MISA assists learners to do job shadowing in Secunda

 

MISA provides learners the opportunity for job shadowing in the retail motor industry to empower them with more career options when they leave school.

 

Martlé Keyter, MISA’s Chief Executive Officer: Operations, says the retail motor industry needs learners to feed the growing skills shortages and to build the generation of the future. This is vital to the survival of the industry.

 

“Vehicle technology is evolving at an accelerated pace and we are going to need capable technicians to keep them on the road. The industry also needs electric vehicle technicians. Electric motorcars are projected to reduce baseline greenhouse gas emissions of 19% in 2050,” says Keyter.

 

That is why the MISA Women’s Forum and Young Workers Forum hosts a Career Expo and job shadowing opportunities annually, nationwide.

 

Chris Morgenrood, Dealer Principal of Secunda Toyota in Mpumalanga, says he has been involved with Karen Gouws, co-ordinator of the MISA Women’s Forum, on this project for as long as he can remember and loves seeing the positive results.

 

“One of my own sons came back from school one day and was disturbed because fellow learners shared their thoughts of having no future in our country. I decided to show them what vast opportunities there are in our industry, from where I stand,” says Morgenrood.

 

Last week, two learners of Hoërskool Oosterland were shadowing technicians in the workshop to determine if that is what they wanted to do with their lives.

 

“They loved every minute of it. They thought, they knew a lot about vehicles, but now they really do. We have had learners doing job shadowing in the workshop in the past. The dealership also accommodated learners with job shadowing in sales.

 

“There is always a need for more hands-on practical training, and I believe Secunda Toyota, like many other dealerships participating in this project, can help learners to have a clear vision of what direction to follow,” says Morgenrood.

 

According to Gouws, the job shadowing followed out of a very successful MISA Career Expo earlier this year.

 

Job shadowing provides learners with a platform for networking and enhances professional development. It informs you about the daily joys and struggles of the profession. It also allows you to discover your passion and to establish if the organization’s culture fits you.

 

Morgenrood says from time-to-time he meets with several learners who have job shadowed with them before and it is very rewarding to see how they have developed.

 

For more information about this project, please contact Karen Gouws on 041 364 0102 or e-mail Karen.Gouws@ms.org.za

 

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