE teams at each university come up with an outreach project and annually present these projects at a National Competition, where they are judged by leading business executives. The national champions represent their respective countries at the annual SIFE World Cup and compete among themselves for the World Championship.

“These kinds of experiences really prepare the students for the business world,” says Sacree. “SIFE graduates have a definite edge over their contemporaries and have done exceptionally well in our industry.”