The Office of Career Services in partnership with Workmate, the Peer Mentors Association and RADA organized the Career guidance and mentorship session at the College of Architecture and Engineering (CAE) on Friday 20^th September 2019 at the University of Nairobi Towers.

The Principal, CAE set the session in motion by thanking the Office of Career Services and the career partners present to give presentations to the students and mold their career paths. He encouraged the students by telling them there were many more programs to help the students as they progressed through their studies at the University of Nairobi. The principal touched on the Office of Career Offices mission which is, to produce employable graduates through development of Technical, Leadership and Soft Skills of students, linking students to Industry partners for job and internship opportunities, mentorship, counselling services, graduate tracking services, high school recruitments, students exchange, apprenticeship services and alumni networking among others and emphasized that they make sure they acquired all the necessary skills before leaving the university.

The Office of Career Services was represented by Naomi Nyaboga, the Chief Information Officer who briefly spoke on the mandate of the Office of Career Services and told the students they they were in university for a reason. She went through all the services offered by the office and encouraged the students to come by the office for any enquiries as they go through their various academic programs. She went through the activities the Office of Career services has been involved in to build the skills of students. Some of the programs are Huawei ICT competition, Exchange programs with various universities globally, Google Digital Skills for Africa and also Coding for employment. The students were given the key points to note in Job hunting and encouraged to be very keen in discovering their purpose and potential and working towards achieving their dreams.

John Mwangi from Workmate, an online job portal began his presentation by giving a brief summary of Workmate. He further explained that workmate is an online job portal that provides exclusive remote jobs, creating millions of job opportunities. He engaged the students by asking “What is the most valuable thing a man can have?” various answers were given by the students. Time is by far the most valuable thing a man can spend on. He spoke on the internet portraying it as a double-edged sword asking the students to be careful the internet can arm or harm the user. The Office of Career Services was congratulated for ensuring that students are work ready through the various programs they offer to the students. He also gave a list of transferable skills that modern employers are looking for in an all-round candidate and spoke on the effects of robotic workers are having on the job market urging the students to acquire skills that will ensure their job security.

The Peer Mentors Association of Kenya (PMAK) was also represented by Mr. Humphrey Andanyi who briefly spoke on the mandate of their organization. He talked about the core activities performed by the organization mainly been mentorship, guidance and counselling and talent building. Students were also informed that PMA-K seeks sponsorship opportunities for needy students and youths qualified to receive such assistance. PMA-K also encourages building and nurturing youth talent by organizing events that celebrate talent and empower the youth to embrace and enrich their talents. He expounded on the mentorship programs offered to anyone interested through training programs. Since student have a lot of freedom while in university, they were advised to take it upon themselves to behave and dress appropriately. He advised everyone to set goals and targets and ensure they are able to fulfill them. Lastly, he concluded on the importance of connections while still in campus and warned on many fake jobs out in the market that calls for students to be very careful when applying for jobs.

Finally, UoN students were given an opportunity to make a presentation on the RADA app that they developed to tackle issues on youth sexuality in campus. The students developed the app with support from UNESCO seeking to provide the youth with information and real time help on wide ranging issues including HIV and AIDS, career advice, finance, alcohol, drug abuse and mental health. The Rada team walked the students through the mobile application, showing the students how the application works and all the solutions it offers.

The Office of Career Services will continuously strive to mold students and prepare them well for the job market.