By Victor Turinawe
Human Resource Management professionals have encouraged students from the School of Business at Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mukono Campus to embrace value addition on top of their academic documents in order to compete favourably in the job market.
Brenda Jabel Kyasiimire, the human resources officer at Uganda National Mining Company, and Priscilla Mwandha, a senior human resources business partner at Stanbic Bank, provided this advice to students during the one-day workshop at Nkoyoyo Hall at the campus premises.
During her presentation, Kyasiimire emphasised the importance of solving problems and reducing risks while working as interns during the internship period, arguing that it brings clarity, produces results and improves performance.
“Employers look for potential performance, growth, trustworthiness, and representation. While a degree implies value, your actions are key to realising the same. So I know that some of you here expect me to come and tell you how to pass interviews. It’s not about how to pass interviews; interviews are events. And according to us as recruiters, it is like the last leg. The interviews reveal the value, but they don’t create it,” she said.
Kyasiimire added, “The chance for an interview comes, and it gives you an opportunity to reveal the value in you. And because you have the value revealed, you have a high chance of emerging as the best candidate. The true preparation involves building confidence, discipline, exposure, and clarity. Focusing on the right aspects only is insufficient.”
Mwandha encouraged them to focus on building foundational skills and getting the fundamentals right. “At the start, take a job to build your skills and self-awareness before you write your thesis. Always ask thoughtful questions, take notes during meetings, learn how to make decisions, and understand the reasoning behind the questions. Master the brilliant basics of work,” said Mwandha.
Lorraine Akinyi, the head of the department for undergraduate studies at the School of Business UCU, told students to enrich their efforts while doing internships and projects.
“For some jobs, you will be required to demonstrate your ability to have participated in a project. Please take your project seriously. When you go to an internship and you learn nothing, you are not proactive and you lose everything.”
According to the students, such workshops are relevant, as they provide them useful information to prepare them. Clare Sarah Nakyesa, a business student, said that the importance of such workshops is to enlighten students on what actually happens in the field of work.
“We normally ask for these experiences and invite guests to come and talk about the outside world and tell us their experiences, and this is an encouragement to students. So as they are studying, they know what is out, what is expected of them,” Nakyesa said.
The workshop was attended by students pursuing Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Bachelor of Procurement, Logistics and Chain Management, Bachelor of Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management, and Bachelor of Human Resource Management.
