Naomi Mabera – Page 44 – UoN Office of Career Services (OCS)

Mentorship to UoN Student Leaders by the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI)

The University of Nairobi had the privilege of hosting the 2nd Youth Leadership Transformation Summit on the 25th and 26th of April, 2019 at the UoN Auditorium, 6th floor, UoN Towers. The event was organized by the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and is an initiative of the former president of the United States of America, Barack Obama back in 2010 in an effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders. The theme for the event was #Leading4impact which was chosen to encourage young leaders to speak in collaboration to create impact. In attendance were the newly elected UNSA student leaders and professional body student leaders from UoN.

Their event incorporated a panel session to discuss tackling the challenge of youth participation in law/policy making and the governance process. The panel consisted of the Nominated MP of Parliament representing Youth, Hon. Gideon Keter, CEO National Youth Council, Roy Sasaka, YALI Alumni, Caroline Chege, Head of Secretariat UNSA, Advisor on Youth Affairs at the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs, Ms. Lydia Mathia and CEO of the Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association (KYPA) Antony Buluma. Some of the takeaway points from the panel session were that the youth need to be intelligent and take initiative in their quest to fight for their space, the youth need to impact change as a unit and to form a united front. The youth were also encouraged to get involved in public participation.

Appointment of Johnson Kinyua as Director of Office of Career Services

Johnson Ireri Kinyua was appointed as the Director, Office of Career Services from January 14, 2019, to oversee the operationalization of the University of Nairobi Office of Career Services (UoNOCS) and ensure targets outlined in the OCS Handbook are achieved. The Director of Career Services will work with existing establishments such as Students Affairs, Special Students and work on a strategy on how to decentralize UNOCS to campuses and colleges through the support of Assistant Dean of Students based in colleges and campuses.

The Director’s first assignment in the office is to automate the students’ career services through user-friendly and customized Career Information Management System (CIMS) and Students Career Passport. This will enable students to register online, upload their CVs and access job opportunities where employers will upload online job opportunities. By use of Artificial Intelligence, the system will be able to match students’ skills and available opportunities and send alerts to either students or employers after matchmaking.

UoN Skills Centre enhances Graduates Employability

The University top management led by Chancellor Dr. Vijoo Rattansi (2^nd Right) and Vice Chancellor Prof. Peter Mbithi (Left) receives Jack Ma (middle with white shirt) Chairman of Ali Baba Group together with Cabinet Secretary of ICT Kenya, Joe Mucheru (right).

The UoN Skills Centre has been established on the 11^th floor of the UoN Towers and will be offering ongoing training to students and staff in a wide range of skills development programs. Some of the already ongoing training includes the Ajira Digital Training that seeks to impart knowledge and skills on how to tap into online jobs and the Huawei Certification Training programs that seek to build skills and knowledge that networking professionals require.

The Skills Centre aims to upgrade the graduates’ skills, competencies and attitude to enhance their graduates’ employability and entrepreneurship capacity. The goal is to produce skilled, empowered, competitive, employable, enterprising and innovative graduates ready for the job and entrepreneurship market.

The UoN Skills Centre partners with Industry Partners to offer Technical, Leadership and Soft Skills Training programs for students/staff skills. Students, as well as graduates, will be provided with the avenue to gain “Skills for the Future” through a series of training programs that will aid them in developing their careers and also make them more marketable in the job market.

Among the skills that will be offered at the Skills Centre include: technical skills such as computer skills, programming, data analytics, marketing and data mining, soft skills like CV writing, interview techniques, communication skills, cross-cultural skills and job hunting skills, entrepreneurship skills including ideation to commercialization, patenting and licensing, start-up and incubation and business development and leadership skills.

“Low skills perpetuate poverty and inequality. Skills development can reduce unemployment, raise incomes, and improve standards of living. Helping young people develop skills makes economic sense”

World Bank

Chinese Career Fair at University of Nairobi

UoN hosted a Jobs Recruitment Fair on Dec 18, 2018, by 26 Chinese multinational companies (MNCs) at the Great Court, Main Campus. Over 50 graduates of UoN got their dream job through this fair.

Universities to establish Offices of Career Services

The launch of the handbook on the establishment of the Offices of Career Services all universities and tertiary institutions must set up the office which should be up and running by the end of the year,” announced Cabinet Secretary for Education, Amb. Amina Mohamed.

The CS presided over the launch of the handbook on the establishment of Offices of Career Services ceremony University of Nairobi’s Taifa Hall on June 21, 2018. The Offices of Career Services (OCS) will empower students to make right career choices by offering academic advising, career and counseling services and graduate tracker services. In addition, OCS will facilitate linkages between the industry and students, intra-institutional exchanges, apprenticeship services and engage recruitment of prospective high school students, among others.

“As a country, we have devoted a lot of resources in education from primary level to high schools to higher education institutions. It can be a great loss for us and bad economics if we do not commit ourselves to realize any returns,” she said. “I call on all of us to be committed to this initiative because it is our collective responsibility to ensure that our students get gainful employment and even engage in entrepreneurship.”

While welcoming the guests to the University of Nairobi, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Peter Mbithi said that the OCS will have transformative effects in the universities and tertiary institutions.

“We have, for many years, been yearning for support to bridge the skills gap in the job market and lamenting on the need to work closely with the industry to produce market ready graduates,” he said. “The launch of the handbook on careers and mentorship programme is therefore a timely intervention that will go a long way in addressing the problem.”

At the event, two UoN students Bilal Muhamud and Sylivia Mumbi were given an opportunity to speak on behalf of students. They focused on their experience and opportunities in mentorship.

Over 118 Students Flagged Off to Israel for ‘Advanced Agriculture Training’

On July 28, 2018, the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Dr. Andrew Tuimur, Principal Secretary of State Department of Agriculture and Irrigation, Prof. Fred Segor and the Ambassador or Israel to Kenya H.E. Noah Gal Gendler flagged off 118 students from five public Universities and Institutes (UoN, JKUAT, Egerton, Kenya Water Institute and Karen Institute of Agriculture). This is an implementation plan of MoU signed in February 2016 between H.E. President Kenyatta and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Israel’s support to Kenya through 11 months Advanced Agriculture and Irrigation Training program in Israel. So far over 358 students have been trained and will be part of the President’s Big 4 Agenda on Agriculture transformative leaders in alleviating the food insecurity in Kenya. The students from UoN were 15.

UoN Students flagged off to Israel for “Advanced Agriculture Training”