The Office of Career Services is partnering with Workmate Virtual Jobs Finder (an online job portal that matches graduates’ jobs with the right jobs that match their skills) in building the skills of students, training students on how to link to available job opportunities through their online portal and training 50 student brand ambassadors to be diplomats for the Office of Career Services activities.

The Career Office on Thursday November 28, 2019 hosted an on-boarding session for 50 Student Career Brand Ambassadors at the UoN Towers, 4^th Floor, Room 401.

The aim of this on-boarding session was to develop the skills of students and train them to become potential employers. The John Mwangi, the Workmate Manager pointed out that where the world is heading, one will need to do more than one job to sustain themselves.

With the rising number of unemployed graduates, there is now need for students to learn new skills to enable them take up more virtual jobs. Kenya has a big percentage of an elite youth market with the right skills and training but with nowhere to go. One may wonder where are the jobs?

Workmate is offering a Skills Transfer Programme to Student Brand Ambassadors to build their skills for virtual jobs. The company will offer the selected students online badges for each training session. The students will also receive certificates and banded T-shirts.

The Office of Career Services was represented by Johnson Kinyua, Director and Naomi Nyaboga, Career Information Officer who emphasised to students on the need embrace virtual/online work because the future is in online work.

The Career Office is proud to partner with Workmate in building the skills of students to prepare them for the job market.

With the serious challenge of unemployment and underemployment in Kenya and the youth being the most affected and many of them in despair, there is a dire need to repackage the students to enable them fit in the evolving job market.

It has been proven that when the Industry, Government and Universities work together, a country will always develop faster. Kenya now requires the production of competent manpower to deliver its development agenda both for the vision 2030 and the Big 4 agenda. The University is open to the private sector and the Government to forge grounded partnerships aimed at developing Kenya and producing employable market ready graduates.

It’s against this background that the University of Nairobi through the Office of Career Services has established the “UoN Skills Centre” to offer different kinds of trainings to build on technical, leadership, entrepreneurship, soft and life skills of its students in partnership with industry partners.  The aim is to skill students with the required skills for the job market, empower them, build on their innovativeness and encourage them to become entrepreneurs.  The Career Office also holds Career Fairs across its campuses to link students to industry partners for them to secure internship or job opportunities. The Industry partners also hold career talks for the students to mentor and brand them for employment.

INTRODUCTION

The University of Nairobi Office of Career Services will hold a Career Fair at the UoN Main Campus from 5-6 December, 2019 from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm each day. The theme for the event is ‘Skilling Graduates for the Job Market’.

The UoN Office of Career Services (OCS) is a new establishment obligated to develop essential competencies among graduates to make them employable. The vision of the Career Office is to produce holistic graduates who are prepared for entry into the workforce and ready to take up entrepreneurial activities.

This is achieved through development of graduates’ skills, competencies and attitudes to enhance their employability and entrepreneurship capacity. The goal is to produce skilled, empowered, competitive, employable, enterprising and innovative graduates ready for the job and entrepreneurship market.

With the serious challenge of unemployment and underemployment in Kenya and the youth being the most affected and many of them in despair, there is a dire need to repackage the students to enable them fit in the evolving job market. The Career Office is striving to achieve this in partnership with Industry Partners to empower students with information on current workplace demands in the form of knowledge and skills and presentation and branding aspects of a prospective job seeker or entrepreneur.

OBJECTIVES

1. To provide a platform for industry partners to link up with UoN students for recruitment in their Graduate Trainee Programs, internship programs or for job opportunities in their companies;
2. To facilitate career talks for students to brand them for employment;
3. To provide and facilitate a networking opportunity for industry partners and students;
4. To share information with students on opportunities available in the job market;
5. To expose students to the world of ‘online/virtual work’.

OUTPUTS

1. Partnership and Linkages established between the Career Office and Industry partners;
2. Well-groomed students ready for entry into the job market;
3. Students working online and earning an income.

 CAREER FAIR ACTIVITIES

1. Exhibitions
2. Career Talks
3. One-on-one Career Guidance
4. Career Mentorship

Welcome to the UoN Career Fair on Dec 5-6,2019 at the Great Court, Main Campus. Career Talk Sessions include but are not limited to the following:

1. Cyber Security
2. Data Analytics
3. Planning for Career Growth
4. Future-ready Workforce
5. Competitive Graduates in the Job Market

Come with your CV!

Are you a lover of Film and Theatre? Do not miss this out. THE ILLEGITIMATE TWIN’ – A New Kenyan Musical @ the University of Nairobi’s Chandaria Centre for Performing Arts (UoN Towers)

Thur 28th Nov – 7pm

Fri 29th Nov – 7pm

Sat 20th Nov – 3pm and 7pm

Sun 1st Dec – 5pm

The 62nd Congregation for the Conferment of Degrees and award of Diplomas of the University of Nairobi shall take place on Friday, December 20, 2019 at the Chancellor’s Court.

Will you be the next USD 1 Million winner? It is with great pleasure that we invite you to participate in the 2019 Hult Prize On Campus Program! Join the largest platform enabling the new generation to create solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges through launching businesses that are for-profit and for-good! Become part of a prestigious group of driven, like-minded students building an infrastructure of positive change around the world! Network with global leaders, meet students from all around the world and receive USD1 Million in seed capital to launch your start-up.

Hult Prize Foundation is the world’s biggest learning platform that enables the new generation to deliver social change through education and entrepreneurship. Focused on impact and youth empowerment, the organization runs global programs, across six continents – all of which are designed to ignite social entrepreneurship amongst youth around the world. The 2020 Hult Prize will focus on Empowering the Earth: Bold Business for a Better Planet.

By participating and winning the Hult Prize On Campus of the University of Nairobi, you will be able to fast-track your idea through to one of the +30 Regional Summits rounds of competition, having the chance to attend an intensive 6-week summer Accelerator Program in the United Kingdom before pitching your game-changing idea at the United Nations in the finals the for the chance to win USD 1 Million in seed capital.

 GET STARTED IN 3 EASY STEPS!

1. Form a team of 3 to 4 students who are from the University of Nairobi.
2. Get this year’s Challenge: Bold Businesses for a Better Planet: Building Startups That have a Positive Impact on our Planet with every Dollar Earned!
3. Register your team at hpuon2019@gmail.com to compete at the University of Nairobi Hult Prize On Campus Program before October 30th 2019.

For more information, please contact Annett Bonuke, UoN Campus Director on bonuke46@gmail.com/0717267902.

Join us in ‘Leading a Generation to Change the World’!

Speaking during the cheque donation exercise, where over 20 higher learning institutions were represented, Dr. Vijoo Rattansi, Chairperson of the Rattansi Education Trust, said that helping people in need is a real opportunity to advance equity, and a service to promote love and peace in the Universe.

“For us at Rattansi Foundation, caring for needy students and helping them to achieve their dreams is our life time happiness. We do not give because we have excess but our foundation’s acts of charity are founded on the promise that moral sensibility is a sense of duty,” she said.  “We believe that, the little seed we are planting in the form of bursary would go a long way in transforming individuals, their families and the whole society.”

The cheques were issued on October 24, 2019 at the University of Nairobi Council Chambers.

University of Nairobi, ag. Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Isaac Mbeche took the opportunity to thank Dr. Rattansi who is also the Chancellor of the University, for the support the Foundation has accorded many students over the years. Prof. Mbeche noted that the scholarship fund has helped many bright and needy students to pursue their university education at various universities across the country. The beneficiaries are now serving the society in various sectors within the country and abroad.

Present at the event was Prof. Stephen Kiama, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Human, Resource and Administration and representatives from various universities.

905 delegates have registered to participate in the week long series of activities that will create a platform and an environment focused on nurturing research and encouraging a discourse geared towards building research capacity.

“We have four conferences starting today. They are the Open, Distance and e-learning, Victimology and Victim Support, Project Management, Architecture and Engineering and the Agriculture Conference and Exhibition,” said Prof. Stephen Kiama, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Human Resource and Administration who was representing the Vice-Chancellor. “All the conferences are aligned to the national and global development agenda. While each conference is diverse in discipline, the focus is priority development areas with a multi and trans-disciplinary approach.”

“The University of Nairobi Research Week aims at fostering discussions on research activities and findings, creating a platform for presentation of academic papers and showcasing innovation illustrations and foster partnerships with other players in the research enterprise in the various sectors,” said Prof. Madara Ogot, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Enterprise.

The 2019 edition of the University of Nairobi Research Week builds on the success of the inaugural Research Week which was held in October 2018.

You can follow the Research Week proceedings through our Twitter handle @uonbi and @RPEUoN using #UoNResearchWeek.

The University of Nairobi Mombasa Campus in partnership with the Office of Career Services (OCS) held a Career Week in Mombasa from October 7-12, 2019 at the Uniplaza buidling.

The Career Week themed “Skilling Graduates for the Job Market” brought together students and industry partners who exhibited and offered career guidance to the students. The Career Week integrated Public Forums alongside the exhibitions by partners. The partners that participated in the career Fair include the Mombasa County Government, Britam, KRA, Base Titanium, Central Bank of Africa, Jubilee Insurance, Safaricom, NIC Bank and Mombasa Cement.

The Public Forums also featured talks and panel discussions from the partner companies’ representatives. The Forums focused on topics such as Employability in a changing market, Entrepreneurship, Personal Financial Management, Youth Development, and Mentorship. The topical issues discussed during the public forums generally related to employment, entrepreneurship and careers.

Dr. Sarah Kinyanjui, the Director Mombasa Campus welcomed all the partners during her opening remarks and called upon the students to learn from the employers and entrepreneurs on their experiences in the job market and how students should prepare for the job market and the life after campus.

The Key Speaker, Patrick Wameyo, a Financial Literacy Advocate and Financial coach gave students tips on successful financial management. He said that it is a widely documented fact that money is a thorn in most people’s flesh. Wealth creation is an art that calls for a mental shift for one to attain financial goals and freedom that comes with it. Mr. Wameyo emphasized on students to learn to save because personal financial planning is a personal choice.

The event was informed by the need to bring together job seekers and students to engage with potential employers, Government & support agencies and professionals to equip them with knowledge and practical skills that will guide their decision making about careers.

It is hoped that the skills the students learnt from the Career Week Forums will go a long way in transforming the career paths and choices of the students. From this career Fair, students received Technical and soft skills for working online through the Ajira Digital Training program, Entrepreneurship skills from the Entrepreneurship forum, Financial Literacy skills through the Personal Finance Management forum and Life Skills through the mentorship sessions.