UoN Office of Career Services (OCS)

Industrial Site Visit To Huawei

To match the rest of the world in the advancement of technology and the job market, the University of Nairobi through the Office of Career Services (OCS) is building sustainable partnerships with industry partners in a bid to produce high quality, industry-oriented students. Through its apprenticeship program, the OCS Office enables potential employers to identify prospective employees from the University. The process also enables the University to understand the employers’ future workforce needs, identify skills gap and offer training programs through apprenticeships.

Students drawn from the School of Engineering and School of Computing and Informatics visited the Huawei Kenya Head Office in Lavington on Tuesday, June 4, 2019, for an Industrial site visit aimed at getting the first-hand experience on how a networking and telecommunication industry works.

Huawei has been partnering with UoN through its ICT Academy program in offering training to students and staff for the HCIA Routing and Switching Training Certification which validates the knowledge and skills required for basic configuration and maintenance of small to medium-sized networks. UoN has also partnered with Huawei in its Graduate Trainee Program since 2017, Huawei Campus Ambassador program with two students being selected to be Huawei Ambassadors, Huawei Job Fair, and Seeds for the Future program.

UoN students also participated in the 2018-2019 Huawei ICT Competition and one of the top three students in the global final from Kenya Mwai Moses is an Alumnus of UoN and now a Huawei Engineer.

In support of the ICT Academy partnership with UoN, Huawei donated equipment worth KES 5,000,000 for the training center at UoN in 2019. The OCS office is glad to partner with Huawei in skilling students for the ICT job market.

Industrial Site Visit To Huawei

June 5, 2019 by Naomi Mabera 0

Lenana School Career Day

The Office of Career Services participated in a Career Day Programme at Lenana School on Saturday, May 18, 2019. The theme of the event was “Exposing learners to future career opportunities”. The Director, Career Services attended the event and gave a talk to the students on career pathways and skills for the 21st century that employers are now looking out for in potential employees.

There were career talks given by other professionals in different career fields such as Architecture, Engineering, Medicine, Law, Entrepreneurship & Commerce, Journalism & Media, Arts, Sports & Talents, Technology, ICT, Artificial Intelligence & Robotics and Aviation & Airspace Technology.

 

High School Career Mentoring and Recruitment is one of the core mandates of the Office of Career Services and UoN is keen on mentoring high school students for them to make their career goals before transitioning to University/College.

 

May 18, 2019 by Naomi Mabera 0

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.

April 27, 2019 by Naomi Mabera 0

Chancellors Career Fair 2018

Career Fair 2018

The Chancellor and the entire University of Nairobi fraternity is seeking to forge strong symbiotic collaborations with Government and Industry that will in the future guide and nurture students and graduates towards a better and more fulfilling future thus positively impacting the socio-economic growth of our country. Areas of potential collaborations include: Industrial research, Commercialization of Intellectual Property, Infrastructural Development and Human Resource Training and Transfer (retooling industry employees, adjunct lecturers and students/ alumni recruitment).

To realize this vision, a biannual Chancellor’s Career Fair has been established.

Other recent related events that the University has had are:

  1. The Industry, Academia partnership to promote ethical and legal business practices
  2. The launching of Ajira Digital Program

THE EVENT

The Chancellor’s Career Fair is scheduled for 13th-14th August at the University of Nairobi Main Campus.  It has been structured to include:- Recruitment Drive, Industry Showcase (Exhibitions throughout the day)

Morning sessions:- Panel Discussions, Roundtable Discussions, Keynote Presentations

Afternoon sessions:-Breakaway Sessions

For more information, please Click to find  CONCEPT NOTE and EVENT PROGRAM

 ACTIVITY

On 13th and 14th we shall have Panel discussions in the auditorium from 10.30 am to 12.30pm and 9.00 am to 1.00 pm respectively and we need students to fill up the auditorium hence the need for raising awareness and mobilization.

The Theme for 13th August (Day 1) is Academia-Industry Partnership for the future

The theme for 14th August (Day 2) is Entrepreneurship

The expected Guest for the auditorium panel session for Day 1 (13th August) is CS Education, Amb. (Dr.) Amina Mohammed and for Day 2(14th August) is CS PS, Youth and Gender Affairs Prof. Margaret Kobia

The  Training sessions for the two days include:

13th August 

  1. Branding for Employment – 00 -3.00pm- Seminar Room 401
  2. Cyber Security – 00 -3.00pm- Seminar Room 402
  3. Talent and Image Management – 00 -3.00pm- Seminar Room 403
  4. Technology Trends – 00 – 4.00pm- Seminar Room 404
  5. Skills for tomorrow-  00 – 4.00pm – Seminar Room 401
  6. CV writing and interview etiquette –  00 – 4.00pm- Seminar Room 405
  7. Award of outstanding student innovations – 00 – 4.30 pm- Great Court

14th August

  1. Startups management – 00 -3.00pm- Seminar Room 401
  2. Negotiations –  00 -3.00pm- Seminar Room 402
  3. Creativity and innovation – 00 – 4.00pm  – Seminar Room 403
  4. Business Models –  00 – 4.00pm – Seminar Room 404
  5. Award of outstanding student innovations – 00 – 4.30 pm-  Great Court

HASHTAG TO USE:  #UoNCareerfair

 

“Attendance is free of charge.”

April 10, 2019 by Emmanuel 0

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.

January 15, 2019 by Naomi Mabera 0

UoN Skills Centre enhances Graduates Employability

The University top management led by Chancellor Dr. Vijoo Rattansi (2nd 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 11th 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

January 1, 2019 by Naomi Mabera 0

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.

August 6, 2018 by Naomi Mabera 0