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One of our very first blog posts last year was about the highest paying careers in South Africa. To date, it’s still one of our most popular posts and is an indication that our readers are hungry for info about careers. That’s why we have decided to dedicate one blog post every month to different industries and the job prospects and career paths within those industries. 

The first of our Career Focus articles will explore the complex, exciting world of engineering. Engineering encompasses a range of different specialisations and career paths and engineers can be found in a number of different industries. This post will give a broad overview of engineering and it’s many sub-disciplines as well as info on the Career Wise bursaries available for engineering degrees.

Among the top fifteen highest paying jobs in South Africa that we highlighted in our second ever blog posts, an impressive seven of these were engineering related jobs. Engineering is a very broad discipline and encompasses many different sub-disciplines and areas of specialization, as you can see from the highest paying careers list. In a nutshell, engineering is the application of maths, science and empirical evidence to the design, construction and operation of machines, materials, systems and structures. Engineers work in a huge variety of industries, applying their knowledge of maths and science to solve problems and produce new, innovative products and services. And they are paid well for a reason – engineering is a very demanding discipline to study at university and being an engineer requires hard work combined with strong maths and science ability, and a knack for problem solving.

Very broadly, engineering can be divided into four main areas: chemical, mechanical, electrical and civil/structural. Within each of these areas there are numerous different functions and areas of specialisation. Let’s take a quick look at each area and highlight some of the different jobs you’ll find in each.

In last week’s post, we introduced you to the idea of budgeting and the importance of putting some effort into managing your finances. Learning to budget and keep control of your money is a vital first step towards a healthy financial future.

Now that you are starting to draw up your weekly or monthly budget (and sticking to it!), we thought it would be useful to provide some important info on how to ensure your financial stability, in particular by making wise decision when borrowing money or getting credit. 

The first step to financial health is having control of your finances and being aware of where your money is going. That’s where budgeting comes in – a budget is essentially a plan for your money. You decide your priorities for spending and then you develop a budget or a plan so you know where your money is going and how much you have at any point in time. For a refresher, check out last week’s article on managing your finances.

Managing your finances is important for everyone, whether you’re a new student who has just received a bursary, or a working professional earning a salary. Putting some time and effort into planning and managing your monthly or weekly budget is important to ensure you have enough money for important things like food and transport. It’s also a great habit to get into at an early stage so you can ensure your financial health in the future.

In this post we will discuss how best to manage your personal finances and give some budgeting hints and tips for students who are on bursaries, and for those who have taken out loans or whose families are helping to fund their studies. Even if you’re a young professional just starting to earn a salary, this post will have something useful for you.

Over the past two weeks we have been talking about social media and how to use this powerful tool to your benefit. We have explored the positive and negative aspects of social media and last week we focused on LinkedIn and how to build your professional profile. 

In this final instalment of our social media blog series, we’ll be talking about three of the biggest and most important social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These platforms typically cater more to social networking but they can benefit your professional development if used properly and that’s what we’ll focus on in today’s post.

Last week we dived into the exciting world of social media and gave you some hints and tips on how to use it to your benefit and avoid some of the less desirable outcomes. Social media is an incredibly powerful tool and we want to help you get the most out of it.

This week we are turning our attention to one particular platform – LinkedIn – a social media site for professional and career development. LinkedIn is an excellent platform to build your professional profile and open new doors in your career path. Here’s how you can get the most from this valuable platform.

Over the past 10 years, social media has grown into a global phenomenon. With over two billion people on Facebook alone, social media has changed the way people interact and connect with each other. It has become an amazing tool both for social and professional networking and offers a number of benefits. However, the potential social media holds can also have negative consequences and it’s important to use it responsibly.

For the next few weeks, we will be talking about social media and how to maximise its potential. This post will give an overview of the social media movement, highlight the positives and negatives, and give some useful advice on how to ensure you harness the benefits and avoid the pitfalls.

Last week we gave you some simple tips and techniques to help you manage your time more effectively. This week we’d like to help you with another important aspect of your academic or working life – setting goals. While it may sound like a simple and straightforward task, many people don’t know how to go about setting goals in a way that improves your productivity and ensures you get through your workload. Goal setting is also important in a broader sense and can help you to make the right decision when it comes to choosing your course of study and career.

One very useful methodology for goal setting is called the SMART methodology, which can help you to clarify your ideas, focus your efforts and increase your chances of achieving what you are capable of.

Without a clear goal – whether it be in your professional, academic or personal life – life can seem a bit chaotic and beyond your control. We all make decisions about what we want to do and achieve, both in the short- and long-term, but this is often done without much structure and intention.

Whether you’re a high school student or in your last year of varsity, or even a working professional, managing your time effectively is very important. We all have plenty of things in our academic, professional and personal lives that need our time and energy. The more we proactively manage these competing priorities, the more effective and productive we become and, importantly, the less stressed.

This week’s post will give you a few simple tips and techniques to help you manage your time properly to get the most out of your days and weeks and stay one step ahead of your deadlines.

Building a career isn’t just about studying a degree at university, it’s also about choosing something that interests you and that suits your skill set. It’s important to gain some professional experience during your studies, not only to show future employers that you are serious about working, but also for you to gauge what different career paths and companies might suit you.

This week’s post is intended to give you some ideas of how to gain work experience in different ways to make your CV stand out and give you the edge when applying for jobs.

Towards the end of last year, we dedicated a post to helping you negotiate the life-changing transition from high school to university. It can be a daunting journey from being a senior learner at high school to just another first year student among a sea of new faces and we hope our advice came in handy.

Now that the academic year is underway, we thought it would be a good idea to provide a follow-up article with some useful advice on how to, not just survive, but make the most of your first year at university.