Leading enterprise asset management engineering company Pragma, will again host its award-winning Student Training Programme (STP) from 24 June to 12 July 2019 at its head office in Cape Town. Students have time to apply from 1 March until 31 March 2019 when the application window is open.
Says Nelson Broden, Regional Manager at Pragma: “The three-week programme is specifically aimed at B.Eng. or B.Sc.Eng. (Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical, Electrical and Computer or Mechatronic) students in their third or fourth year of studies. The content of the programme ensures that students are introduced to the concepts of enterprise asset management as well as Pragma’s service offering. Furthermore, participants also have the privilege to be part of various coaching and mentoring sessions with Pragma’s senior management team in order to provide them with valuable life and career lessons right at the start of their careers.”
Broden explains: “The programme assists students in identifying their strengths in line with the Gallup model, offers mentorship sessions with Pragma’s senior management team, helps them gain experience by working on real life projects and engage with business support functions like marketing and ICT. Students are assigned real training and offered the opportunity to work in groups, guided by Pragma’s Asset Care Engineers in the process of researching and analysing the problem and compiling a solution, which they then present.”
He continues that the programme assists Pragma in identifying and attracting the brightest young talent from leading universities. “In return, students gain a solid grounding in the field of enterprise asset management as well as a new perspective on their careers, learn invaluable life lessons while at the same time honing their knowledge around the management of physical assets. Students are introduced to one of the best small companies to work for in South Africa where people development takes centre stage.”
According to Alumni Heinri Germishuys, who was a Mechatronic student at the University of Stellenbosch, the experience was simply unmatched. Germishuys now works in Pragma’s R & D division and says “in the field of student programmes and vacation training, it’s miles ahead of anything I’ve done or even heard of.”
Lerato Mogole, who was a fourth-year B.Eng. (Industrial and Systems) student at the University of Pretoria last year, believes she has learnt more about herself, adding that she also learnt a lot of other things she would never have had the chance to learn anywhere else.
Alumni Brian Sokhulu, then a third-year B.Eng. (Mechanical) student at the University of Cape Town, reckons the programme is exactly what graduates need before even applying for work.
Wits Mechanical Engineering student, Isaac Modisa, says this was “the first vac work experience where I had lots of fun while learning so much more, especially presenting in front of the executives”.
Nicola Henning, a B.Eng. (Industrial) student at the University of Stellenbosch at the time, adds that the programme not only focuses on the academic and theoretical side of asset management, but also on developing you as a person, a young soon-to-be engineer.
Launched in 2011, the programme has been an enormous success and has won various industry accolades. It excelled at the 2015 fp&m seta Skills Development Summit, winning in the Best Graduate Training Programme, the AccelorMittal Best Training Programme as well as the SAASTA Best Innovative Training Programme categories.
Broden concludes: “Students participating in our three-week Student Training Programme will most definitely have an advantage over other candidates when applying for any position, not only at Pragma, but also at other engineering firms. It’s a huge privilege for our company to work with these young, intelligent and motivated minds. They will definitely make their mark, not only as engineers, but also as citizens of our South Africa.”
With limited space available, interested students are urged to apply here as soon as possible by 31 March 2019.
