The Career Starter Week, which is a five-day workshop aimed at equipping participants with the knowledge and skills to improve their employ ability, was first piloted by B360 Education Partnerships and the Cooperative Education Unit (CEU) in 2016. Since then, the workshop has been hosted five times for NUST graduates. Usually, Swiss Industry Experts facilitate the workshop, but this time around, the four-day workshop also involved Namibian professionals from Bank Windhoek, Point break, Old Mutual and Cymot Namibia. The B360 President, Sabina Balmer, commended the involvement of local professionals, saying that the combination of their context-specific professional knowledge and experience proved to be a key added value for the Career Starter Week. “I would like to thank Oryx Properties for their sponsorship, as well as all the local professionals for their involvement in the Career Starter Week,” Balmer remarked.

During the gathering, graduates were exposed to a range of topics, including CV preparation and drafting of cover letters, interview training, organisational structure and entrepreneurship.

“This was an excellent experience, I have learned so much and have gained a new appreciation for the way employers think when they are recruiting,” said Turho Nghimbwasha, one of the participants. These sentiments were echoed by the other participants that said their expectations had been exceeded and they are more confident to enter the competitive job-market.